SLEEP TONIGHT

EXPERT SOLUTIONS FOR ALL AGES

Considering that babies sleep more than 50 percent of the time, it’s astonishing that they have the time to rob their parents of so much of it. On paper, babies should be no trouble at all, and leave their parents with plenty of time to work, do chores, relax – and get enough sleep of their own.

But nothing could be further from the truth. Sleep is the number one problem for new parents, and we’ll tell you why: precisely because of the myth of the “sleeping baby”. Getting a baby to sleep, at the right times, for the right stretches of time, without waking in between, with a sufficient number of naps, and without sustaining psychological damage (to yourself or your baby!) – well, it’s one tough task. And the biggest joke is that we have married the goal of “sleeping through the night” with the idea of parental success. “Well done us! Our Sophie slept through the night – right on track at 12 weeks old,” crow proud parents, as if they had something to do with it. (They did, but only to some extent – more on that later.)

What they don’t post on social media is their distress when, at eight months of age, darling Sophie starts waking four times a night, or how she wants Mom to lie with her until she’s asleep at one year old, or how she sneaks into her parents’ bed at four every morning when she’s two, three, four and five.

So the first message here is that “sleeping through the night” is not a milestone, like walking, where, once it’s established, you don’t expect your baby ever to regress. By all means, see that rainbow and that unicorn in the sky the first morning you wake up after having slept ALL NIGHT. Savour it. But know that it’s no guarantee that every morning will be like this from now on for ever. Ageing, emotional issues, teething, sickness, arrival of a sibling, moving to a big bed, potty training, going on holiday and moving house can – and most likely will – all affect your baby’s sleep. There will be broken nights in your future. Accept it, because you will be a happier parent if you do.

Having said that, here are some typical sleep patterns and problems – plus some advice that you could try, because it just might work on your baby.