Blogs

Nothing makes me happier than a Sleepytot fan. Especially one who has a SLEEPYTOT CAKE for his first birthday!

So when Koby's mum sent me this message and the piccies, I was literally ecstatic!

" Hiya from Australia,

My baby boy Koby turns 1 today so I made him this very special cake. Bunny has been a god send for us since he was 2 months old and still is! Ones always soaking in Napisan and the other with my boy always. Koby rubs his face with bunnys ears to help soothe and relax him.

Happy birthday Koby and Bunny"

Happy birthday Koby and Bunny from all of us at Sleepytot too!

I also LOVE the picture of Koby smiling with all his Sleepytots. Gorgeous isn't it?

And Koby's mum, what a fab cake maker you are! We're all very impressed here at Sleepytot!

We think you both deserve a "Star of the Blog" t-shirt but we only do them for small people!

Could your little one be star of the blog next week? Send your piccies in to info@sleepytot.com!

Although at Sleepytot we aim to make getting your little ones to sleep as easy as possible, it can still sometimes be a tricky (and tiring affair). So, to treat those hardworking mums and dads, or to congratulate new parents on their new arrival, we’ve teamed up with online flower experts Clare Florist to offer one lucky customer the chance to win a beautiful bouquet of spring blooms.

The winner will get to choose their favourite from three spectacular bouquets: the blue baby boy bouquet, featuring iris, white roses and gerbera; the pink baby girl bouquet, featuring roses, white freesia and pink gerbera, or the sweetly-scented Freesia Fragrance bouquet in shades of yellow and purple.

To win your favourite bouquet, all you need to do is leave your answer to the following question in the comments below:

What’s your favourite thing about springtime?

We'll select one lucky winner in a prize draw! Competition closes on 31 May 2012.

Clare Florist have a beautiful new baby range and offer next day flower delivery, so make sure you check out their full selection now.

For competition terms and conditions, please visit our competitions page.

Results of a study of around 900 women in Brazil looks at the effect of caffeine on baby sleep.

My daughter is 7 this month. Predictably I am stunned at where that time has gone. I started thinking about how different pregnancy and childrearing was for my mum 30-40 years ago, which brought me to thinking about, actually, how different my pregnancies with my daughter, in 2005 and son in 2009 were.

In 2005 nuts were bad, caffeine was ok (not that I could consume it without being sick), soft eggs were out. In 2009nuts were suddenly good as they may prevent allergies, coffee was forbidden and eggs? I don’t know. To be honest I had become so conditioned during pregnancy number one that I struggled to drop the items that had been banned and were suddenly allowed but I did pick up the newest item on the forbidden list; caffeine. And boy did I miss it!

So is caffeine really the enemy? I mean, no one can say that it is GOOD for you, but in small doses is it really that bad during pregnancy? And does the odd cup of coffee whilst breastfeeding result in a baby that will keep you up partying all night?

Small studies over the years gave the mixed conclusions that had our healthcare providers swinging from one set of advice to another where caffeine is concerned. However, over the last couple of years there have been much bigger studies that showed caffeine in moderation (about 200mg or 1 -2 cups of coffee per day) didn’t pose a risk during pregnancy. So if you can hold it down there now appears to be no reason why you can’t have the odd latte whilst pregnant.

When I breastfed my children I never had caffeine before a feed, thinking that, like alcohol, it would go directly to the baby via my milk. But in actual fact no one has known whether caffeine intake while feeding affects a baby’s sleep, until this recent study by Dr Santos from Federal University of Pelotas in Brazil.

For the study, Dr Santos, questioned 885 mothers about their caffeine intake and baby’s sleep at the age of 3 months. 884 of the mums drank caffeine in some form during pregnancy, with 20% drinking over 300mg a day (2-4 cups of coffee) during pregnancy and 14% within 3 months of having their baby. Overall, researchers could find no link between the frequency of the baby’s waking and the mother’s caffeine intake.

14% of babies woke 3 or more times during the night, which was considered frequent but the study showed that the mums who consumed more caffeine were not more likely to wake than those who consumed little or no caffeine.

