If you’re a parent with a young child then here’s a question that may make you yawn – what were you doing this morning at 1am, 3am or 5am. Were you sleeping like a baby or were you in fact cuddling and rocking your little cherub in an attempt to get them back to sleep? After all that’s what being a parent is all about – isn’t it?!

A lucky few will have been asleep in bed throughout the night, but a large percentage of the parenting population will have been up feeding or pacing the floor with the little bundles of joy.

Just as your newborn weaves magic through your heart, the effects of sleep deprivation can cast a spell on your body and mind. One child in three has real sleep issues before they reach school age, but these can be overcome in many cases – and it doesn’t have to involve leaving your baby to cry for hours on end.

So, Why Don’t Young Children Sleep?

We all sleep in cycles consisting of blocks of light and deep sleep. If you rock your baby to sleep or let them fall asleep at the breast before putting him down, you’re heading for problems. Your baby passes into a phase of light sleep and is more likely to wake as they realise they’re alone. They’ll cry, you’ll go back to them and because you don’t know any other way, you’ll pick them up, rock them back to sleep and put them back in their cot. And the cycle continues!

Common Sense Way

Controlled comforting was devised by Australian mother-craft nurse Rhonda Abrahams. It’s kinder than controlled crying. ‘A baby under 6 months should never be left to cry,’ says Ronda ‘older babies shouldn’t be left for more than 10 minutes crying.’

Rhonda based her technique on common sense. ‘Babies need to learn to go to sleep by themselves so that if they wake in the night they’re able to settle themselves back to sleep,’ she explains. To work, the techniques need to be used for all types of sleep, or your baby will get mixed messages. And little ones learn by repetition. So you should adopt this routine for both daytime and nighttime sleeps.

Ready or Not?

Before starting the programme?

Ensure your baby is well. If they become ill just as you start the new routine, stop and start again when they are better.

Make sure that you’re well – it won’t do either of you any good to be starting a new routine while your body is under stress.

Try to keep a fairly free week to devote as much time and effort as possible to making the routine work. A busy schedule will make it harder, and it’ll take longer to work.

If anyone else cares for your baby, make sure they know what’s involved – nothing sabotages a new routine as fast as mixed messages.

Get a dim nightlight so that your baby can see their surroundings when they wake.

It’s Just Routine

A regular routine is the surest way to get a baby or toddler to sleep independently. Little ones respond to a familiar pattern of events, and sleeping in the same environment each night gives then a sense of security and comfort. Establishing a bedtime routine will benefit not only your child, but also `you and your partner as you can have a bit of adult quiet time’.

Encourage patterns in the life of your newborn, as these will turn into routine – and babies learn from repetition. Keep in mind that a habit can be formed in just three days!

The best way to establish a routine is to use the feed / play / sleep method. During the day when your baby wakes, feed them and then let them play for a while. Watch out for tired signs (yawning, rubbing their eyes, grizzling, hiding their face). When you notice them, you’ll need to begin settling them. Have a cuddle before a daytime nap; in the evenings, give them a relaxing bath. Baby massage can also calm your baby. Never over stimulate your child before bedtime or think that the longer you keep them up, the more tired they’ll become and the easier it will be to get them off to sleep. An overtired baby is harder to settle, and if you wait until they’re tired to begin their last feed then they’ll drop off to sleep while you’re feeding them. The main challenge with this is that your baby will get a fright when they wake up in the cot by themselves and they’ll wonder where you are; after all when they fell asleep they were in your arms!

Settling – Newborn – 6 Months

Unless your baby’s unusually co-operative, prepare yourself for some crying – it’s useful to have someone else there to support you.

1. Wrap your baby firmly, but not tightly, in a small blanket or pram sheet, covering their hands to help them feel more secure and prevent them from catching themselves in the face if they flail around.

2. Place them in their cot on their side so that they’re looking away from you (avoid eye contact), and with their feet close to the end of the cot. Remember that this isn’t the position that they’ll sleep in – you’ll turn them onto their back once they’re asleep. In the meantime, they won’t come to any harm, as you’ll be in the room with them at all times. Look at the clock and make a note of the time. You’re going to give them 15 minutes to settle.

3. They’ll probably have started crying by now. Place one hand on their shoulder and gently stroke their back or pat their bottom gently with the other hand. They’ll probably continue to cry.

4. If, after 15 minutes, they’re still crying and showing no signs of settling, pick them up and give them a cuddle (don’t rock them to sleep – remember this is what you are trying to avoid).

