I was delighted to speak at Baby Mori‘s first in store baby event at their beautiful shop on the Northcote Road, London. I chatted with 25 mums, dads & babies all about why sleep is so important, routine, sleep cues, the environment babies sleep in, naps & gaps and gentle sleep coaching. I then answered lots of questions with parents 1-2-1 and thought I would share a few from the Q&A.
Question: Is it okay that my baby goes to bed at 8.30pm when I return to work so that I can have time to see him?
Answer: In general babies body clocks are more a 6.30-7 pm bedtime and putting them to bed later may mean they are overtired, irritable and wake frequently in the night or rise super early in the morning. There is no right or wrong bedtime and you need respond to your little ones needs.
Question: What is a good nap routine for a 4 month old?
Answer: Babies around this age of tend to struggle with long naps due to their sleep cycles maturing, therefore 4-5 x 45 min shorter naps is quiet normal.
From 6-8 months babies drop from 3 naps down to 2 and babies 8-15 months generally have two naps a day.
Between 15-18 months it’s normal for them to drop down to just the one post lunch nap a day and this can last until they are 3-4 years old.
Question… What is a good age to start sleep coaching if you need to?
Sleep coaching is not just about sleeping through the night it’s also about creating regular and appropriate day naps, a regular bedtime routine and being able to settle themselves to sleep for both naps & at night. You can start from when your little one is just a few weeks old by creating positive sleep associations and gently forming a regular routine.
Babies sleep through the night at different ages depending on a number of factors – age / weight / feeding routine / weaning / environment / development stage, so there is never a wrong or right time. I help parents with babies from 4 months and over with gentle sleep coaching.
I hope you find this helpful and please share with a friend if you think it may help them too.
If you are not familiar with Baby Mori, they sell the most beautiful organic cotton baby clothes and if you’re local their new shop is well worth a visit! Looking forward to working with them again at future events.
Sam aka The Baby Guru
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