The study seems to show that limited caffeine intake of 200 mg or less (about 2 cups of instant coffee, 1 ½ of brewed coffee or 6 cups of tea) during pregnancy poses no risk to your baby, although there is not enough research to show the effects of heavy caffeine consumption on a baby’s development during pregnancy. As caffeine is a stimulant, heavy consumption will cause your baby’s heart rate to rise so it’s best to stick to moderate to low caffeine consumption during pregnancy, particularly the first months.

The study also concludes that drinking 300mg of caffeine or less whilst breastfeeding is fine, provided your baby is full-term and a good weight as premature babies are less able to metabolise the small caffeine residue that will be in your breast milk. Further studies indicate that very high caffeine intake (much higher than 300mg) can cause a baby to be jittery and fidgety and harder to settle (so stay away from the energy drinks!).

Although I tend to follow what the doctors, health visitors or midwives say to the letter, it is hard to completely believe in what I am doing or not doing for the benefit of my unborn child, simply because the rules tend to change slightly with each new bit of research. My philosophy in parenting tends to be ‘follow the rules because, if you don’t and something goes wrong, you’ll never forgive yourself’.

With this research in mind, I don’t know what I would do if I became pregnant with my third child. I would probably steer clear of high-caffeine coffeefor the higher risk first three months, and then have a cup or two a day.  And whilst breastfeeding I would probably do what I have always done; keep the less healthy, more indulgent aspects of my diet (that would be the cup of coffee and the glass of wine!) for after a feed, giving my body time to metabolise it before the next feed. If the baby seemed restless or uncomfortable when I consumed caffeine I would cut it out for a day or two to see if that helped, just as I cut out onions while feeding my son and strawberries while feeding my daughter.

And I will always be mindful of what millions of us say all over the world; “My Mum successfully reared 5 children in a time when people ate and drank what they wanted”. I reckon almost anything in moderation is fine. What do you think?

After years of being told ‘breast is best’ by friends, families and health professionals, a study claims to show that formula fed babies are generally happier than breast fed ones.

A study designed to look at what affects a baby’s weight gain, both in the womb and after birth, showed that, whilst the baby’s gender, parents’ social circumstances and age appear to have little impact on the overall happiness of a baby, formula fed babies appeared to be more ‘manageable’ than breastfed or breast-and-formula (combination) fed babies.

But does that mean that breast isn’t best?

A study conducted by researchers from Cambridge, London and Paris found that formula fed babies seemed to smile more and cry less than breast fed and combination fed babies. The study also showed that formula fed babies settled to sleep more easily.

Researchers asked 316 Cambridge mothers to answer questions about their 3-month old babies. The questions were from an established ‘Infant Behaviour Questionnaire’ and covered ‘three dimensions’ of infant temperament, which scored babies on:

1.    how they reacted to stimulation; how often they laughed, cooed, smiled;

2.    how often they cried or became distressed, e.g. in the bath, when being changed;

3.    how easy they were to soothe and how able they were to settle themselves.

Of the 137 breastfed, 88 formula fed and 91 combination fed babies, the study showed that compared to formula fed babies, breastfed or combination fed babies, showed:

1.    Lower responses to stimulation (they smiled and cooed less).

2.    Higher emotional instability (cried more).

3.    Lower ability to regulate their own emotions (so they needed settling more).

So it would appear that mothers of breast and combination fed babies find their babies more ‘challenging’ than mothers of formula fed babies. However, the researchers pointed out that crying and being irritable is a method used by infant animals to communicate and to show that they need something.

Therefore, crying more, or needing to be soothed more, doesn’t necessarily mean that a baby is unhappier than a baby that cries less. It could just mean that they are expressing what they need in a way that comes naturally to them!

It may be, researchers say, that formula fed babies get more nutrients than they actually need. This means that they are, in effect, comfort eating. The feeling of being full all the time could make them appear more satisfied.

The study also didn’t consider other factors that may influence this result, such as:

1. What made the mother decide to breast or formula feed; anxiety about whether the breast fed baby was satisfied could affect the mothers’ ratings.

