Baby Sleep Help - Natalie's Response

Mum Zone's resident Sleep Expert Natalie of Sleep and Settle is available to answer some of your questions about settling your baby and more.

Topics include: Sleeping and settling, moving from bassinette to cot, cot to bed, breastfeeding/formula, solids, floorplay for babies and play for toddlers/children, wrapping/sleeping bags/dressing baby, behaviour/tantrums, what's normal? bedroom environments, music, lights, entertainment, mattresses, mattress protectors, sheets, unsettled babies and the 0-12 week afternoon arsenic hours, reflux/colic, teething, worms, toilet training, night terrors/nightmares, the older child issues 5-10 years and single parenting/separation/divorce.

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Reader's Question

I've heard lots of theories in relation to routines. What are your views about getting a baby into some sort of routine? If you believe that it is beneficial, at what age should we start trying?

Natalie's Response

Hi,

Great question.

I love the idea of empowering you with a routine from birth in order to help you understand how to prevent overtiredness and create a great day or improve an unsettled one.

However a 'routine' means different things at different ages.

For babies 0-6 months - I encourage a flexible routine following a plan called Sleep/feed/play.
This is where baby has an awake time for feeding and playing and then sleeps, when they wake they feed and play and then sleep again, cycling through this pattern all day from your awake time until 7-9pm.

In following this routine you would be aware of your baby's age and the suggested awake times and sleep times that most babies are following for their particular age. This also allows baby to determine when they want to feed and how long they want to sleep for (within reason), rather than having a fixed feeding and sleeping schedule. While fixed feeding schedules may work for some families they are not recommended for breastfed babies as they may interfere with the baby's ability to demand feed and therefore mum's milk supply. Also, baby may not be hungry at your scheduled feed time and may instead wish to feed when they are due for a sleep therefore interfering with the efficiency of the feed and maybe the quality of the next sleep.

Eg:

You can see that we are still encouraging sensible uptimes and great sleeps it's just that we are meeting baby's needs for when they are hungry and tired.

For babies 6 months and older - they are ready for a fixed routine.
Around 6 months of age you will notice that baby is starting to have their sleeps at around the same time each day. They are letting you know they are ready for a fixed routine with 'windows of opportunity' for sleeps. Now we are encouraging sleeps around the same time each day but still waiting for baby to let us know when they are tired and following their lead.

Eg:

Happy Sleeping,

Natalie

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The opinions expressed on these pages are of a general nature and are by no means a substitute for professional advice. Therefore neither Mum Zone or Natalie Ebrill of Sleep and Settle are liable for any actions pertaining to the use of the supplied information.