Preparing for a new baby and still struggling with sleep?

Preparing for a new baby and still struggling with sleep? Whether you are thinking about another baby or already pregnant, it’s normal to have a lot of worries about how you’ll manage sleep with a newborn and your older child. If your child is still a challenging sleeper, it can add additional stress. In my work with parents, I hear a lot of the same questions and concerns.

Developmentally Appropriate Sleep Expectations: Birth to Age 5 (2024 Update)

This article features an outline of realistic expectations for your child’s sleep in the first 5 years, updated for 2022. It can be hard to know what healthy sleep patterns even are at each age. This article will cover healthy and developmentally appropriate sleep expectations for infants and toddlers by age. Download this as a PDF for an easy reference.

Your baby’s sleep is not a reflection of your parenting!

Your baby’s sleep is not a reflection of your parenting. Sleep is involuntary and not in anyone’s conscious control. A parent’s role isn’t to force or micro-manage a child’s sleep, but to set up conditions that support sleep. The goal is to create an environment where your child is tired, relaxed, and feels safe and secure in order to sleep well. And well for a baby includes some amount of waking.

Encouragement, Infant SleepGuest UserMarch 7, 2022parenting, infant sleep, sleep tips, sleep expectationsComment

Separation anxiety and sleep

Older baby and young toddler sleep is a dynamic time with many developmental changes that can affect sleep. One of these phases that can make sleep more of a challenge is separation anxiety. Understanding separation anxiety, sleep, and ways to support your little one through it can make this phase less of a struggle.

When will my baby sleep through the night?

So many parents start asking “When will my baby sleep through the night” early on in their child’s life. Our culture places a strong emphasis on babies sleeping through the night. This view shapes new parent’s focus and expectations. From friends to family to pediatricians the questions and messages are the same. It is your responsibility to get your baby sleeping through the night as soon as you can. If your baby doesn’t sleep for long stretches, then you are doing something wrong, hurting their development, and undermining their ability to sleep forever!

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