2. Whether the mother worked and whether there were other children in the home; issues and anxiety surrounding time spent with the baby could affect ratings.

3. The mother’s level of education; mothers who breast fed or combination fed tended to have achieved higher levels of education. It is possible that their scoring of their babies’ temperaments might have been affected by this.

4. Whether the description of the baby at 3 months is accurate; for example a baby may have been breast fed exclusively up until this point, then switched to formula.

It is also worth noting that the difference in the levels of each ‘dimension’ was also very small. It is unlikely that a difference in temperament would actually be noticeable if comparing two babies.

The researchers do admit that breast feeding is challenging for the mother and the baby but instead of reaching for the formula straight away mothers should instead be informed of the challenges involved and offered more support.

As a new parent, every decision is momentous! The consequences if you feel that you make the ‘wrong’ decision feel enormous and to add to it we have professionals, family and friends piling on the pressure to do what they think is ‘right’. Personally, I think that we all have different ideas on whether our child is having a good day or a bad one and those are all relative to how they are normally.

I have friends who have moved from breast to formula and found their baby slept better and generally seemed happier. But maybe their baby was intolerant to the breast milk? Or maybe the mum felt uncomfortable with breast feeding and the baby picked up on this anxiety? Or maybe it just didn’t work for them and formula was a route that left them both happier.

Maybe breast fed babies do cry more; if breastfeeding mums feed on demand then they will often wait for their baby to grizzle or cry before feeding them, whereas formula fed babies tend to have a feeding schedule and therefore have less reason to cry. As a mother who breastfed it is not the idea that my babies might have cried more but that they might have smiled LESS that worries me. My biggest concern, however, is that, so often, articles that show findings of research don’t give the full picture and we are so often led to making what we believe to be educated decisions when in fact we only have half of the information.

At the end of the day, we are all here to do what is best for our children and, in my opinion there is only one person whose instincts you can really trust; and that’s your own!

What is your experience of breastfeeding and formula? Do you think that your formula baby seemed happier?

Here's Lizzie with her Sleepytot when she was 20 months old. She's now given up her dummies and here's what her mum has to say.

"I got a Sleepytot for my 8 month old daughter as the screams when she lost her dummy in the night were unbareable, it worked the 1st night and from then on Lizzie and her Sleepytot are never apart and they have become best friends.

Lizzie was 20 months old in the photo i have enclosed and it was taken 2 days before i removed the dummy from her Bestfriends hand and when i did i was amazed at Lizzie's reaction she turned her Sleepytot around a few times and then rolled over cuddled her Sleepytot and went to sleep.

She loved her Bunny so much that the fact there was no more dummy the friendship with her Bunny was enough to comfort her. Lizzie is now 2 and still very much Bestfriends with  Bunny (lizzie's name for her Sleepytot) and goes everywhere with us.

Thank You Sleepytot for comfoting my baby and for now comforting my little lady and making the transaction a breeze :)"

Well done Lizzie for giving up your dummies! A Sleepytot Star t-shirt is on its way!

Would you like to win a Sleepytot Star bodysuit or t-shirt for your small person? Just send us your pictures of your little one with the Sleepytot Baby Comforter!

Our stars of the blog this week are Eadie and her daddy, Denis, from London.

Don't they look peaceful?

Why not send in your photos of your small person and Sleepytot to win your little one a Star of the Blog bodysuit or t-shirt!

Just email your photos to lucy@sleepytot.com.

Colic in babies is a common problem that usually arises when a baby is between 2 and 4 weeks old and lasts until they are around 12 weeks. Whilst colic eases with time and there is no evidence to suggest that it is harmful to babies, it can be distressing and tiring for parents.

What causes colic?

According to NHS statistics as many as one in five babies suffer from colic. No one really knows what causes it but there are several theories. These include:

• Some doctors think that colic is caused by slow bowel movements which means that the air in the baby’s bowel spreads into their intestines and causes them pain
• Some believe that colic is linked to eating too fast, or too much, or the baby swallowing too much air when they feed and being unable to bring the wind up
• A few people think that there are links between diet and colic; whether the mother drinks cows’ milk, for example
• Some mothers see links between colic and other food
• Others have suggested colic is simply the result of extreme overstimulation and tiredness in babies which reaches its peak by the end of the day
• The most common theory is that colic in babies is caused by the baby’s intestines working too hard, causing cramp.

