Secret #6:
Natural Bedtime and Changing Bedtime
Especially if you have a newborn, it may be hard to distinguish between the different sleep times. At times (or even always) it may appear that nights and days are not a distinction your baby appreciates.
If this is a problem, or if your child’s bedtime seems unnaturally early or late, this section is for you.
First, you need to find your child’s “natural bedtime”. Without worrying about when it “should” be, try to identify when your child’s longest sleep segment naturally, or at least typically, occurs. This is the “natural bedtime”.
Most children under three years of age who are sleeping through the night go to sleep around 6 to 8 p.m. This may seem really early, especially if both you and your spouse work, but read Secret #4 before you commit to a later time.
In any case, assuming there is a difference between the natural and desired bedtime, you want to move the natural bedtime until it is the same as the desired bedtime.
The tool for doing this is the bedtime ritual (see Secret #2 ). Once you have a consistent bedtime ritual in place, moving bedtime is easy. Just start adjusting the time when you begin your bedtime ritual, and the rest will fall into place.
How much you can adjust the ritual depends mostly on whether you are moving the bedtime later or earlier. Because the natural body clock for most humans is somewhere between 24 and 25 hours, it is much easier to move it later. I’m sure anyone who has been through both parts of Daylight Savings Time can appreciate that fact.
So, if you’re moving bedtime later, you may be able to make changes of as much as one or two hours a day. On the other hand, if you’re moving it earlier, you should limit your changes to 15 to 30 minutes a day.
In either case, pay attention to how your child is acting. If you’ve done this right, you should be able to find clues that your child is ready to go to sleep.
You need to be aware that there is a perfect time when your child can be put to sleep. If you try too early, they will be resistant because they are not tired. If you wait too long (a more common problem), they are overtired and will fight sleep (see more on overtired issues in Secret #4 above).
Signs that your child is ready to sleep may be a slight calming or distant look in your child’s eyes, and if you pay close attention you will learn to read his or her signals. As a good bedtime ritual will start to trigger the hormones that bring on the sleep wave, moving the beginning of the ritual will help adjust the timing of the wave.
So, there you have your 6 Baby Sleep Secrets. Please make sure you put the tips to good use as although they are very simple and quick to implement, they can be very effective in helping babies to sleep.
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“I followed your guide and I’m extremely happy to say that my little boy now sleeps through the night. Many thanks for all the help. Scott”
You can see full details of the audio program by CLICKING HERE or if you are in the USA and prefer to receive a CD in the mail, then please Click Here.