My baby’s sleep

There are children who sleep spontaneously through the night from the very first days, and other children who wake up. Each child is unique, has its own genetic make-up, has its own temperament and prenatal experience.

In the first days of life, the newborn is very sleepy because he is adapting to extra-uterine life and is awake and sleeping without particular regularity.
Despite this, many parents immediately demand autonomy!

His sleep-wake rhythms are “set” every 4 hours, they have to fall asleep alone in their cot in their room and they have to sleep for 8 hours straight.

You should know that not sleeping through the night is normal and physiological up to 4 years of age.

A newborn isn’t smart, they simply need contact , containment and immediate response to their needs, exactly what happened in your uterus.

If you repeat exogestation to your baby , literally carrying him as if he were still inside, breastfeeding him on demand and abandoning the idea of ​​having 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep, it will be easier to take care of him.

Montessori says: ” Today’s child is tomorrow’s adult “, this is because the first years of the child are important and affect their entire life.

There are children who sleep spontaneously through the night from the very first days, and other children who wake up.

Each child is unique, has its own genetic make-up, has its own temperament and prenatal experience.

Bedtime rituals, pacifiers, rigorous routines, evening baths, a stopwatch to count the time after which you can enter the bedroom where the baby is screaming without taking him in your arms, herbal teas, night car rides, self-rocking cradles, sleeping pills are not the correct remedy even if sometimes effective.

Furthermore, many experts agree that  the Estevill method is harmful.

Why waking up at night even if you’re not hungry?

Our child today is no longer a possible prey to forest predators but his call to his mother is an instinct enclosed in his DNA.

In addition, nocturnal awakenings protect the newborn from SIDS (Cot Death Syndrome).
In this regard, it is not recommended to share sleep in single beds or on water mattresses or between the two parents. Avoid duvets or blankets.

Being woken up several times during the night can be tiring. The advice is to rest every time the baby sleeps. Do all the housework by putting the baby in a sling and get help from your friends and relatives. Putting the baby to sleep in your room will help you manage it at night, making it less tiring.
You won’t have to get out of bed, reach for the crib and catch cold.

Shared sleep

Mother and child can sleep together using the side beds which, in addition to these practical advantages, develop the mother-child attachment.

The mother wakes up with her son who calls her, smiles and caresses her, her sleep rhythms gradually adjust harmoniously to those of the mother and having him next to her, she acquires greater knowledge and confidence in her abilities as a mother.

Furthermore, by sleeping together, the production of milk always remains adequate.

Dr. James McKenna, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame, member of the Scientific Advisory Board of LLLI (Leche League International) and expert on shared sleep, says there are greater risks leaving the child alone in his cradle to sleep rather than carrying him in his own bed:

“We agree with the study authors and others that special precautions must be taken to minimize the risk of fatal accidents. But the fact that such precautions are necessary is no more an argument against the practice of shared sleep, and in particular the practice of sharing a bed with children, any more than the fact that there are cases of accidental deaths of strangled children, suffocated or killed by Sudden Death Syndrome (SIDS) while they are sleeping alone in their crib, is reason enough to warn against the risks of letting babies sleep completely alone. While it is true that certain structural characteristics of a bed designed for an adult’s sleep can be dangerous for a child,“

In this regard, here are the precautions to take:

• Parents should not sleep with their children if they are smokers or have taken alcohol or drugs.
• There must be no gaps between the mattress and the edge of the bed
• There should be no pillows or blankets near the child’s face
• There must be no gaps between the bed and the wall
• The baby must always sleep on his back
• You must not smoke in the bedroom

For more information, you can read the following books:

• James Mckenna. At night with your child. Family sleep sharing
• W. Sears: Parents by day and by night
• G. Cozza, Baby at no cost
• Grazia Honegger Fresco, Let’s go to sleep
• Claude-Suzanne Didierjean-Jouveau, Partager le sommeil de son enfant