Signs of colic

There are several signs that your baby has colic. But remember that colic isn’t the only cause of discomfort in babies and if your baby is crying excessively for long periods of time and can’t be comforted you should speak to your health visitor or doctor immediately.

Your baby may have colic if:

• His stomach feels hard and swollen
• He cries inconsolably for 2 to 3 hours at a time, often at the same time of day and usually once or twice a day
• He suffers from bowel pains; they show this by pulling their legs up to their stomach and clenching their fists
• His tummy is very noisy and he produces lots of wind

Colic and diet

Some people believe that the mother’s diet can affect breastfed babies. There is anecdotal evidence that stopping eating certain foods whilst breastfeeding can relieve discomfort in babies. The only real way to test this is to try it yourself; you may notice that your baby is more distressed after you have had a garlic-laden meal or a bowl of strawberries. Stopping something for a little while, and then gradually reintroducing it, can help.

Food and drinks that may cause colic or windy babies include:

• Onions and garlic
• Green leafy vegetables, such as broccoli and cabbage
• Strawberries, apples, plums
• Orange juice
• Products high in caffeine such as coffee, tea and chocolate

If you notice that your baby is better on some days than others it may be worth keeping a food diary so that you can see if a pattern emerges between the food that you eat and your baby’s digestive system. If you think you can see a pattern, try cutting out one thing at a time, leaving a couple of days between changes so that you can see what makes a difference.

What you can do

Colic can be very difficult for parents as they experience a feeling of helplessness. There are a few things that can help and, again, you can use trial and error to see if any of them work for you and your baby. These include:

• Swaddling your baby or holding him close to your chest
• Carrying him around in a sling or rocking him
• Taking your baby for a drive in the car or a walk in his buggy to calm him down
• Soothing music or white noise can help; try singing to your baby, shushing in their ear or putting them in the sling while you do the vacuuming!
• Try massaging your baby’s stomach. This can be both relaxing and can help your baby to pass wind. Move your hand in a circular motion going from left to right.
• Give your baby a relaxing warm bath.
• Have your baby as upright as possible when feeding and wind them regularly.

If your baby is formula fed:

• Try decreasing teat size to slow down the speed at which they drink. You could try changing formula brands to see if there is another one that suits your baby more.
• Try adding lactase drops to their milk (some mums say this has worked for their colicky babies).

Having a new baby can be a difficult and tiring time. Whether or not your baby has colic, try to rest and take time for you too. It may help to take it in turns with your partner to console your baby, and don’t be afraid to accept help from family and friends.

The most important thing to remember is that it isn’t your fault; it helps to know that millions of parents are experiencing the same and it will pass naturally with time. If you do have any concerns about your baby’s health your health visitor will be happy to offer you guidance.

So, my last blog was about getting back into routine in preparation for the start of the School term.

Following a summer of late nights spent on the beach (in the rain), having barbeques (in the rain) and a general, blissful, slackness of routine, I duly followed my own advice and gradually moved bedtime back to 7, waking my children up earlier in the morning in preparation for the term ahead.

3 weeks in we have endured the worst bedtime battles since my daughter was 3 (my 2 year old, thankfully, goes down pretty well). I joyfully got back into the usual routine: pj's, story, song, bed, and the new assurances I would check on them in 10 minutes.... only to have my daughter trundle downstairs within 5 minutes of me kissing her goodnight.

The usual excuses followed, from the mundane 'I'm hungry/thirsty' to 'can I have a cuddle?/ I have tummy ache' to the more imaginative 'Can snakes/ burglars/bears/people from the olden days get into our house?'

I would take her back upstairs, tuck her in, and the same would happen over and over again. I tried so hard to be patient and often succeeded but too many of the days over the last weeks have ended in tears (hers, mine or her little brother's who she succeeded in waking up) and guilt (mine!). A side portion of frustration and annoyance that our precious evenings were being ruined made for a pretty grim time!

