What is a normal nap for your baby?

Ask 100 people and you will get at least 98 different answers! The easiest thing to do is to look at typical or potential nap routines for different ages. Keep in mind though that every baby is different and there is no perfect nap schedule!

Naps for newborn to 6 weeks old

Throw your idea of a routine out the window! During this stage you should allow your baby to eat when they are hungry and sleep when they are tired. Now is not the time to be trying to impose or encourage a routine. Different sources and studies, will provide varying information. It is generally felt that babies begin developing their circadian rhythms shortly after being born. One study in Germany (Freudigman and Thoman 1998) indicated that the development begins as quickly as 2 days old. While you certainly don’t need to interpret the different scientific studies available in order to create a nap schedule, suffice it to say during the first 6 weeks the best thing to do is go with the flow. Your baby will primarily be a beautiful, eating, sleeping and pooping machine and a “normal” nap could last anywhere between 45 minutes and several hours. Whenever possible, you would be wise to rest at the same time as your baby

Naps for 6 weeks to 16 weeks old

This seems like a very broad transition period and from my experience, there is no predefined time that your baby is most likely to begin shifting into a nap routine. Not only is your baby developing very rapidly and becoming much more socially aware, there is a tremendous amount of bonding that is occurring. Whether you realize it or not, you are learning as much about your baby as they are learning about the world around them. Very quickly, you will start to pick up on different cues. It could be a certain tone in their crying that tells you what they want or it could be your ability to really notice the early indication that indicate they are getting tired. While you are still  going with the flow, the interactions between you and your baby are changing rapidly. It will make your life much easier if you really try to read and interpret each little nuance in your baby’s behavior.

Naps for 4 months to 9 months old

Around 4 months of age, your baby will naturally become much more receptive to a nap schedule. There are some sources which indicate or suggest that different daytime naps will begin to develop at different times. What I have seen most often is that not only does your baby slowly become more receptive to a nap routine, but you are also becoming more adept at picking up on your babies “I’m tired” cues. It is not unusual to wake up one day and come to the realization that you have fallen into a routine.

It may look something like this:

1. Your baby wakes up early morning (between 6:30AM and 8AM regardless of how the nighttime sleep went)
2. After a brief morning feed and play of 1-2 hours, your baby will indicate that they are ready for a nap (1-2 hours in length)
3. Your mid morning routine will consist of feeding and some play/interaction time
4. Your baby will be ready for a late morning nap which again lasts 1-2 hours
5. After another brief period of being awake (2 hours or so), they will be ready for the afternoon nap
6. Depending on what time your baby wakes up and how long each sleep/wake cycle was, your baby may have a 4th nap late in the day. This nap is often a cat nap; just long enough that they can gather the energy required to stay awake until bed time

Naps for 9 months and older

Usually the first nap that that your baby goes without is the early morning nap. More than likely this will happen well before 9 months of age but it varies greatly from baby to baby. The second nap to disappear is usually the late afternoon nap. What happens is that your baby will able to remain awake until mid morning which means all subsequent naps shift forward slightly and the late afternoon nap becomes unnecessary. As your baby is adapting, you will need to remain flexible. Not every day will be the same so look at it from the big picture perspective and avoid trying to fit your baby’s nap routine into a neat and tidy system.

Baby naps and the big picture

When you start the process of developing a nap schedule at approximately 4 months of age, the task will seem daunting. Stressful and challenging are two words that come to mind! It is important to look 20 months down the road (when your baby is around 24 months of age) and realize that your toddler will likely be having one afternoon nap and that’s it.  Over the course of the next 20 months you will gradually be shifting nap times as your little one is able to remain awake for longer periods.

How on earth am I going to figure out all of this out you ask? Well, the truth of the matter is that you will become an expert in reading your child’s sleep cues whether you plan to or not. What seems like an overwhelming challenge right now will be a distant memory.

If you are having sleep difficulties at night, one of the first places you should look to as a potential solution, is the day time routine. If your baby is not getting enough sleep during the day you are virtually guaranteed to have a more restless night. Developing a baby nap routine is tough work but the benefits and rewards for you and your baby make it worth the effort!

Lets start with looking at some of the benefits of breastfeeding:

• Easier to digest than formula
• Allows for important bonding time between mother and baby
• No need for sterilize bottles or nipples
• Significant cost savings over formula
• Decreased risk of:

1. Ear Infection
2. Diarrhea
3. Respiratory Infections
4. Asthma
5. Obesity
6. SIDS
7. Stomach Viruses
8. Diabetes (type 1 & 2)
9. Childhood leukemia
10. More links & benefits are still being studied

These are some pretty strong arguments for breastfeeding for at least for the first 12 months! It is hard to justify using formula if the primary reason is to simply gain a little bit of extra sleep for you and your baby. But try telling that to a sleep deprived mother whose relationship with her spouse is deteriorating because of arguing.

