Solutions for bedtime dilemmas – Part 1

Posted on by Tamara Dickerson, M.D.
Photo courtesy of GreatInspire
Photo courtesy of GreatInspire

Bedtime challenges can begin as early as your baby’s first night at home.  For the newborn period, I encourage parents to recognize that an infant’s sleep cycle is not like an adults sleep/wake cycle.  They are programmed to sleep during the day and ready for the “party” at night.  There is not a sure fire way to “break” them from this natural sleep rhythm.  There are a few things you can try to help them adapt to a more agreeable schedule by two or four months of age.

  1. An infant will get used to whatever you allow them to experience. If you allow them to fall asleep in your arms or on your chest all the time, then they will adapt and will not fall asleep any other way.
  2. As babies are arriving towards a few weeks old, began putting them down groggy awake, so that when they fall asleep, they will less likely “startle” themselves awake. Always place an infant in their own sleeping space and on the backs – this has been shown to reduce the risk of sudden death in infants. No matter what you have tried or done in the past or what was done to you as an infant, the numbers do not lie!  In this country, we have seen a decrease in infant unexplained deaths since the “back to sleep campaign” was implemented.
  3. Some infants enjoy swaddling – just remember, never swaddle higher than the armpits and NEVER around the face! Rocking is okay, but always ask yourself is it safe to rock your child to sleep and I rock myself to sleep?  The answer is no!
  4. It will not be like this forever! With a few adjustments along the way in our parenting responses, our healthy infants will begin to adapt to new sleep rhythms.  If by four months you are still having a great deal of difficulty, please share your concerns with your child’s primary care provider. They may be able to provide more specific insight and helpful tips.

My fellow parent(s) – you are doing an amazing job!  Keep it up…your kids are worth it and your relationship with them can only become more amazing! 

Till next time…Dr. D

Your personal parent trainer

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Published by Tamara Dickerson, M.D.

Welcome to my answer to a parenting housecall! I am a practicing pediatrician who has been asked on many occasions to come home with my families. I have been offered wallets (full of credit cards and checks-hehehe!) and even the invitation to, “please take my child for weekend”! Here is my 21st century version of a house call. This will be as close as I will get to most of you in going home with you. My dream is to provide you some practical and humorous tips to make your parenting journey appear more successful and definitely more enjoyable. Wisdom Moments is a resource that offers help in those moments when you feel like you are not leading the battle, let alone winning it. In those moments when you just need a little creativity but keep coming up with a blank. When those big ole’ eyes of your child are looking up at you , challenging – are you ready for this?! Instead of gulping and waving the white flag…drop by here for a little bit of parenting encouragement/reinforcement. Despite the humor I use to share my message, I want to reassure you have heard each request and take them very seriously. What I bring to the table is not only my credentials as an accredited pediatrician, but just as validating is that I, too, am a fellow parent in the trenches with you! So what I have to offer you, I pray, is creative, effective and grounded in truth and reality. This blog will become my way, for now, to be more available to you and to share my parenting pearls. So…a toast to christen this maiden voyage “May we laugh and cry together…may we agree and disagree…may we always encourage each other that our children are worth climbing every mountain, scouring every valley, crossing any desert – to find a parenting pearl that will positively change a course of action for us and them”.

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