And, of course, not getting to sleep until around 9 and waking early meant for a tired little girl. I'm a great believer in reward charts for learning new things or establishing new routines. However I also believe that going to bed, like saying 'please' or 'thank you' are givens, once established they shouldn't need rewards. It's also tough to explain to a 5 or 6 year old or older preschooler that last week they were rewarded for going to bed but this week it's expected; on some level to some children this may send a message that if they misbehave they get more reward in the end!

After the first week the situation was getting to me and the old gnawing in the stomach started as bedtime approached. It seemed that after 7 long weeks of having me around most days, the change in routine, newness of her class, new pupils and being away from me for the majority of most days had made my daughter anxious at bedtime.

So I took a piece of paper upstairs and taped it to her bed; a sticker chart for my husband and I, not for Alice! I promised her that every time we checked on her, whether she was asleep or awake we would put a sticker on the piece of paper, so when she woke in the night she could tell we were around and that we had been in to see her. And it worked! I went up after 15 minutes, then 20 and for the first time in weeks Alice was asleep before 8 (after lots of excitement from her at 7.30, saying 'I'm doing really well aren't I?!'.

I'll replace this with a fresh sheet of paper with a new note ("Night Night, Love you" etc) every night and keep going until my little girl can trust again that we are always around, even if we're not physically present for every moment of her day.

It was a good reminder for me, too, that while bad habits are frustrating and can be hard to break, we need to look at WHY our little ones are doing something not WHAT they are doing. Alice felt a little vulnerable and needed reassurance that we are ever present, whether she's at school or asleep. She was also as distressed by her inability to sleep as we were (well, nearly, anyway!).

I'm trying not to feel too guilty for not working that out last week instead of just thinking she was being naughty! It is tough to sleep train an older child; their ability to get downstairs unaided doesn't help and nor does their overactive imaginations. You can't control cry or return and check a 4, 5 or 6 year old! At this stage try taking a step back and looking at why your child's behaviour may have changed suddenly, there may be a change in routine or things going on at home. And I can highly recommend the parents' sticker chart! (and you can reward yourselves with a peaceful evening!).

Most mothers eagerly searching for ways to help their babies sleep through the night will have heard of if not considered the dream feed. But what exactly is it, does it work and why might it not be a good idea?

For those not entirely familiar with the concept, a dream feed is the last feed of the evening, usually given between 10pm and 11pm or just before parents go to bed themselves.

The trick is it’s given to babies while they are asleep, hence the name dream feed. This feed is to pre-empt hunger pangs which might wake babies up later on in the night, filling their tummies and helping them to sleep soundly until morning – or at least give babies and parents a longer stretch of sleep.

How to dream feed

Even as they sleep, on feeling the nipple or teat on their lips the suckling reflex is triggered and baby feeds. If baby is in a deep sleep, he may need a little coaxing by stroking his cheek or bottom lip. As babies are very relaxed during the feed they don’t need to be burped afterwards but can be gently returned to their cots.

It’s best to create as little disturbance as possible so only use low lighting, don’t interact with your baby and only change his nappy if it’s very wet or soiled.

Does it work?

So what’s not to love about the dream feed? Many parents swear by this method, crediting it with helping their babies to learn how to sleep through the night and giving everyone more rest from the early months. But others feel it simply doesn’t work, either because their babies are too sleepy to feed, difficult to settle back to sleep afterwards or still wake in the small hours for more milk.

Some experts have suggested that dream feeding creates a food habit that wasn’t there beforehand and that it disrupts a baby’s natural sleep cycle (which between the hours of 9pm and midnight is at its deepest).

There is also the issue of knowing when to give up dream feeding and the feeling that feeding a baby in its sleep when it hasn’t ‘asked’ for food is disrespectful.

As with so many baby techniques, opinions are divided. If you’re thinking of dream feeding, weight up the pros and cons before making a decision. It could be the solution to sleepless nights you’ve been praying for, but then again you may prefer to let your baby master longer stretches of sleep at night in his own time without this extra feed.

