What's Waking your Baby?
Make a Commitment to Change
Change requires effort, and effort requires energy. In an exhausted sleep-deprived state, you may find it easier just to keep things as they are rather than try something different. In other words, when baby wakes for the fifth time that night, and you’re desperate for sleep, it's so much easier to resort to the easiest way to get him back to sleep (rock, nurse, or replace the pacifier) than it is to try something different.
Only a parent who is truly sleep deprived can understand what I’m saying here. Others may calmly advise: “Well if things aren’t working for you, just change what you’re doing.” However, every night waking puts you in that foggy state where the only thing you crave is going back to sleep. Plans and ideas can seem like too much effort.
If you are to help your baby sleep all night, you will have to force yourself to make some changes and follow your plan, even in the middle of the night, even if it’s the tenth time your baby has called out for you. Making a commitment to change is the first important step to getting your baby to sleep through the night.
Meet our expert:
Elizabeth Pantley is a mother of four and the best-selling author of eight parenting books, including: The No-Cry Sleep Solution and The No-Cry Discipline Solution. She is also a contributing author to The Successful Child with Dr. William Sears. Based in Washington, Pantley is the president of Better Beginnings Inc. (a family resource and education company) and a parenting expert for a variety of publications including: Parents, Parenting and Redbook.
