The Happiest Baby on the Block and The Happiest Toddler on the Block 2-Book Bundle pdfdrive com

At Allison’s two-month checkup, her mother told me Ally
slept only for three-hour stretches at night. Shaya
confided that getting up so often was wearing her down
and making it hard for her to be patient with her other
two young children.
I asked Shaya if she was still swaddling Ally at night.
She wasn’t. “I stopped about a month ago because the

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nights have been so warm and she always gets out of it!” I
suggested she dress Ally in just a diaper, wrap her tightly
in a larger blanket that could be securely tucked around
her, and play some loud white noise in her room. The next
week Shaya reported the good news. Allison, now tightly
swaddled, was sleeping on her back for eight hours every
night, without interruption.
Ahhh … sleep!
For most new parents, a good night’s sleep is the pot of gold at the end
of the rainbow, shimmering in your sleep-deprived mind like a mirage.
Newborns sleep in such short dribs and drabs that we should never brag
we’re “sleeping like a baby.” It makes much more sense to say we’re
sleeping like a bear, or a ditch digger, or, better yet, like a new parent.
Why don’t babies sleep more? Your baby actually sleeps quite a bit;
however, nature could have been a teensy bit more considerate about
helping your baby choose when to enjoy his sweet dreams. Most
newborns distribute their snooze time pretty evenly throughout the night
(and day).
Mothers around the world usually take the erratic timing of these
sleep periods in stride. Many years ago, Dr. T. Berry Brazelton reported
that babies in rural Mexico also had evening fussy periods, just like our
babies. However, their mothers were amused rather than upset by this,
joking that since adults gab all day long, nighttime was a baby’s turn to
talk.
Anthropologists observing the !Kung San of southern Africa found
their babies woke as often as every fifteen minutes. Their moms
responded by pulling them to the breast for a little snack. Usually, they
would fall back asleep in seconds.
In the U.S., most parents prefer to let their newborn sleep in a bassinet
by their bed. For the first few months of life, your baby will likely
request the pleasure of your company for a meal every two to four hours
throughout the night. Bottle-fed babies often sleep a bit longer, because
formula turns into big curds that sit in the stomach longer than the
easily digested, tinier curds of breast milk.
I’m sure it’s hard to believe right now, but your baby’s early-morning

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feedings may turn into some of your sweetest memories. Those beautiful
moments—when all noise and commotion are stilled—may make you
feel like you’re floating in a cloud suspended in time. Gretchen, mother
of three, said, “Our two-month-old, Julian, will be our last baby, and as
crazy as it sounds, I look forward to nursing him in the middle of the
night! It’s the only time when we can really be alone, and I get to enjoy
my delicious little boy in peace and quiet.”