How about you, have you successfully dream fed your baby?

We’ve probably all got a bit slack with routines over the Summer Holiday, especially those who don’t need to be up for work every day. Our routine isn’t slack, as such; it’s just shifted over by an hour or so.

In term time it’s bed at 7, up at 7, but somehow over the last 6 weeks ‘normal’ bedtime is 8.30 and the children wake anything between 8 and 9 (don’t tell my husband but I’ve pretty much had 6 weeks of lie ins!).

Throughout the summer I planned on using the last week before my daughter went back to shool to move bedtime forward gradually, at the rate of about 15 minutes a day, until we were back to 7 o’clock bed. But a few days of exciting barbeques, evenings on the beach and sunshine soon made me forget my resolve!

If you are in a similar position and your children are sleeping later, try setting the alarm for 7 tomorrow morning. It may send a shudder of dread through you but it will pay off! Dragging your children out of bed bright and early will help them to settle earlier tomorrow night, ensuring they get a good night's sleep before school starts.

Try planning an activity for the day as well to keep them busy and keep the tired whining at bay, as well as making them extra tired for bed time!

If your child is starting school or nursery for the first time you may find that they need more sleep and become very tired. Nursery starters who have dropped daytime naps may need the odd nap after nursery. Try to allow them a bit of extra sleep; new experiences are tiring and the consistent routine can also take a bit of getting used to. It’s similar with school starters. Not only is it exciting being a big girl or boy and going to school, it’s very tiring too, with a whole new world of independence open to your child.

A good idea is to try (where possible) to keep the first week or so free, so that you have as few commitments as possible outside of school or nursery. That way, if you think your child is struggling you can move bedtime forward a little bit until they are settled. It won’t be long before you all slip into the new routine!

The up side of starting school is that if you have found it tough to get your preschooler into a good routine or to drop their daytime nap consistently and go to bed at a reasonable hour, starting school will probably give them the boost they need to settle into a good sleep routine.

For little ones starting nursery, a transitional object such as a comforter that can come to nursery with them on their first day, will help them feel secure. The Sleepytot Comforter can grab onto school bags so your small person will know he's nearby.

And if you're worried about your baby's sleep routine being affected by the school run, I can't recommend the Snoozeshade Buggy Blackout Blind highly enough. Just pop it on the buggy and your baby will sleep like dream as you dash back and forth to drop off and collect your older child. If you have any top tips for getting back into the routine and dusting off the alarm clock then let us know!

Ok, so we’ve all heard the saying ‘never wake a sleeping baby’ but there are times when you may need to. Babies don’t have the same sleep cycles as adults; they sleep for shorter periods of time and haven’t yet developed their circadian rhythm, which tells them when to feel sleepy or hungry. As they develop they will learn to tell the difference between night and day which will, in turn, help you to establish a good sleep routine.

There are no set rules for when you should wake a baby, you need to go with your instinct but you can follow these basic guidelines:

Newborn A newborn baby will do just as it needs to do in the early days; they tend to feed and sleep, feed and sleep without much in between!

It isn’t advisable (and almost impossible!) to wake a sleeping newborn but you can help them to learn the difference between night and day by keeping things light and busy in the daytime; don’t try to limit noise, just carry on as normally as possible! At night it is a good idea to try to keep things quiet and boring; keep their room dark and even when they wake at night for a feed keep it as quiet and dark as possible (so no singing or playing at 3 in the morning!).

If your baby is sleeping for more than four hours in the day you could try waking him by changing and washing him with a cool flannel, stroking or tickling his cheek or toes to get him ready for a feed. Often you may wake your baby for a feed and he will drop straight back off again! You could try stripping him down to his nappy as babies seem to respond to skin to skin contact, which helps them to stay more alert during feeding. If it is chilly lay a blanket over you and your baby to keep them warm. You could also let your baby suck your (clean!!!) finger for a few minutes to wake him up and prepare him for a feed. 

If you are worried that your newborn is sleeping too much and not feeding enough speak to your midwife.

