The No-cry Sleep Solution (32 page)

through. The poor thing was likely in too much pain to sleep.

I let him chew on a cold, wet towel for a while, and he calmed down and fell right back to sleep.”

Jessie, mother of fourteen-month-old Blaine

that’s the only thing she’ll eat, but the rules of good nutrition say she should be eating more variety. Good nutrition is important for overall health, including good sleep.

Take a look at what your toddler eats in the hours before bedtime. Does he munch on foods that are conducive to good sleep?

Some foods are more easily digested than others and are less apt to disrupt sleep cycles. Think “comfort food”—complex, healthful carbohydrates and nourishing proteins. The choices are endless: whole-grain cereals (easy on the sugar!), oatmeal, brown rice, yogurt, cheese, leftover meats. Fruits and frozen peas (for older children who won’t choke on them) satisfy sweet cravings.

In contrast, many foods tend to “rev” the body a bit. Look for hidden caffeine and other stimulating substances. While current scientific thought says sugar does not cause hyperactive behavior in children, I still suspect some effect on the ability and willing-ness to calm down and fall asleep. Sugar cookies and chocolate cake simply aren’t good choices for late in the day.

If your toddler, like most, goes on food jags, take heart.

Remember that pediatricians look at a child’s diet from the stand-

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Jarell, twelve months old

point of a week, rather than a day. In other words, when evaluating the healthfulness of your child’s diet, think about propor-tions of major food groups consumed over the course of an entire week.

Breastfeed More During the Day

If your baby is used to frequent night feedings, she is taking in a good portion of her nourishment during those long, relaxed feeding sessions. You may have to nurse more often during the day for a while to make up for the nighttime feedings she will be giving up.

Your baby may be hanging on to night wakings as much for the comfort and emotional connection as for the milk—particularly if you’re busy working or tending to other children during the day. If you are sensitive to this, you can give your little one

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extra cuddles and extra nursings during the day to help her adjust to giving up those nighttime nursing sessions.

Pay attention to the types of foods that
you
eat, because they can affect your breast milk. Watch for your baby’s reaction when you drink coffee, tea, or cola, or when you have dairy, nuts, or gassy foods such as broccoli, beans, and cauliflower.

As in the case of little Austen, your curious, busy toddler may be too active to stop during the day to eat or even to nurse. In this case, try providing your energetic baby with “food on the run”—finger food she can carry with her. Another option is to offer her bites of food as she plays. The key is to help her get her full day’s calories into the daytime and out of the nighttime.

Mother-Speak

“Austen hardly eats at all during the day and then nurses all night long. I try to offer her food several times a day, but most times she’s too busy or distracted to eat. She really likes the time we spend before bed. It seems to always take more than an hour to get her to sleep, and her middle-of-the-night-feeding sessions are long ones.”

Annette, mother of twelve-month-old Austen

Check Baby’s Nighttime Comfort

Make sure Baby’s bed is very comfortable (not
too
soft or yield-ing as discussed in Chapter 1). Dress him according to the temperature of the room, taking care that he is neither too cold nor too hot. If your home is cool at night, buy thick blanket sleeper pajamas or baby-bag sleepers, and put them on over a T-shirt (the full-body kind that snap at the crotch.) If the season is hot, cool the room with an open window or fan, but follow all the safety rules if you do either of these.

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Develop a Bedtime Routine

This idea may help everyone.

A bedtime routine becomes your baby’s signal that bedtime is here. It invokes a conditioned response from baby: “Oh! It’s bedtime! I should be sleepy!”

A routine for the hour before bedtime is crucial in cueing and preparing your baby for sleep. Include any of the following that you enjoy and that help soothe and quiet your baby: