Growth Spurts

There's nothing more frustrating than finally getting to know and understand your newborn and BOOM...first growth spurt. Or when your baby finally starts to sleep for a good stretch, and she hits a growth spurt and throws everything off. A growth spurt can totally confuse everyone and mess up any pattern or schedule your baby may have had.

So what is a growth spurt?

A growth spurt is when your baby grows in height and weight, at a very rapid rate, in a short amount of time. In turn, requiring a lot more feedings to supply the demand of her rapidly growing body. During the first year growth spurts usually happen around 7 days, 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 9 months.

What does a typical growth spurt look like?

Well, up until you may have had a very predictable baby, who wakes to eat every 2-3 hours and goes right back to sleep. Now it seems you can't get her off the bottle or breast. She will feed on demand, and very often. She will be fussy and hard to put to sleep. You will find she is awake more than she is asleep, which will make her overtired and even more cranky. If you are breast-feeding, it may be a little more difficult for you, because your body will have to supply the sudden increase in demand of your baby's growing needs. It will seem as if your baby is on your breast all day.

But guess what? This is all NORMAL. Every baby goes through growth spurts and every mom gets through them. Growth spurts typically last about 3 days.

What to do

It's going to be a tough few days but the best way to keep baby happy is to feed her when she wants to eat, even if you just did it a half hour ago. If you are breast-feeding, don't give up just because you think you won't be able to keep up. Don't forget breast-feeding works on supply and demand. So if baby is emptying your breast, your breast will in turn produce more milk. Drink plenty of fluids, get rest when you can, and try your best to tough it out. And keep telling yourself that this will only last a few days. If this is going on for more than just a few days, then it could be a sleep regression. Take a look at my article on sleep regression here.

And if you need a little humor, here is a funny letter from a baby going through a growth spurt:

Dear Parents,

 I am your brand new, wonderful baby. I have very simple needs, but I cannot communicate them to you, therefore, I am a mystery. I also am changing very rapidly, and every day will be different. I promise you–DIFFERENT. Make no assumptions, there are no patterns, just when you think you know who I am and what I like, I will CHANGE. Oh, and let me tell you about my first growth spurt. It will happen sometime when I am 2-3 weeks old, and it will come out of nowhere, like a bolt of lightning. Up until my growth spurt, I may have been a good nurser. You may have been banking on me sleeping at least 2 hour stretches at a time. You may have thought you had figured out what kind of bouncing or rocking or swaying or singing I enjoyed. You may have been gaining some confidence with your new parenting skills. HAH! I am here to tell you that my growth spurt will throw all of this out the window. It won’t just throw it out the window, it will toss it up, spit on it, tear it to shreds, set fire to the shreds, and then throw the ashes out the window all done while laughing maniacally. During my growth spurt, I will DEMAND food every hour, on the hour, and when you offer me your breasts, I will flail at them and spit them out because they will be EMPTY and so inadequate for my growing needs. I will not just be fussier than usual, I will be INCONSOLABLE. I will introduce you to several of my more distressing cries which I have been saving for just this occasion: the high-pitched wail, the piercing shriek, the crying-so-hard-I-choke-and-stop-breathing-for-awhile, the so-red-in-the-face-you’ll-think-you-need-to-call-911—these and other specialty cries I prepared for you. I will not let you sleep. AT ALL. EVER. You might have thought other parents were just joking when they said they literally got NO sleep, but really, TRULY, you WILL NOT SLEEP. You will spend 24 hours trying to comfort me. You will pull your hair out. You will wonder where you can return me to. You will question the decision you made to have a baby. You will question whey you ever wanted to have sex, ever, in your life, instead of joining a convent at the tender age of 13. You will be forced to watch an all-night Hugh Grant movie marathon in bleary sleep-deprivation while I gnaw and masticate your nipples to a pulp in my unending demand for milk, of which you are so unable to provide for me. And then, finally, when I pass out from exhaustion after wailing for 8 hours, I will only sleep for 2 hours before beginning the cycle all over again. THIS IS MY GROWTH SPURT! BE AFRAID! BE VERY AFRAID!l 

Zipadee-Zip Giveaway!

Has your baby out grown the swaddle and now you're wondering what life will be like without it? Have you been nervous about putting your baby down without swaddling, because you know she can't sleep without it? I bet you have been putting it off for so long that your baby is practically breaking free every night...and maybe even rolling over. Yea...I know, I've been there too, and so have many other parents.

