A Parents Guide Towards Happy, Sleeping Babies from Birth
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Born and raised in Ireland, Tizzie Hall has worked with children and parents for many years, helping with customised sleep solutions for their babies. Tizzie started her Save Our Sleep (SOS) business in the United Kingdom in 1996 after tertiary psychology studies and a career in private childcare. She moved to Melbourne in 2002 where she has continued the success of her infant sleep solutions business. In thirteen years of operation, SOS has assisted thousands of children of all ages – mainly babies – to learn how to sleep through the night, every night. By sharing an insight into a baby’s sleep patterns, Tizzie has developed a method of putting parents at ease about their baby’s actions. She provides them with the skills they need to take control of their baby’s present and future development. As part of Save Our Sleep there is also a self-help website and store, www.saveoursleep.com, visited by thousands of parents a week. First published 2006 in Macmillan by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Limited This Macmillan edition published 2009 by Pan Macmillan Pty Limited 1 Market Street, Sydney Copyright © Tizzie Hall 2006 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. National Library of Australia cataloguing-in-publication data: Hall, Tizzie. Save our sleep. Rev. ed. ISBN 978 1 4050 3952 9 Infants – Sleep. Infants – Care. 649.122 Text design by Deborah Parry Graphics Ltd Set in 12/14.5 Adobe Garamond by Midland Typesetters, Australia Printed in Australia by McPherson’s Printing Group Papers used by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. The publishers and their respective employees or agents, will not accept responsibility for injury or damage occasioned to any person as a result of participation in the activities described by this book. These electronic editions published in 2011 by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd 1 Market Street, Sydney 2000 The moral right of the author has been asserted. All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher. Save our Sleep Revised Edition Tizzie Hall Adobe eReader format 978-1-74262-705-2 EPub format 978-1-74262-707-6 Online format 978-1-74262-704-5 Macmillan Digital Australia www.macmillandigital.com.au Visit www.panmacmillan.com.au to read more about all our books and to buy both print and ebooks online. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events. This book is dedicated to the memory of my baby brother Richard, whose own short life had such a big effect on the way I have lived mine. To Richard: there will always be a special place in my heart for you. CONTENTS Metric Conversion Table Author’s note 1 Getting started 2 Feeding in the first two weeks 3 Things affecting sleep and settling 4 Sleeping and settling 5 Routines from birth to introducing solids 6 The weaning process 7 Routines from starting solids to 24 months 8 Multiple love and early arrivals 9 Solving sleep problems 10 Breaks to the routine 11 Special situations 12 Common health concerns 13 Sudden Infant Death Syndrome From the parents Appendix Index Metric conversion table The birth weight of babies can be measured in both imperial and metric measurements. 1 inch 2.54 millimetres 1 ounce 28.3 grams 1 pound 454 grams 1 centimetre 0.394 inches 1 gram 0.0353 ounces 1 kilogram 2.20 pounds AUTHOR’S NOTE From early childhood, all I ever wanted was a baby so that I could practice being a mummy. I was elated when at seven my baby brother Richard was born but, after just nine weeks, Richard died suddenly of cot death (SIDS). From this point I became the big sister to every baby I could find. When parents came to school to pick up their children I would dash to those with a baby and ask if I could have a cuddle. On Sundays I was not beside my family in their church pew but rather sitting in one with a baby I could hold. In retrospect, I think those parents allowed me to interact with their babies because they realised how deeply the loss of Richard had impacted upon me. I was nine when it struck me that I could help parents understand the message in their baby’s cry. I had regularly taken a neighbour’s baby Peter out for a walk by myself, but one day his mother decided she would accompany us. After strolling for about five minutes, Peter started to cry and his mother immediately stopped to pick him up. When I counselled, ‘Don’t pick him up, that is his going-to-sleep cry,’ she looked at me strangely. I explained that he always cried at this point during our walk but I never disturbed him because my mother had instructed me not to pick a baby up until I was on the green (a soft, grassy field where we played as children). By the time I reached the green, Peter would be fast asleep. That day his mother agreed to leave him until we’d reached the green, possibly to prove me wrong, however, baby Peter had fallen asleep just as I’d predicted. It wasn’t long before all the mums in our neighbourhood called me when they couldn’t calm or comfort their crying babies. Very quickly I learnt to read their babies’ body language and cries and I soon became known as the local baby interpreter. Over the years I have been labelled with all sorts of names, including the baby coach, baby whisperer, miracle worker and even the baby witch! Despite this last tag, I insist there is no magic wand or witchery involved. After completing school in Ireland I moved to England to continue studying. While studying I worked as a part time nanny which enabled me to keep practising and refining my skills. My reputation as a baby whisperer spread, and it wasn’t long before I was again receiving calls at all hours of the day and night from desperate parents seeking help with their babies. Always, and often within hours, I resolved problems such as babies not sleeping through the night, not taking their bottles, or refusing to give up their dummies. In 2002 I moved to Australia and soon discovered that the need for help was as great on this side of the globe. Over the years, hundreds of parents have repeatedly told me the same two things: first, ‘You should write a book,’ and second, ‘You should clone yourself so more parents can get help.’ A book seemed the easier option. This book is not a medical or scientific volume but a collection of tried and tested solutions and tips based on my many years of experience with babies and young children. Its main purpose is to help parents understand and avoid sleep problems in young babies and toddlers. Some parents might only discover it when they are already experiencing sleepless nights, but don’t worry, it’s never too late for help. You should extract the advice which best fits with your life and beliefs. I am hoping this book will give parents the confidence to take control of their babies’ behavioural patterns – and as a bonus give me more time to devote to my husband, Nathan, and our family! Throughout this book I have used real client case studies I have come across during my work to help explain problems you may encounter. Although all names have been changed I am sure some clients will recognise themselves; so thank you for allowing me to use your case studies in this book. I would like to say a big thank you to all the families who have shared their babies with me and to Alex Craig my publisher, Julie Crisp my editor, and everyone at Pan Macmillan Australia for all your help and support. This book would not have been possible without you all. To those parents who are new to Save Our Sleep, welcome. I hope this book will help you get even more joy and happiness from your new baby. 1 GETTING STARTED Everyone needs sleep, whether you’re a newborn of just a few weeks or a fully grown adult. While adults are pretty adept at putting themselves to bed and sleeping the night through, with children it can be a little more complicated. In this chapter I discuss the different factors that can affect how well your baby sleeps and how anything from routines through to how we react can make the difference between a night’s uninterrupted sleep or the tossing and turning that comes with having an unsettled child. Many people are not aware of how they sleep. We do not go to bed and sleep all night without waking; most adults surface at least twice during the night. During the night we sleep in cycles, drifting from light sleep to deep sleep. In between these stages we briefly come to the surface without awakening fully and may toss and turn, trying to get back into our original sleeping position, but usually we fall right back to sleep and have no memory of this in the morning.