IF BABY WAKENS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 June 1938, Page 4

IF BABY WAKENS

WHAT SHOULD BE DONE. A child may become a poor sleeper through a habit acquired during his infancy. The baby who wakes during the night is encouraged to do so again and again by the gratification of a night feeding. Prevention is always better than cure, so the best way to check the establishment of the habit of insomnia is for baby to have long, unbroken nights, without a feed, from the very first. The infant who has an indulgent mother, and has not had such an excellent start in life, getting the comfort of a feed every time he wakens, will surely become so accustomed to broken nights that any alteration in such methods will evoke quite an outcry on his part. Nevertheless, to ensure a future of right sleeping habits, the mother will have to make a definite break of past ways and definitely not feed him when he should be having a spell of eight hours’ unbroken sleep. There may be disturbed nights in consequence, and the mother will need strength of mind to withstand her baby’s disappointed crying. The father's bed would best be moved to the other side of the house for the time being, to ensure his sleep being undisturbed. Flat-life and proximity to the next-door neighboui' are always difficulties in baby’s training, but, as baby’s future is at stake, the neighbourhood may have to feel badly treated for a week or two, perhaps.