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  • Look at that face. Now that’s the face  they talk about when we hear the phrase  

  • sleeping like a baby.”

  • This baby be sleepin' like he had a job.

  • *snores*

  • But let’s be honest, it’s not always like this.  

  • I’ve gone through quite a few sleepless nights  myself, and I know there are some of you out  

  • there that know what I’m talking about; middle  of the night crying, fussing, diaper changes,  

  • 2AM feedings, and youre walking  around half-awake. But...why is that?

  • Why does my baby have trouble  sleeping through the night?  

  • I got a little sweat pea over here who needs his pajamas on.

  • Sleeping through the night simply means the baby  did not disturb the parents' sleep. Nobody, not  

  • a baby. Not an adult ever really sleeps through  the night. We're just not aware of our awakenings.

  • Wait a minute, if they're not sleeping  through the night, what are they doing?

  • Babies wake up about every 60 minutesLook around, make sure theyre okay,  

  • and they go back to sleep. It is a misconception to describe babies as being  

  • light sleepers. They're short sleepersThey have short sleeping bouts.

  • But once they're asleep, they're very deep.

  • Now, Dr. Paleyo says adults do this too--but on  a longer cycle, about every 90 minutes. So you  

  • and your baby are not on a routine yet, and  so it’s brutal, but actually pretty normal.

  • At birth, babies will sleep randomlyAnd there seems to be no predictable  

  • pattern to it. They sleep a lot of  hours, they sleep about 18 hours.

  • And with all that sleepin’,  you know they GOT to be hungry!

  • When babies are feeding, they have very small stomachs. They need to be fed more often.  

  • When we talk about babies, probably  the most common reason they wake up  

  • at night is because they're still being fed  at night. The family has to decide how  

  • much feeding they will be doing and how  much nursing you're going to be doing.  

  • But the babies that are sleeping, so-called  through the night, are breastfeeding less.

  • But trust me, it won’t be like this forever. Babies slowly get the hang of it.

  • I was lucky to have my twins who   seemed to feed off each other’s sleepy energy.

  • Babies start emerging their circadian  rhythm by the time they're one week  

  • old and by the time they're about six  weeks old, they'll have a much more  

  • predictable pattern as far as when they'll  be awake and when they'll be asleep.

  • And this is where biology can meet some parental  guidance. So for example, I like to sleep at night  

  • like most parents, so I made sure to get those  twins to sleep at the same time as me.

  • I think the first thing you wanna do is  have the parents have a healthy routine,  

  • it's very tempting for parents to  try to adapt themselves to the baby.  

  • But in reality, the baby is born sleeping  randomly and the baby is primed to actually  

  • adapt to the parent's sleep cycle. We can break  it down and make it very predictable to them.

  • BUT one  

  • small disclaimer and this one hurts me  too because I love holding my babies,  

  • but you don’t actually want them  to fall asleep in your arms.

  • If you associate  sleeping with being rocked in somebody's arms,  

  • being kissed and loved, it's so loving, it's so  beautiful. But then an hour or two later,  

  • you find yourself on a flat mattressand a crib and nobody's holding you,  

  • you should notify people that  something has changed.

  • I am guilty as charged your honor. I LOVE holding  my babies and feeling their heartbeat but yeah,  

  • although the twins were easy. My youngest is  liking my hugs for just a little too long now.  

  • I need a little help.

  • So one of the common principles is  that babies should fall asleep  

  • in the same situation of how they'll find themselves later in the night. So that's what we want to  

  • maybe put them down in their sleeping surface  when they're drowsy, but not fully asleep.

  • And don’t be fooled if they seem fast-asleep,  

  • but theyre still latched onto you or  a bottle. Theyre playinyou hard.

  • It's just so natural to have a baby  fall asleep as they're nursing,  

  • or are being fed. But babies have the ability to  suck in their sleep, they have a sucking motion,  

  • but they don't really swallow. No, the baby's  not hungry, the baby is just reflexively sucking.

  • So you really want to get them JUST RIGHT  when putting them down and, while there’s  

  • a lot to go over on how babies sleepDr. Paleyo sums up some key milestones.

  • By the end of the three months,

  • you should have a clear sense of the baby's  getting the bulk of their sleep at night.

  • Three to six months, they should no longer need  to be fed at night. Parents can decide to feed  

  • them if they want to encourage nursing, but  they should not require to be fed at night.

  • My doctor is actually who encouraged me to know that eventually, babies don't need to be fed at night.

  • They're only feeding at night because they're used to feeding at night. They can actually go longer hours

  • if you allow them to go longer hours. So I said "BET. You can wait till the morning."

  • Six to twelve months the baby already knows  when they're gonna be sleeping.

  • The baby kind of starts anticipating what's going on, the baby recognizes the parents.

  • They already know what's going to be happening  and sleep should not be a huge turmoil.

  • So no matter how your baby gets to sleep, just  remember this precious sleeping face once they do.  

  • It makes it all worth it.

  • *snores*

  • Thank you for watching Seeker  Baby! I’m Angel Laketa Moore,  

  • and I hope youre enjoying learning  more about babies as much as I  

  • am. If there’s a baby  topic you want us to cover, leave us a comment.

  • And keep coming back to Seeker! I'll see you next time.

Look at that face. Now that’s the face  they talk about when we hear the phrase  

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