10 Things for New Moms to Know About Sleep（3）
Learn the signals.
Once baby is rubbing his eyes or yawning, he’s overtired, says Elizabeth Pantley, author of The No-Cry Nap Solution. This goes for nighttime and naptime. “I call it the volcano effect: if he doesn’t get the nap, he erupts.” Watch out, too, for what Pantley calls a micro-nap: that five-minute snooze baby takes in your arms or while in the swing or car seat. “The first five minutes of a nap reduce feelings of sleepiness, but they don’t rejuvenate baby,” she says. After this brief snooze, “baby is tired, but he can’t fall asleep, and he hasn’t had the benefits of a good nap.” And if he doesn’t get those naps during the day, he won’t sleep well at night.
Learn the signals.
Once baby is rubbing his eyes or yawning, he’s overtired, says Elizabeth Pantley, author of The No-Cry Nap Solution. This goes for nighttime and naptime. “I call it the volcano effect: if he doesn’t get the nap, he erupts.” Watch out, too, for what Pantley calls a micro-nap: that five-minute snooze baby takes in your arms or while in the swing or car seat. “The first five minutes of a nap reduce feelings of sleepiness, but they don’t rejuvenate baby,” she says. After this brief snooze, “baby is tired, but he can’t fall asleep, and he hasn’t had the benefits of a good nap.” And if he doesn’t get those naps during the day, he won’t sleep well at night.
Good sleepers run into snags.
“Even at 9 or 10 months, the best sleepers can have issues,” says Mindell, due to separation anxiety or developmental milestones. Whatever you do, don’t change the bedtime rules! Practice milestones like pulling up to standing during the day so he’s less apt to try this in his crib.
Surrender to baby’s schedule…really.
Kate Clow’s second daughter Nora was a good sleeper, but she woke each day at 5 a.m. Clow tried putting her to bed later and changing her nap times, but Nora was just an early bird. “I kept fighting it, but what finally made it work was adjusting my sleep schedule,” she says. That meant no more staying up late doing laundry, checking e-mail, or chatting with friends on the phone.