It's that time again: time for new sleep guidelines from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM). Every so often, the AASM releases recommendations for healthy child sleep; now, we have their 2016 recommendations. Let's take a look! How Much Sleep Do Babies and Toddlers Need? Our team looked at this area of the report first, and we were very pleased to learn that our sleep plan recommendations line up exactly with the recommended sleep totals from the AASM: Infants 4 months to 12
baby sleeping habits
10 Tough Baby Sleep Problems, and How To Solve Them
Solving your baby's sleep problems can be tough enough, but finding the solution to YOUR specific problem can be even tougher. After all, the sleep training plan we would recommend for parents who want to transition away from cosleeping would be very different than the sleep training plan we would recommend for parents who want to stop rocking their baby to sleep. So how can you solve YOUR unique sleep challenge? Well, I can't give you personalized advice here on the blog (you'll need to
Nursing Baby To Sleep: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Let's be honest here - we've all done this. When your baby is crying at 2 a.m., and you know that offering a quick feed would silence those cries and put that baby right back to sleep, what do you do? Simple...you feed that baby to sleep! Feeding a baby to sleep is one of the quickest and easiest ways to help your baby relax and fall asleep, to be sure...but it's not without its drawbacks. There's a "dark side" to feeding your baby to sleep. And this is just what we're studying in
Healthy Sleep Habits: Why Not All Sleep Habits Are Bad
If you've been a reader of The Baby Sleep Site® for a while, then you know a thing or two about sleep associations, don't you? You've no doubt read our sleep association blog post, and have learned all about how certain habits that your baby associates with sleep (like nursing to sleep, or rocking to sleep, or being held during sleep) can cause big, huge sleep problems that affect the whole family. And you've no doubt learned that sleep training is the process of gently weaning your baby
Baby Won’t Nap? Here Are 7 Reasons Why (#7 Is Surprising!)
Nap time is, without a doubt, a tired parent's favorite time of day. Baby goes down for a much-need snooze, leaving mom and dad time to have some much-needed "me time". But of course, in order for your baby's nap time to be a favorite time of day, your baby has to actually, you know, TAKE A NAP. And therein lies the problem, for many parents! So many of you have written in to us over the years, letting us know that your baby won't nap, and you are at a loss as to why. Baby is tired?
Holiday Recovery 101 – Getting Your Baby or Toddler’s Sleep Back On Track
December was a whirlwind. You shopped up a storm, performed magic in the kitchen for your houseguests, went to all of the holiday parties, drank your share of the wine and watched the ball drop. What’s left? Picking up the pieces! With the close of the holiday season comes a stark reality: "normal" life has resumed, and your family is off-schedule, tired and cranky. If you’re lucky, getting back to your normal routine will be a piece of cake, with just a little nudge. But for many of us, it will
3 Ways Your Baby’s Sleep May Change This Fall
Fall is right around the corner, parents! And I, for one, cannot wait to exchange the heat and humidity of summer for the crisp chill and beautiful leaves of fall. Warm sweaters, pumpkin-flavored foods, hot apple cider...fall is my favorite! If you have a baby at home, though, the weather won't be the only thing that changes this fall. You may notice some changes in your baby's sleep, too. But not to worry - we have got you covered! We'll tell you what changes to expect, and how
5 Things To Do BEFORE Sleep Training
You just can’t take it anymore. The exhaustion, the bleary eyes, the waking-up-more-times-each-night-than-you-thought-humanly-possible...you’ve had it! “Enough is enough!” you’ve said to yourself. It's time to take action. It's time to reclaim your nights. This, readers, is the point at which many parents first visit the Baby Sleep Site. They’re beyond exhausted. They know their babies are waking more frequently than is necessary, but they just don’t know how to make the night waking
How Doctors Can Seem Out of Touch With Sleep Training
Not too long ago, I received an e-mail from a long-term client, now working on her third son's sleep (second with me by her side) and boy WAS SHE ANGRY! Why? Her doctor told her that her 6 month old "technically" didn't have to eat at night anymore and she should avoid that "trap" that he had to eat at night. He said that he should be able to go 12 hours without eating (Can you?). Now, to give this some context, this little baby had already had some feeding and weight-gain issues, so it was