Louise Williams, Certified Sleep Sense Consultant

info@easybabyconsulting.com702-858-5983
FacebookInstagram
Sleep Sense: ConsultantsSleep Sense: Consultants
Sleep Sense: Consultants
Pediatric Sleep Specialist
  • Home
  • Services /Consultations
    • Prenatal & Newborns
    • Infants
    • Toddlers and Preschoolers
    • Other
  • Seminars
  • About Us
    • Success Stories
    • Sleep Sense Philosophy
    • Meet Louise
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Services /Consultations
    • Prenatal & Newborns
    • Infants
    • Toddlers and Preschoolers
    • Other
  • Seminars
  • About Us
    • Success Stories
    • Sleep Sense Philosophy
    • Meet Louise
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Easy Baby Consulting
    Postnatal Support

HOW TO HANDLE A LIGHT SLEEPER?

Is your baby a light sleeper? Does he wake up every time you so much as walk past the bedroom door? Does baby go from fast asleep to wide awake the second you put him into the crib?

This is a VERY common complaint I get from parents. They say that their babies are just so easy to wake, and when they do, they’re exceedingly difficult to get back to sleep.

So first of all, let me dispel a little myth.

All babies are light sleepers, and all babies are heavy sleepers. So, for that matter, are all adults.

We all go from light sleep to heavy sleep and back again several times a night. Some babies spend more time in light sleep stages before slipping into deeper sleep, and some go from light sleep to deep sleep in almost no time at all, but everyone goes through these cycles every time they shut their eyes.

The truly restorative sleep, the stuff that does us the most good, is the NREM or “deep” sleep that we get in the middle of the cycles. That’s why some people can get by on less sleep than others, because they get more NREM sleep than those of us who spend more time in light sleep stages.

So when someone claims that their baby is a light sleeper, what they probably mean is that their baby tends to spend more time in light sleep than deep sleep, because that’s the easiest stage to wake up from. It’s when we dream and are more aware of our surroundings, so external noises tend to wake us up easier.

Babies also have shorter cycles than adults, and are therefore spend nearly twice as much time in light stages of sleep than grown ups. So if you’re finding that your baby is prone to waking up a lot, it’s partly a matter of inconvenient timing.

So what can you do about it? How can you teach a baby to spend more time in deep sleep?

Well, you can’t really. But what you can do is teach them to fall back to sleep on their own when they wake up. It’s a wonderful gift to give them, and it will benefit your entire family for years to come. Like..REALLY!

There are a lot of elements to teaching a baby to fall asleep independently, but the single most important one is the elimination of sleep props. By that, I mean anything that baby uses to help them fall asleep that they can’t provide on their own.

Pacifiers, rocking motions, and feeding are all good examples of sleep props. If baby needs a car ride to fall asleep, then they’re going to need another car ride when they wake up again at the end of the next sleep cycle. If they get rocked to sleep, they learn to rely on that motion as part of the process, so once they wake up at night, they’re stuck that way until you come in and help them get back to sleep.

This is often accompanied by a bunch of crying and fussing in order to get your attention, which wakes them up even further and requires more soothing to get them settled.

However, the babies that people refer to as “good sleepers” have the same sleep cycles as the ones who wake up crying. They’ve just gotten the hang of falling asleep on their own, so they wake up, squirm around a little, maybe babble to themselves for a bit, then go happily back to sleep.

So although you can’t stop your little one from waking up at night, you can absolutely teach them how to get back to sleep independently, and once you do, you and baby can both look forward to full nights of deep, rejuvenative, uninterrupted sleep.

And as always..I’m here to help you navigate these ‘puzzle pieces!

Sleep Well!

 

About the author

Louise Williams

Louise is a Certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant and the Founder/Owner of Easy Baby Consulting.

Related posts
How and how to ditch the pacifier.
November 18, 2020
Toddlers and Their Stalling Tactics
September 25, 2020
Dealing with Quarantine and Kids
April 20, 2020
8 tips to overcome jet lag with your child
February 11, 2020
Nighttime Potty training.
January 19, 2020
Developmental Milestones and Sleep
November 30, 2019
Leave Comment

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

clear formSubmit

Latest from the Blog
  • How and how to ditch the pacifier.

    How and how to ditch the pacifier.

    November 18, 2020
      Let me just say before I get rolling here, …Read More »
  • Toddlers and Their Stalling Tactics

    Toddlers and Their Stalling Tactics

    September 25, 2020
    Toddlers are fascinating creatures, aren’t they? Watching them develop into …Read More »
  • Dealing with Quarantine and Kids

    Dealing with Quarantine and Kids

    April 20, 2020
    What can I say? The past month has been… I …Read More »
  • 8 tips to overcome jet lag with your child

    8 tips to overcome jet lag with your child

    February 11, 2020
    So you’re traveling. Across several time zones. With a baby. …Read More »
  • Nighttime Potty training.

    Nighttime Potty training.

    January 19, 2020
    This is it mama. This is the final boss. The …Read More »
Why Should I Hire a Sleep Consultant?

“With all of the information that’s readily available online, and the resources you have at your disposal in the form of friends and family who have managed to get their kids to sleep, why would you want to invite a stranger into your home to get your child sleeping through the night?”

continue reading…

Removing Yourself From Bedtime Routine

So, perhaps that’s a bit of a misleading title.
I’m not suggesting that you can remove yourself from baby’s bedtime routine altogether. Even if you could somehow say to your child, “Alright. It’s almost bedtime. Go have a bath, brush your teeth, get into your PJs, read yourself a story and tuck yourself in. Mommy will be out here watching The Bachelor with a glass of wine if you need me.”

continue reading…

Sleep Sense: Consultants
© 2018. All Rights Reserved. Louise Williams: Certified Sleep Sense Consultant
Web Designed by SparkWeb Solutions
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
Footer Menu