EXCERPT

AFTER WORKING WITH newborns for more than twenty-five years, I have come to see that babies are soothed by very specific conditions. Conditions similar to those in the womb. But most parents aren’t aware of what a baby needs and so they rock, sing a lullaby, or jiggle the little angel to sleep. And paradoxically, the very things parents do to encourage sleep actually hinders it. While a baby’s need for sleep is biologic, his ability to fall asleep is learned. And a great deal of learning takes place in the womb even before the baby is born. The secret is to restore conditions similar to those in the womb in order to trigger sleep responses. But what conditions are those? And how do they help?

As you will soon discover, the answers to these questions shed light on how you handle bedtime and help you understand the world through your baby’s eyes. Better yet, you will learn how to woo your baby to sleep and help her stay asleep longer.

Newborns sleep like a baby. They fall asleep without an effort and stay asleep for extended periods of time. Newborns sleep well because the stress of the birth leaves them exhausted and drugs used during the delivery may cause drowsiness. However, by a month of age, the honeymoon is over, and many a youngster begins to resist bedtime. At this point, many parents don’t know what to do. With sleep deprivation overcoming them, they innocently choose the path of least resistance — which, unfortunately, leads to a slippery slope. Thankfully, this does not have to be the path you choose.