|
Ask Us Query: |
| Dear Slovie,
My husband and I have one adorable 11 month old baby boy. He is a very smart and determined boy and we see it by his actions. He is not willing to give up. We have been having trouble putting him to sleep and helping him to sleep for longer periods of time throughout the night. We have gone through a few methods and none have seemed to work. He sleeps for 3 to 4 hours, then wakes up and I have tried letting him cry, and holding him and then putting him down but he still crys. At the end I give up and bring him to my bed and nurse him. My husband has been so caring yet he is also running low on sleep and it is effecting his health. I try to get up and make sure he doesn't cry, so not to wake up my husband, yet it isn't always possible. I feel that our baby is also more tired due to not having a restful sleep. Please advise me as to what I can do.
Thank you for everything.
Sara |
|
Reply: |
| Dear Sara,
One of the most important ingredients of 'good parenting' is "menuchas hanefesh"- serenity within. When parents are overtired and stressed, thier patience level is definitely lower and thier parenting is affected. Your baby is now at an age that he can go without food in the night. The problem is , he doesn't know how to put himself back to sleep when he wakes up in middle of the night. (most of us, even adults, wake up at times and then we put ourselves back to sleep). this is a skill for you now to work on. How do you put him to sleep? do you rock him, hold him or stay with him until he is sleeping? If so, then when he wakes up he is looking for the same comfort and method to fall back asleep. work now on getting him to fall asleep on his own. You can stay with him a little and sing to him while he is in his crib or almost asleep, say shema, and then let him start the process of learning to fall asleep on his own. He may cry at first, it's ok, you can reassure him at intervals of time but each interval should then get a little longer. He will finally fall asleep on his own. Follow the same method in the middle of the night. Remember that this is not a 1 night or even 5 night instant fix. Have patience and you will find the intervals growing each night until finally, you will wake up one morning and realize that you have all slept through the night!
good luck and sweet dreams,
slovie |
|
Print |
|
<< Previous Question
|
Next Question >>
|
|
|
