SLEEP is a most precious thing – as human beings we need it to function well.

As a new parent you may find that sleep, and not getting enough of it, are at the top of your list of challenges. Sleep loss can intensify negative emotions and may cause imbalances in blood sugar levels.

Some parents are blessed with babies that sleep right through the night although most parents don’t have this luxury and are walking the floorboards in the small hours tending to their baby’s needs.

There are some schools of thought that leaving a baby to cry themselves to sleep is a good way to sleep-train them. If a baby is left to cry without comforting taking place to settle them, the brain will flood with dangerous chemicals; this in turn can wire the brain so that when a child grows older they are less resilient.

Some tips to help improve your baby’s sleep habits:

- Try to make night time different to day time – expose your baby to as much daylight and fresh air as possible during the daytime.

- Make sure the room your baby sleeps in is not too cold or overly warm.

- Use blackout blinds to make the room dark.

- Introduce some simple massage strokes to your nightly routine – this will relax both you and your baby.

One thing I do know is while this can be a testing time it does not last forever – believe it or not there will come a time in your parenting journey when sleeping is all your child wants to do!

See: www.parentandbabycoach.co.uk

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