5. Once they’ve calmed down, put them back in their cot, facing the other way this time, and try another 15 minute period of settling. Put one hand on their shoulder and pat or stroke them, as before. If they start to quieten, take your hand away – the idea is for your baby to settle itself.

6. Once your baby is soundly asleep, roll them gently onto their back, loosen the wrapping and leave them.

7. If your baby is still crying, pick them up, cuddle them, and start again.

The most important thing is persistence. New routines take time, but just think how much more enjoyable parenthood will be when you are getting a good nights sleep.

Settling 6 – 12 months

Again, it will really help if you have support. With this technique your baby will never be left alone crying for more that ten minutes at a time. Are you ready? Well here goes!

1. Lie your baby in the cot on their back. Ensure that their feet are at the end of the bed and tell them “It’s time to sleep now”. Leave the room and wait for two minutes. You want to give you baby the chance to fall asleep by themselves. As soon as they realise that they’re alone it is likely that they will start to protest. If they don’t settle within 2 minutes, then go back in.

2. Roll them on their side, facing away from you. Put a hand on their shoulder and keep patting their bottom or upper thigh gently with the other hand. Do this for two minutes, repeating the words “It’s time to sleep now” in a gentle and soothing voice. If the baby us still protesting after two minutes, then leave the room, and wait out side, this time for four minutes.

3. If they still haven’t settled, go back in and try settling them, this time for four minutes. Next time, it’ll be six minutes, then eight minutes and finally ten minutes.

4. In the unlikely event that after the ten minute session they still haven’t settled then pick them out of the cot, give them a cuddle, calm them (making sure you don’t rock them to sleep), and when they have settled repeat the process.

You will notice that your child’s crying will reach a peak, and then it will tail off, often very quickly, until they eventually settle themselves off to sleep.

As has been indicated throughout this article, the key to success is perseverance. If you follow this routine to the letter then within 3 – 10 days your baby should be sleeping through the night, and be able to put themselves back to sleep, should they waken.

Good luck and happy sleeping!

To find out more about the It’s Time to Sleep programme then visit www.smileybaby.co.uk

Graham Nicoll is a father of one, Toby, as well as being an avid entrepreneur and fitness enthusiast.

He enjoys writing and working with people to help them achieve greater success in their life. Whether this be overcoming mental roadblocks or helping them improve their health and wellbeing.

Graham spends a large proportion of his time consulting with small and medium businesses, helping them to grow through the development of their people and their business development activities. Graham is an active speaker at business events / conferences across the UK. Graham can be contacted on graham@busylittleones.co.uk

Take Your Time The worst thing you could do when choosing a baby name is to rush into it. Settling for second best may affect you and your child for a lifetime! Don’t commit yourself to the first name that you fancy. Keep searching until you find a name that you are 110% happy with. And don’t forget that you don’t need to have a name for your baby before birth. Some parents have been known to wait 2 or 3 weeks before deciding on that perfect name.

What Does it Mean? Some parents don’t really care for the meaning of their baby’s name, where as others base their decision soley around it. But, in our opinion a quick check couldn’t hurt. Do you really want your big strong boy to have a name that means “pretty flower”? If you have a meaning in mind, but don’t know what names contain that meaning, visit NamesToBe.com.

Spelling Try to make sure you don’t choose a name that ends with the same letter that your last name begins with. This can sometimes make pronounciation a challenge. There are some exceptions to this rule, but in general it is best to keep it in mind when choosing a baby name. Try it for yourself and you’ll see what we mean. Letters like “l” and “s” are especially bad.

Say it Out Loud Instead of refering to your unborn baby as he or she or “the baby”, try using one of the names that you like for a week or so. Saying it out loud and using it in common sentences will give you a better idea of how much you really like the name. Don’t forget, some names look great when written on paper, but sound terrible off the tongue.

This article was written by Sarah Mitchell from www.namestobe.com Find thousands of baby names, their meanings, origins and genders at www.namestobe.com

Decorating your child’s nursery is an exciting experience. Your little bundle of joy will finally be in your arms soon, and you want to make sure his or her new home is absolutely perfect. The biggest shock for a child is coming from the warmth and comfort of your stomach into the vastness of the world. Creating a home that is both safe and comfortable is your top priority when decorating your nursery.

Colors are especially important in designing a nursery. Although babies are said to see in black and white at first, bright colors will soon attract their attention and become quite important to their overall development. Having cozy, relaxing colors like peach, green, and blue in the room may help your baby to rest easier, and sleep better.

