Is sleep a mystery?

Moms often ask me a question:

"Teacher, I'm so worried that the baby will wake up frequently tonight?"

It seems that they treat nighttime sleep as if they're opening a mystery box, such moms are really adorable~ 

And Ms. Sharon's answers are only of two types:

One is "It's not possible."

The other is... "Don't worry, they will definitely wake up frequently."

So: Night sleep is a result, not a mystery.

I would give this example: Night sleep is like a final exam, and daytime naps are like daily quizzes. If the average score of the daily quizzes is 90, then the final exam will definitely be around the same; if the average score of the quizzes is only 10, then... just adjust your mindset and face it, don't even ask yourself if you can score 90 in the final exam.

Let's talk about the grading criteria for these "daily quizzes."

Some moms say: "Teacher, my 3-month-old baby can sleep for 2 hours for each nap, and I let him take three naps during the day. But he still wakes up frequently at night. Is the quality of these naps still not good?"

Whether it's good or not, the baby decides. But since babies can't speak, they tell you through their night sleep. Clearly, the answer is "not good."

Because the judgment of nap quality not only considers the length but also the rhythm of the nap, the total amount of nap, and the way of falling asleep. Since there's already a problem with night sleep, we need to trace back and find out which part of the daytime nap went wrong.

Some might argue: "My baby is just 3 months old! He has a 2-hour wake-up interval! He can sleep for 2 hours every time! And he doesn't wake up at night!"

Accept the argument. If he sleeps well at night, it means the baby is telling you that everything is currently fine~ because not all babies need to sleep the same way!

So: Whether the daytime routine needs to be adjusted is based on the quality of night sleep. Ms. Sharon still says, if there's no problem with night sleep, it means the daytime routine meets the baby's needs, and nothing needs to be adjusted. If the baby needs adjustment, they will naturally signal you.

The chart shows a 4.5-month-old baby's questionnaire before sleep training and the sleep record after adjustment. We can see how the baby tells the mom that there's a problem with the daytime routine? That is 1-1.5 hours of long night awakenings.

To troubleshoot night awakenings, we need to start from several aspects. During the sleep training period, after the baby has learned to fall asleep on their own, but still has long night awakenings, then we need to start adjusting the rhythm of naps. Because this baby gets sleepy very early, Ms. Sharon suggests splitting the 3 naps into 4 naps, and not to wait for 2 hours before taking a long nap. This eventually solved the baby's long night awakening problem.

I believe many moms, in order to soothe one less nap or hope for faster soothing, prematurely combine the baby's naps, leading to frequent night awakenings and other problems. So, moms, now is the time to self-check~ If you're still clueless, make a one-on-one appointment with Ms. Sharon~ Let me handle all your worries~