6 weeks At this stage you can help your baby to tell when it is time to be awake and time to be asleep by interacting with her in awake time. Make it exciting with daylight, fresh air, singing, play mats and cuddles. This doesn’t mean you have to be looking at your baby every second she is awake (although you might want to!); lay her on a mat on the floor in a safe place within sight and let her look around her; quiet time alone and awake is important for her development too, as well as giving you a chance to put the washing on, make lunch or sit down and have a cuppa!

As far as possible make sure that your baby’s nap time is in a quiet environment. Darkness can help a restless or easily stimulated baby to settle. You could try using soothing sleep sounds to lull your baby to sleep. Maintain this quiet environment as long as they are supposed to be asleep, so that when they do stir between sleep cycles they feel secure and sleepy and can go back to sleep by themselves.

If you want to wake your baby for a feed or to establish a routine, try switching on all the lights and doing things in her room, such as putting clothes away. Sing a song, don’t try to be quiet but at the same time don’t be too noisy! You don’t want her to wake up frightened. Bustle around the room for a few minutes, open the window and allow your baby to wake up gradually but securely.

If you are waking your baby to establish or change a routine (if, for example, her last nap is too late and you want her to settle for the night earlier), don’t try to do too much too quickly. Gradually wake her up 5 or 10 minutes earlier each day so that you can put her down earlier at night until she is waking at the right time for her age (see How Much Should My Baby Sleep).

Remember that your baby is constantly developing, physically and mentally and as a result her sleep needs will change too. So don’t panic if your baby is sleeping more, she’s probably getting ready for a growth spurt or a developmental leap. Only start waking your baby if you think that long naps are affecting her nighttime sleep or that she isn’t feeding enough in the day.

6 months and upwards At this stage you will probably have established a fairly consistent routine. Although your baby is still developing at an amazing rate, his sleep needs are probably changing on a monthly basis rather than weekly (or sometimes daily!).  You may want to wake your baby up from a nap because you are worried that his sleeping too long will affect his daytime routine or bedtime. You may want to wake him up in the morning if you want to move his bedtime forward because he is settling too late at night.

You can wake your older baby by lightening the room and allowing normal daytime noise (housework, singing etc). If he doesn’t wake in this way pick him up and give him quiet cuddles until he gradually wakes. Whatever age your baby is, it is important that you wake him or her gradually. None of us likes being woken with a start and it is especially scary for a baby who doesn’t yet have the ability to know what has woken them and that they don’t need to be afraid. By waking your baby gradually and gently they should wake up contented instead of grumpy!

If you are waking your baby because you want to change his sleep or awake times (for example, if he is sleeping too late in the afternoon, which then affects his bedtime which then affects his morning waking time), do so gradually a few minutes earlier each day. Suddenly waking your baby an hour earlier is likely to result in an overtired, grouchy baby who is even harder to settle!

If you are not sure whether you should wake your baby it can help to keep a sleep diary. You may see a pattern emerging which will help you to find the right amount of daytime and nighttime sleep for your little one. Remember everyone is different and we all need different amounts of sleep. The guidelines given are just that; some babies will need more and some less and it is only through getting to know your baby and his sleep habits that you will establish the right balance for you and your family.

This week's Star of the Blog is adorable little Ruby.

Here's what Ruby's mummy has to say about Sleepytot:

"I just wanted to thank you for selling such an innovative solution all
parents face - the endless sleepless nights of dummy flinging (should
be a new baby sport).  My Ruby now no longer wakes in the night or day
and cries for her dummy.  Infact with her Sleepytot Bunny she feels
around for it with her eyes closed and in the dummy goes.  I would
highly recommend your product and already am doing so.

Thank you so much and keep up the good work.  I have attached a
picture of my Daughter just showing how content she is with it."

Thanks for sending in the picture and feedback!

Could your little one be "Star of the Blog" next week? Send your piccies to lucy@sleepytot.com.