Using primary colors around the room will help stimulate your baby’s interest, but be careful about using too much. This can over stimulate your baby and cause them to have problems sleeping – something that will affect both you and the baby badly!

Diverse patterns and textures should be used in fabric and decorations around the room. The diversity will help stimulate and interest your child. Each time they touch fabrics with different textures, they’re learning something new about their world… and their own senses. The bumpers on the sides of the crib should be made of soft fabrics, but incorporating different textures should work fine.

Finally, you want to be sure that the decorations in the room can grow with your child. Although fish or Winnie the Pooh may be really cute for a nursery, your child may not like those decorations once they get past the toddler stages. If you’re like me, you’ll find yourself changing the decorative touches every several years as your child becomes fascinated by one cartoon charactor, puppet, or TV show after another. Because of this, it helps to consider from the start how the wall color and basic decor can be used in the future to give your child a space they will enjoy.

© 2005, Kathy Burns-Millyard.

This article is provided courtesy of The Do It Yourself Home Decorating Network – http://www.diyhomedecorating.com – a large home decorating website featuring articles, tips, advice, and popular decor shopping. This article may be freely published on any website, as long as the author, copyright, website address and link, and this notice are left intact.

As parents we all want the very best for our children, so how do we give them a headstart right from conception and in those first important months of life?

It is the combination of a good diet as well as your interaction and encouragement with some simple baby games that can give your child the best start in terms of brain development.

Pregnant women are made very aware of the need for extra folic acid in the early stages of pregnancy but what about fats which make up a large proportion of the brain, in particular essential fatty acids?

It is commonly known that breast-fed babies have a slightly higher IQ, so the phrase ‘breast is best’ still applies for many health reasons. The added intake of fatty acids (omega 3 and 6) for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, along with essential vitamins and minerals, is shown to aid mental development in their babies. At birth your baby’s brain is almost 70% the size of an adult brain. The greatest brain growth occurs during infancy and is almost completed by the time your child is 5-6 years old. A closer watch on your (and your child’s) diet in these formative years is certainly a determining factor in development.

Omega 3 fatty acids are found in tuna, salmon and mackeral, and for non-fish eaters supplements are readily available. Omega 6’s are generally consumed more by the general population, being found in grains, cereals, poultry and eggs. Being aware of your intake, particularly of omega 3’s is beneficial to your own heart and brain function as well as that of your unborn or newborn child.

On the other hand poor diet in young children has been linked to allergies, poor concentration, learning and behavioural problems. Intelligence has been shown to only be partially hereditary, it is a combination of heredity and diet. Setting a good example for our children from the very start is imperative. Eating a balanced diet when they are being breast-fed and providing healthy, fresh food and snacks when they become toddlers goes a long way towards having energetic children who are full of vigour. So get out the salmon for dinner and get ready for some stimulating brainy baby games for your little one.

Kids Fun & Games – for parents of 0-6yr old kids. Lots of educational baby & toddler games, child crafts, indoor & outdoor child games, child party games and more.

Mobiles are well known for its effectiveness in capturing and keeping baby’s attention. Colorful and moving mobiles will stimulate the baby’s brain and encourages him to explore the things around him.

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Take Your Time The worst thing you could do when choosing a baby name is to rush into it. Settling for second best may affect you and your child for a lifetime! Don’t commit yourself to the first name that you fancy.

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Potty Training At Daycare and Preschool

With 61% of children between the ages of birth and 6 years in daycare, it’s important that parents work closely with their child’s care provider while potty training. When you child is ready for potty training, the right potty training guidance and supplies can make all the difference.

7 Stages of Potty Training

There are seven stages of potty training. They begin with showing signs of potty training readiness and conclude with being able to use the toilet away from home.

10 Ways to Make Toilet Training Fun & Exciting

Blue & Yellow Make Green – Put a few drops of blue food coloring in the toilet and show your child that the color turns green when he or she pees!Potty Targets – Purchase or make toilet targets to teach your child to aim. Cheerio’s are a cheap alternative and work just as well.

Prepare Your Child For Potty Training

When your child shows a majority of the signs of potty training readiness, you can start introducing him to the idea of using the potty.Potty Training Books, Videos, & DVDs – Potty training books, videos, and DVDs provide a great opportunity to introduce your child to the idea of using the potty.

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Choosing a baby name for your new born can be quite a stressful decision. With thousands upon thousands of names at your disposal, you may begin to feel a little over whelmed.

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Even if your baby is just weeks old now, you’ll soon see how amazingly quickly she develops.Most expected parents want to buy their new baby the world.