I have been fortunate, or unfortunate, depending on your point of view, to try both methods and as far as sleep duration goes, I saw little or no difference. I chose to  breastfeed my son, who is five now. When he was 4 months of age we were exploring the possibility of food allergies and whether or not they could be affecting his sleep patterns due to stomach upset. For a 3 week period I switched to feeding him a hypo-allergenic formula to give my body time to eliminate the potential allergens from my breast milk. Following the 3 week cleansing period, I resumed breastfeeding.

You would think that I saw a rapid improvement in my son’s sleeping as soon as I switched to formula but that was not the case. He continued to awaken after only a brief period of sleep. He continued to have problems with gas and he continued to insist that the only place he was willing to fall asleep was in our arms or the swing. We certainly did not notice any significant increase in the amount of time he would remain asleep. Now, I realize that there could have a number of other underlying issues that were causing our son’s sleep problems. However, between the ages of 6 and 9 months, after consulting with our Physician, a Pediatrician and a Naturopath we came to the conclusion that not only was nothing medically wrong, but that we were going to have to begin educating ourselves if we had any hope of helping our son develop proper sleep habits. The path of education and experimentation was worked in the end.

I have talked to enough mothers who, when considering breastfeeding versus formula feeding, have chosen to formula feed their babies for personal reasons. Their babies all experience the same issues with sleep that breastfed babies experience. So, is it possible that some formula fed babies sleep longer through the night than breastfed babies? Yes, it is possible. The difference however is negligible. If you are thinking about switching to formula because you have visions of your baby sleeping 8 hours straight at 4 months of age, you might want to reconsider. Formula is no magical sleep potion and it certainly does not have the same natural benefits of breastfeeding!

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With a focus on the prenatal, labour, birth and postpartum stages, you will find a variety of articles by myself and contributing authors on a wide variety of topics focussed on the prenatal, labour, birth and postpartum stages.

When I am asked about labour relaxation techniques and what works best, the answer is that it depends completely upon how you process different sensory information. There are literally dozens of relaxation techniques and it is impossible to integrate all of them into your birth plan. What I usually recommend is that before labour starts, you spend some time experimenting with different techniques. You are bound to find a few labour relaxation techniques that you are comfortable with and which will help you become much more focused during all stages of labour. Lets take a look at how you could use each of your senses to help you relax:

Sight

What you see can have a tremendous impact on your emotions. That’s why so many people have little pictures of their family and their favorite vacation spots in their work environment. Those little pictures stir up all kinds of positive emotions. Some people also use visual images for motivation such as in the gym or on the bathroom mirror. If you were given a choice, think about what your preferred environment would be for labour or giving birth. Would you prefer the drab grey walls in a sterile hospital environment? Does staring at medical equipment bring about images of a self-empowered birth? For most of us, the answer is probably not. Now imagine an environment where you are surrounded by things that are familiar to you, maybe some pictures of family, a tropical island, maybe your favorite couch or chair (if you are having a home birth). Maybe it’s the view of nearby mountains that you find relaxing. These are the types of images and objects that you should try to surround yourself with. The subconscious relaxation effect can not be overstated and your labour and birth will feel more serene and peaceful when you are surrounded with positive images!

Hearing

Music is a very commonly used form of labour relaxation. Many of the mothers I have worked with have used music for both home and hospital births. There is no perfect choice when it comes to music selection. I recommend selecting different music for different stages:

• Easy going, fun songs are great for early labour. A song from the past that makes you get up and dance and sway is great to open the hips and pelvis.
• As labour progresses and contractions become more intense, perhaps choosing white noise or having some mellow, instrumental or hypnotic music may help you focus during the late stages.
• Intimate music is great to connect with your partner if your labour stalls or slows down.

Basically you need to pick something that will help you to relax and focus. Its all about connecting with the music. Many of the mothers I have worked with actually forget what is playing and only notice that something has changed when an innocent nurse turns off the tunes!  You should also consider having both an iPod available as well as a stand alone player. Quite frequently, when women are in active labour they become very touch sensitive and just the act of wearing headphones may become annoying. It is also a good idea to practice labour relaxation techniques while listening to your music.

Touch

There are a wide variety of touch options available and deciding which one works best for you is a personal choice that must be discovered through experimentation. If you have decided to use a doula, in all likelihood, she will have a wide variety of techniques available. Lets look briefly at some of the options:

• Effleurage – Is essentially a continual gliding motion that is applied in the same direction as venous blood flow. A heavier touch is used when moving your hands in the direction of blood flow and a lighter touch is used when moving in the opposite direction. Light touch massage, another similar option is helpful in maintaining a relaxed state and when done with a partner, it can help to release natural endorphins.
• Acupressure – In most cases acupressure is most effective when it is started early in labour and maintained. Quite often some experimentation is helpful to determine which pressure points are the most effective.
• Massage – If you have chosen to use a doula, she will likely have a variety of massage techniques available. Some of these might include massage with a foam roller, scalp massage, sacral counter pressure or hip squeeze. If you live in the Vancouver area you could also visit Bloom Family Wellness for a pregnancy massage.
• Hydrotherapy – It goes without saying that remaining hydrated is very important. Early in labour, drinking small amounts of water consistently and as you progress you may prefer to switch to ice chips. Hydrotherapy can also include the use of a bath or birth tub. Water provides a weightless effect which helps to decrease pain and tension.