I know you've been told many times that once your baby starts rolling over, it's no longer safe to swaddle. But what are you suppose to do when that's the only way your baby will fall asleep? Well...I did some research for you... and you're welcome! I have found something so genius, that I wish I had thought of it myself. It's called the Zipadee-Zip. It's a sleep sack that your baby can use if they have outgrown swaddling, and get this...your baby can roll over in it. You have to check out the videos on the website zipadeezip.com you will be amazed!

Stephanie, the creator of the Zipadee-Zip has generously offered to give away a Zippy to one of my lucky readers. All you have to do is enter through Rafflecopter below. It's really easy to use. All you have to do is login, so that I know how to contact you once you win. Then just simply complete one or more of the tasks, depending on how many entries you want to submit. Yes you can enter multiple entries! Winner will be chosen on July 3rd. Good luck everyone!

If you're not our lucky winner, but still want to purchase a Zippy, go to zipadeezip.com. Also, everyone can get a free customized sleep report from sleepsense.net.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Time to Share!

"The Biggest Cause of Baby Sleep Problems", explained by sleep specialist Dana Obleman.

For more information or sleep tips from Dana Obleman. Take a look at the Sleep Sense Program www.sleepsense.net

Baby Sleep Training: The Basics

So you decided that enough is enough! You need your sleep and sanity back! And the only way to do that is by creating some structure in your baby's sleep routine. Well sleep training will do just that. You don't have to think of sleep training as some harsh means of controlling your baby. And you certainly don't have to hear them cry all night. In fact, there doesn't have to be much crying at all. There are many things you can do to help your baby get to sleep, and stay asleep.

 Here are some of my best sleep training tips:

• The best place to start is a solid, and consistent bedtime routine, at a descent hour. This will help teach your baby predictability. The more they know what's coming, the more likely they are to accept it. You can start by something simple like a bath and reading a book. It doesn't have to be anything complex. As long as it is the same routine, every night, at the same time. Eventually your baby will get use to this routine and know it's time to go to bed 
•  Create a good sleeping environment. This may include things such as: room darkening shades, swaddling if your baby is young, comfortable jammies, proper room temperature. Anything you can do to make them as comfortable as can be, to promote a restful nights sleep.
• The next thing is a biggie. What I always try to teach everyone, is to put your baby to sleep drowsy but awake. This may be a little difficult but it is essential to getting your baby to sleep through the night. Your baby has to learn the skills to fall asleep independently, so that she may do the same when she wakes in the middle of the night. A baby that falls asleep, by rocking or nursing, will expect the same thing when they wake at night. A baby has many short sleep cycles, so they wake up a lot, and I'm pretty sure you don't want to keep running in her room to rock or nurse her back to sleep. Do yourself and your baby a favor and put her down to sleep awake. It's the best thing you can do for your baby's sleep. Just this step alone should solve most if not all of your sleep troubles.
• The next important step is to find a sleep training method or program. Sleep training is not easy, and neither is teaching your baby how to fall asleep independently. It's going to take major work and your going to need help, there's nothing wrong with that. There are many programs out there for you to choose, but most of them are divided into the following: Are you going to let your child cry it out until they fall asleep? Or are you going to go in and comfort them? Take a stand, and pick your program. There are some programs that utilize both crying and comforting, but if you feel uncomfortable with letting your baby cry at all, that won't work. So think long and hard about how you want to do this, because once you start, you're going to have to be firm and consistent. I highly recommend the Sleep Sense Program. I wrote a review on it here. If you don't want to buy a program, you can try a variety of different methods created by "sleep experts" to see what works, but this may take a lot more time and patience. It will be a trial and error kind of thing. To learn more about those methods refer to my article Baby Sleep Training: No Cry Methods There are also my least 2 favorite techniques "controlled crying", where you allow your baby to cry, but check on them at intervals, or just let them "cry it out" completely. There are many choices, pick something you feel comfortable with, and something you can actually see yourself committing to.
• The last, and most important piece of advice I can offer is be consistent, and don't give up! Whichever program or method you choose, no matter how hard it gets, and how badly you want to give up, stick to it! If your baby takes and hour to fall asleep the first night and 50 minutes the next, that's progress. Take every day at a time, don't look too far ahead and hope your baby is going to be sleeping through the night within a few days. Sleep training takes time, patience, and commitment. And think about what your poor baby is going through, this isn't easy for them either. They want to be able to just fall asleep and stay asleep too. It's a process you have to go through together. If your lucky you can sleep train your baby within a week, but for most it's going to take a bit longer. It's not easy, but I promise you the uninterrupted, blissful night's sleep, is so worth it in the end. Good luck, happy sleep training!

