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Posted by Rowena on October 05, 2002 at 18:18:10:
In Reply to: Re: Sleeping Through posted by Julia on October 04, 2002 at 07:08:10:
Julie, Julie the answer to your question on how to encourage your little one to sleep for longer naps, is to gently encourage him to rediscover his ability to settle without assistance. By placing him in his crib awake, comforting him when he cries but ultimately allowing him to fall asleep on his own. If you can achieve this each time he goes to sleep you will discover a huge improvement within 3 days. Consistency is important to avoid confusing him. Patience is also required because with any new skill it takes time but comes easier (and quicker)with practice. I hope this has been helpful.
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All humans sleep in cycles or waves i.e. go from light sleep to deep sleep, back to light sleep before waking briefly and going into another sleep cycle. For a very young baby a sleep cycle lasts around 20 - 40 minutes. The length of time increases with age. An adults sleep cycle is approx 90 minutes. Very young babies need to sleep through 2 or 3 sleep cycles between each feed. If a baby has learned to depend on his parent or caregiver to help him go to sleep e.g. feeding to sleep, patting, rocking or in arms just to name a few, he likely to wake after only one sleep cycle (because he doesn't how to settle himself back to sleep without help). The more overtired he becomes the longer it will take for him to settle (like he is fighting sleep), the sooner he will wake, and the more he will cry.