Sleep like a baby

I REMEMBER losing sleep over my baby not sleeping. I remember my aunts worrying about why the baby didn’t sleep like a baby! I also remember my neighbors lamenting over it with good reason—imagine intermittent crying spells through the night.

- Lakshmy Ramanathan

Everyone was worried that the baby was not getting enough sleep; everyone, except the baby itself.

So, last week, when a friend called me in a state of panic to share that her baby was showing no signs of sleeping, I had some pointers to share from my experience.

One of the top reasons for sleeplessness in babies (often accompanied with crying spells) is attributed to colic pain. Babies that suffer colic pain start sleeping only after the fourth month. Tough luck.

It is true that in babies, the growth hormones produced during sleep are triple that those produced at any given time. Most pediatricians have, however, concluded that today's babies grow up by spending the day exploring (creep, crawl, cruise), and reacting to their surroundings, with a couple of catnaps thrown in. Get help to assist with baby care, or you will get exhausted.