Sleep – or lack of it – is an issue that preoccupies new parents more than most, so it’s no wonder that there are a number of myths surrounding this emotive subject. Let’s dispel a few of the most popular…

1. Formula fed babies sleep better

Contrary to popular belief, research has shown that regardless of feeding method new mums get roughly the same amount of sleep. While some mums feel formula helps their baby sleep and others argue that breastfeeding is much more convenient in the middle of the night, it’s worth bearing in mind that hunger isn’t normally the cause of sleep problems after 3 to 4 months of age.

2. Day time naps spoil night time sleep

While you don’t want your baby to sleep all day, day time naps are essential for helping babies to sleep well at night as they prevent babies from becoming overtired in the lead up to bedtime which in turn causes resistance to sleep and issues during the night.

3. Delaying bedtime will help babies fall asleep faster and sleep longer

Quite the opposite, a baby who becomes overtired is often difficult to settle, restless during the night and may well wake earlier as a result. A consistent, reasonable bedtime – say 7/7.30pm – and good daytime naps are far more likely to help your baby to sleep well at night and wake up refreshed in the morning.

4. Never wake a sleeping baby

This is one we’ve probably all heard before and as a result is something we might be reluctant to do. But in order to get babies into a good sleep routine and to teach them the difference between night and day, it’s sometimes necessary to wake a baby who might otherwise oversleep.

5. Babies will get all the sleep they need

Wouldn’t that be lovely? Baby’s tired so he drifts off and sleeps for just the right amount of time necessary in order to wake up happy and recharged… In truth, babies are all too capable of resisting sleep if they feel there’s more exciting stuff going on. It’s up to us as parents to help our children settle into a good routine and make sure they get enough sleep overall.

6. My baby’s just a bad sleeper

All babies are different when it comes to sleep; some need less, some need more and each prefers a certain routine. When it comes to sleep issues, most – if not all – can be overcome or aided with a little fine tuning.

7. Babies eventually outgrow sleep problems

Some causes of night time waking, like hunger, gradually fade as babies get older, but overall sleep problems need to be addressed in order to resolve them. A consistent bedtime and the ability to self-sooth are vital tools for good sleep, both of which parents are responsible for. Sleep habits are best formed early on as the longer a bad habit is reinforced the harder it is to break.

For lots more baby sleep advice… visit our baby and child sleep community!

We tend to believe parents and friends when they tell us our baby is sleepy, grumpy or hungry because they're having, or about to have, a growth spurt. Most of us have probably never really questioned whether or not this is true or whether it is an old wives’ tale. Or even a myth we accept because it makes us feel better to have a reason why our baby is slightly out of character or routine.

Well now there’s proof! A professor of anthropology at Emory University in the United States conducted a study to see if there really is truth behind the myth.  The study asked 23 sets of parents to keep a sleep diary for their baby. Results showed that babies can sleep up to a whopping 4 ½ hours longer in the day for two days, before a growth spurt.

Parents were asked to record sleep and waking times, whether the baby was breast or formula fed, and any other physical signs, such as illness (e.g. temperature, vomiting, rash) from when they were newborn (on average the diaries started at around 12 days) right through for between 4 and 17 months.  Of the 23 babies studied there were 9 boys and 14 girls.

The researchers regularly measured the babies' length (some of them weekly, some twice a week and some daily) and found a baby was 43% more likely to grow for each extra nap they had and 20% more likely for each extra hour. They got heavier as well as taller in this period, laying more fat around their tummies in particular. The study also showed that boys slept more often but for shorter periods of time. Breastfed babies also had shorter, more frequent naps. 

The theory is that babies don’t just grow more in their sleep but they also produce higher levels of growth hormones when they are in deep sleep. This is thought to encourage bone growth, which explains why children can wake up in the night complaining of aching bones (and probably babies too, but they can’t explain it!).

The results weren’t perfect; we all know babies aren’t that predictable! An increase in sleep wasn’t always followed by a growth spurt and a growth spurt wasn’t always preceeded by increased sleep. But it does show that there is a strong link between your child’s development and their sleep patterns.

What do you think? Does it make you feel better to know there is a reason for changes in your baby’s routine or sleep pattern? Have you noticed that your baby sleeps more for a couple of days and then suddenly nothing fits them?!