Smell

Depending on your likes and dislikes, you should also consider the use of some aromatherapy. It is worth consulting with someone familiar to essential oils in addition to your midwife or doctor as there are definitely some oils you will want to avoid while pregnant (basil, cedar wood, juniper and rosemary to name a few). Some essential oils are ok to use during labour and others are ok to use depending upon what term you are in.

Taste

Carbohydrate loading is a common practice prior to active labour although not as much of a relaxation technique. I have included it here because it is important that you remember to eat as much healthy food as possible prior to active labour beginning . Since it difficult to pinpoint exactly when your labour will begin, I usually recommend that my clients begin increasing their intake of healthy, carbohydrate rich foods the due date approaches. Consider labour to be similar to any other athletic event that requires significant endurance. The more healthy calories to have eaten and stored before active labour begins, the better!

In childbirth circles there exists a theory called “the cascade of interventions.” It says that many common medical interventions, especially those related to the induction of labor, can have unforeseen and sometimes unintended consequences. Quite often, a simple medical intervention can initiate an unforeseen series of events. How to induce labor naturally is a question many expecting mothers are faced with as they approach full term. By using natural techniques, your body is much more likely to adjust, adapt and prepare for the birthing process. A large part of the natural progression of labor comes from letting your body know that you are both mentally and physically ready for the birthing process to begin.

Where is the best place to induce labor?

By far, the best place for you to begin the labor induction process is somewhere where you are comfortable and relaxed. Most of the time, this is in your home. Labor, especially if it is your first baby, can be a long, slow process. Of all the mothers I have worked with, the ones who have the quickest and most emotionally satisfying labors are those who spend as much time at home during early labor as possible. If you rush off to the hospital when you are 2 centimeters dilated and end up staying at the hospital, the odds of medical intervention and a prolonged labor increase significantly.

In contrast, if you are able to induce labor at home where you have to ability to relax, go for short walks, listen to music, have a bath or even watch a movie, you are much more likely to progress naturally. Another consideration is that when you are able to relax, you body is much more capable of coping with pain. Unless it is medically necessary to go to the hospital, try to induce naturally at home and delay heading to the hospital until in is absolutely necessary.

Ways to Induce Labor Naturally

Quite often when a mother reaches full term, she is physically ready to give birth but more importantly, she is psychologically ready as well. By 39 weeks and usually sooner, mothers have had enough of being pregnant as they become increasingly uncomfortable. The question I am almost always asked at this stage is “how can I induce labor naturally?” There is no perfect answer but lets take a look at some of the techniques that have worked well for my clients:

• Red Raspberry Leaf Tea – Raspberry tea does not actually help to induce. During your final six weeks of pregnancy it is worth considering drinking red raspberry leaf tea or pregnancy tea because the potential benefits include strengthening uterine muscles, as well helping to relax uterine muscles between contractions once labor starts. You can discuss an appropriate amount with you midwife of doctor but a common guideline is 1 cup per day for the last 6 weeks of pregnancy.

• Acupressure – Many of my clients have had success inducing labor naturally with both massage and acupressure. Acupressure does require some basic knowledge as there are different types of pressure points. Some can be used to relieve physical discomfort during the second and third trimester, some should only be used when you are ready to induce labor and some are effective as pain relief. The overall feedback from women using acupressure for natural pain relief has been very positive. Here is an excellent guide on how to induce labor naturally with acupressure.

• Intercourse – Semen contains prostaglandins which help to naturally efface and dilate the cervix. Note that intercourse will not cause preterm labor; the prostaglandins will only help the cervix to dilate if labor has started or is immanent.

• Movement – As difficult as it is during the final few weeks, try to get up and move around as much as possible. Help your baby to wiggle down as low as possible and engage in your pelvis. Spend as much time as possible standing and walking. Try listening to music, slow dance with your partner or do some light house chores. Anything to get your body moving and assist with loosening up your hips and pelvic area.

• Spicy Foods – For some women, spicy food can stimulate motility in the intestines causing the body to release hormones that are similar to when you go into labor. One of the early signs of labor are frequent, soft, bowel movements as the body rids the intestines of waste and digested food so it can focus on the task at hand.

If you are beyond 40 weeks and both you and baby are healthy, you should not feel pressured to “get things moving”. Don’t hesitate to ask for a second or third opinion if you are comfortable being patient and waiting for your body to progress naturally. There is no perfect solution when trying to decide how to induce naturally. I recommend trying a variety of approaches. Move around as much as possible, try intercourse, drink your red raspberry leaf tea and use acupressure on a regular basis. Labor is a natural process and by giving you body the opportunity progress naturally through the process, you greatly increase your chances of experiencing a fulfilling birth.