European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 9, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Rock a Bye baby coping with infants1 sleep problems by Jane e. Brody new York times he k s were exhausted. Their 3-Monlh-old baby wanted Lobo led every Low hours. And the months of. Disrupted night were taking their toll or. K was having trouble concentrating on his work and mrs. K had to interrupt her graduate studies. Bol i parents were increasingly impatient with their 2-year-old daughter who was having a hard enough Lima adjusting to her new Little sister. Mrs k tried nursing the baby More olten during the Day supplementing her bedtime feeding with Cereal bul if anything 1he situation merely worsened. The k s Are not alone. Experts estimate thai so percent to 30 percent of infants have problems sleeping and As Many As a third of children aged 1 to 5 Are awake during the night however most common sleep problems among infants and Young children can be easily resolved in a week or two if parents change their tactics according to or Barton d. Schmill a specialist in behavioural paediatrics at the University of Colorado school of Medicine in Denver. Since sleep difficulties become harder to Correct As the child gets older the sooner something is done the Beller Schmitt said. Unresolved sleep problems can harm the Bond of love Between parents and baby the behaviour of older siblings the parents relationship and their outside work. Among parents with poor impulse control unresolved night crying can Lead to child abuse Schmitt described the following causes and cures of infant sleep problems in a recent Issue of pal enl care a physicians Magazine trained night feeders in lha first weeks of life most babies cry to be fed every Threa to four hours around 1he clock. The smaller the baby at birth the More often he needs to eat. Until about 2 months of age most babies require iwo night feedings Between 3 and a months Only one. By the time they Are s to 6 weeks old. Half of bottle fed babies can sleep eight hours without being fed and it 4 months 95 percent can do so. For breast fed babies the eight hour stretch usually begins a month later and for premature infants it typically starts when the infant weighs 11 pounds. Those who continue to Wake one to Lour times a night to be fed have olten been trained to do so by their parents. Schmitt and other experts explain that the More often a baby is fed during the Day the More often he is Likely to want to eat at night. This most commonly affects breast fed infants who Are nursed whenever they cry instead of merely being held and comforted. The babies Are thus trained to be snack Era accustomed to Small bul frequent feedings. The remedy is id increase the Lime Between daytime feedings to four or More hours and to satisfy demands for More frequent feedings by giving the baby extra attention and if necessary a pacifier. Work toward Lour meals a Day by age 4 months and three meals by 6 months plus one or iwo Small nutritious snacks. There is no evidence that solid food at the bedtime feeding postpones hunger or prolongs sleep during this retraining period if the baby wakes up hungry during the night she will not go Back to sleep. Scheitl recommends feeding but not a Lull meal. Cut Back by an ounce or two on the bottle or offer Only one breast or a Little Iron Bot hand limit the feeding to 20 minutes. Another cause of food related sleep difficulties is giving the baby a bottle to take to bed or allowing her to tall asleep while nursing. The baby then associates eating with tailing asleep alter Awakening at night she is unable to i asleep without eating. The cure is to feed her Al bedtime bul not in the crib. Put her in the crib awake so she learns to tall asleep without breast or bottle. Provide a pacifier if she needs extra sucking. Using such tactics most babies begin to sleep through the night within a week or two. Don t worry about starving your baby. Schmidt Points out that after 4 months or 11 pounds for preemies. Babies need no calories at night trained night criers it is Normal Lor a baby to Wake up several times at night adults do too briefly but rarely remember. And unless the baby is hungry or in pain she will normally go Bach to sleep unattended. However As or. Richard Ferber told the annual meeting of the american Academy of paediatrics this month a baby who is used to ailing asleep Only with certain aids such As being held or rocked to sleep May scream until they Are provided. Trained night criers by Schmitt 3 definition Are infants older than 4 months who have Given up the raid la of the night feeding but awaken and demand attention. Such babies Calm Down quickly when they Are picked up. The problem usually occur because the parents give the baby secondary gains during the night Schmidt said. They remove him from the crib and talk to him Rock him or play with  sometimes the Mother takes the baby to bed with her. Such babies never associate the crib with sleeping. They Are Type Cathy put to bed when asleep and when they awake at night they expect a Parer to help them go Back to sleep. White this pattern is often present from birth occasionally it begins after an illness or a change in sleep environment prompts parents to give the baby extra attention at night. Other contributing factors include mothers who oven Espond to the baby s Normal night rustling fathers who insist Hal their sleep not be disturbed babies who Nap too Long during the Day end those who sleep in the parents room and demand attention because they can see the parents. As one might guess the treatment for trained night crying is to let the baby cry. Otherwise children win demand attention nightly unit age 3 or 4, Schmidt warned. But with a Little help they can easily develop resources for falling asleep again. He suggests the four wig approach Start by letting the baby cry 5 to 10 minutes. Then go in but do no turn on the Light pick him up change his diaper or play with him. Simply make some reassuring comment like everything s Fine now go to sleep and leave within 1 minute. If the baby continues to cry recheck him the same Way every 1 6 or 20 minutes if you Musl. At first the baby May cry Lor up to z hours bul with this approach consistently applied nighttime crying should diminish in a few nights. If a. Parent cannot tolerate any nigh crying the child can be held or rocked to sleep but should not be talked to played with or taken to the parents bed. An alternative is for the noise sensitive Parent to Wear earplugs or temporarily sleep elsewhere in the Home. If vie Erib it in your room move it or cover one Side to Block the baby s View at you. Ferber director of the Pedi Alric sleep Center at Boston Chi Ken a Hospital. Warns against giving the baby anything at bedtime that will not be there it he awakens at night. Fearful night dying children aged 6 months to 2 years May suddenly become afraid to be atone in their Roorda at night the usual cause is separation anxiety Normal Slaga that peaks around 13 months. In most children the crying lasts 1 to 5 minutes and continues nightly for up to a month before it slops on its own. Certain events can precipitate me problem having the  separated from a Parent waking up to strange baby Sitter getting lost in a store a Mother s returning to work or becoming very 31, marital conflict or the birth of new sibling. During the Day a baby with separation anxiety should be Given extra reassurance and Hoking especially in the evening by mothers who Wor Fantt May Benefit from being carried in a song or Backpack Al right make the   a night Light  Ulm Nam a Whan the chid cries at nigh Check on her briefly bul keep the Ign Oft minimize interaction and Donoro Lowthe chid Tomb bed. Tea Babia extra net fearful or Voa a  when to get help consult your physician w you think lha cry Mcmay have a physical Causa. V ton Wom in tha  tolerate any crying or � no improvement occur after following the above tugged Tom to twp we Page 16 the stars and stripes tuesday december 9,1986