When you say "good night" to your baby, do you say it through clenched teeth, knowing the night is going to be anything but good? Has getting your baby to sleep for the night become a major struggle or a complicated routine? Is the middle of the night in your household a torture of interrupted sleep, hours spent with a crying baby, or at best an awake baby, placid but definitely not sleeping? Is your baby's sleep schedule radically impairing your own, preventing you from getting anything close to your full complement of sleep? Are your eyes red and your nerves frayed? Are you and your spouse dragging your way through the days, suffering from a serious sleep deficit and wondering when it will end?
It ends now with this book. It ends with you learning techniques and plans for getting your baby to go to sleep at night when you want him to, without your having to drive him around and around the block in your car, stay in his room with him for two hours, or go through any other complex routine. Of course, if he's very young, he'll still wake up for feedings during the night at first, but he'll soon learn how to go back to sleep once he's full, instead of remaining awake. With the aid of this book, you'll learn how to help him get himself back to sleep when he wakes up for any reason.
Naps are important, too. Though they don't replace nighttime sleep, they're a key element in your baby's good health and well-being, as well as for his disposition. Some babies go to sleep readily at night but are less successful at napping. Sometimes parents have unrealistic expectations for how often their baby sleeps; newborns do not sleep around the clock and wake up only for feedings. Right from the start, they have periods of wakefulness and periods of sleep.
The trick is in getting them to sleep when you want them to. Fortunately, this isn't “The Impossible Dream.” Do you want to know how to get your baby to go to sleep at a regular time each night, sleep well during the night, and nap sufficiently for her needs? Note that I didn't say “sleep through the night.” This is a misnomer. Babies don't literally sleep through the night any more than anyone else does. We all wake up at times during the night, but in most cases we roll over, settle down, go right back to sleep, and in all likelihood don't even remember the episode in the morning. Your baby can do the same. Do you want to help your baby to sleep well and get the rest he needs and help insure that the rest of your family also has a good night's sleep as a result?
Read on! We are going to take a path that works with Mother Nature and Mother You. Science has come a long way in understanding how and why your baby does what she does, and