How Much Should a Newborn Sleep?
How much should a newborn sleep? Babies may be too short to compete in the Olympics, but they definitely hold the world’s record for championship sleeping. With an average of 16 hours a day (and, rarely, up to twenty!), newborn infants rack up more snoozing than at any other time in life. Yet this can be a fooler! You’d think that 16 hours of baby sleep would leave you tons of free time every day. But newborn sleep is shredded...
How 'State Control' May Impact Your Baby's Sleep
“My one-month-old is so much fun to watch,” said Britta. “Bobby’s little lip quivers when he’s upset. He’s clearly trying to hold back the flood of tears, and he can go a long time making a silly meow-type cry before he loses the battle and goes ballistic.” If temperament is the sea your little one sails on, state control tells you how steady (or jumpy) his boat is. Can your little on stay asleep despite mild hunger and jarring noise?...
Why Are Yawns Contagious?
Why do we yawn when we see babies yawn? The phenomenon is called contagious yawning, and it's very odd indeed. Dogs yawn…and cats and monkeys…and even three-month-old fetuses (but not chickens). An average yawn lasts four to six seconds. We yawn more when we’re tired or bored. And trying to make it stop usually just makes another yawn pop right out. But surprisingly, we have no idea why we yawn. It’s a big medical mystery. We also have no idea why...
The Truth About Putting Your Baby on a Schedule
Should baby schedules be shunned or embraced? Toddlers love routines, but what about babies? Like so many child-rearing issues, there’s more than one right answer. Scheduling is a modern concept. The ancients didn’t feed babies according to the time on the sundial or make baby nap schedules. But staying organized can be a lifesaver for today’s moms and can help a baby adopt a schedule that works better for the family. Of course, rigid schedules that ignore a baby’s cries are unnatural...
Why That Lullaby Isn't Soothing Your Baby
The word lullaby means “sing to sleep.” The sweet tunes of lullaby music mimic the reassuring rhythms of a mother’s pulse, about seventy beats per second. This pace is perfect for singing—and rocking—our baby as he drifts into the land of Wynken, Blynken and Nod. However, soothing baby lullabies are often powerless to end crying frenzies. Once in meltdown mode, babies get so lost in their screams, they just can't hear us. Just as adults get “blind with rage,” babies...
How My ‘Nightmare’ Maternity Leave Became a ‘Joy’
The first in a series of profiles of real moms with real challenges…who were helped by SNOO. Allison, a C.P.A., was eagerly anticipating being off from work after the birth of her baby. But, within days, her joyous time turned into, in her words, “a nightmare.” “I met some work friends while I was on leave in the first few weeks, and they said, ‘Oh aren’t you glad you’re not at work?’ and I said, ‘Actually, I would love to...