For more help and information on how to get your baby to sleep through the night, please take a look at my Personal Consultation Packages

How to Teach Your Baby to Fall Asleep Independently

Self sooth
Imagine putting your baby down to sleep awake and she just dozes off to sleep, completely on her own. You don't have to do any work. Just lay her down, and walk out of the room. She doesn't cry, whine, or get upset, just peacefully falls asleep. You would probably tell me that I'm nuts, and this is impossible! I don't blame you, I didn't think it was possible either, but it is. This is exactly how my little one falls asleep. I taught her to fall asleep on her own, and this is exactly what she does every night, no crying, no fighting. She is able to self soothe. The best part of teaching her to fall asleep on her own, is that she is able to fall back asleep in the middle of the night, when she wakes from a sleep cycle. Meaning no unnecessary nighttime wakings. (Read about why your baby should be falling asleep on her own here)

Getting your baby to self soothe, or fall asleep on his or her own is an amazing accomplishment, that will solve most, if not all of your sleep troubles. However, it is probably the hardest part of sleep training. I have answered many emails on an individual basis regarding this topic. I even wrote up my my own plan, to helping your babies fall asleep on their own, and emailed it out. What I have learned is that moms usually wait too long to address this problem. How can you all of the sudden teach a 6 month old to fall asleep on their own, when they have never done that before? They are going to put up a fight like you wouldn't believe! So here are some of my best tips to helping your baby fall asleep on her own.

• Solid bedtime routine. Make sure you have a consistent bedtime routine for your baby. Same routine, same time each night. This is very important, and I can't stress it enough. You can't expect a baby to cooperate when their sleep schedule is all over the place, or the routine is always different. A consistent routine gives your baby predicability. When they know what to expect they are more likely to accept it.
• Move feeding or nursing. If you are feeding or nursing your baby to sleep, you are going to want to break that sleep association. So what you do is move the feeding to the beginning of your bedtime routine. This way your baby has the opportunity to fall asleep on her own and not in your arms. If your routine was bath-book-feed. It should now be feed-bath-book. If your baby stays awake after a feed, it's fine to leave the feed as last in the routine.
• Put your baby down, "drowsy but awake". I know you have probably heard this a million times, but this is truly the best way to go about this. If your baby is wide awake, your going to have a hard time getting her to go down. So make sure she is very sleepy or "drowsy" before you lay her down.
• Pick a sleep training method and stick to it. Do it over and over if you have to. Even if that means you are picking your baby up, and putting her back down, over and over, like a maniac. The plan is that you pick a method and stick to your method. Your baby will eventually tire out and accept what you are trying to accomplish, and she will just fall asleep.
• Buy a good sleep training program. If you have tried different methods, and nothing is working, you may have to buy a program to help you. Chances are your baby may have very strong sleep associations, and this is not going to be any easy fix. I recommend the Sleep Sense Program. You can read my review on it here.
• Don't ignore your baby's cries. If your baby is crying, she is communicating a need. She's probably scared, after all, this is all new to her. Respond, and respond right away. Let your baby trust you. If she's crying and you don't respond, how will she ever learn to trust what you are teaching her? 
• Stay with your baby. Some babies feel more at ease knowing you are right beside them. Your baby needs to learn the skills to fall sleep on her own. Leaving her might scare her, and she won't even want to try to fall asleep. Eventually, when your baby masters this, you won't have to stay with her at all. But in the beginning you're going to have to show her that you won't leave her and it's ok for her to fall asleep.
• Don't give up! This is most important. Many times moms see how difficult and overwhelming the first night can be, they give up, and don't get to see that it gets easier. The second night is easier than the first, and the third gets even better. By the end of the week your baby will most likely be falling asleep on her own in under 5 minutes. Even if it takes 2 weeks, that's a great accomplishment, so don't give up!

Remember that you don't have to stop nursing, rocking, or cuddling your baby, to teach her to fall asleep on her own. In fact I encourage an abundance of that. Just don't let that, be the reason she falls asleep. You can incorporate nursing, rocking, or anything else your baby enjoys into your bedtime routine. Just make sure your baby stays awake, so that she can fall asleep on her own in the end.

Teaching a baby to fall asleep on her own is one of my specialties. For more advice or a step by step process take a look at my Consultation Packages.