Healthy Sleep Habits

Sleep is important to being healthy. I don't think most people realize how important.  Lack of sleep can contribute to weight gain and hormonal problems, not to mention grouchiness.  The same is true for our little ones.  (Men, Don't stop reading just because you don't think the child rearing isn't up to you...  If you want a happy, healthy wife and mother of your children you will want to share this with her.)  I once lived next to this strange couple who would put their baby to bed at around 6:00PM.  They swore that they just put him in his bed and he would go to sleep by himself and sleep all night... Same for naps.  They would just put him in his crib and leave the room.  No crying, no rocking, just a happily obliging baby would lie down and sleep.  I asked them how this was possible. I had no kids of my own at the time but knew this wasn't normal.  They said they read and followed a book called Healthy Sleep Habits: Happy Child. (by Marc Weissbluth) I never wrote down the name of the book, I just remembered it years later when I was pregnant with my first.  I read it while I was pregnant and thought the ideas were sound.  You can't really do anything about a baby's sleep habits the first 3 months of life.  But around 3-4 months you can start implementing the directions in the book and 2 out of 2 times it has worked for me!  My 4 month old baby goes to sleep all by himself at nap time and bed time.  He sleeps a 7 hour stretch at night and then another 4 hour stretch in the morning plus 3, 1-2 hour naps during the day.  My oldest did the same.  Guess what!  They sleep longer and longer until they are about 2 years old.  This is why I have time to sit down and write coherent blog posts.  LOL.  You can literally buy this book online for $1 plus S+H.  So, what do you have to lose but some quality time with your baby, listening to them scream and cry when you both should be sleeping?!

-Val