"Why won't my baby sleep at night?"

Mary Jane sets down the baby's car seat with a noticeable thump. "I’ve had it! I'm giving up breastfeeding," she declares. "I put him on the breast and he eats well. He falls asleep at the breast and seems satisfied," she explains. "But, one hour later he grunts, rolls his eyes around, and puckers his lips," she moans. "I get out of bed and work desperately to get him back on the breast. He finally eats and falls back asleep." Her energy seems to be mounting as she goes on to say, "It starts all over one hour later! - the grunts, his eyes popping open, those mouth movements! I can't go on. Maybe he would sleep better on formula."

The Science: What's happening here...

New parents lack information about a newborn's normal sleep cycles. Most newborns, and especially those born early, are still developing clear sleep cycles. As babies mature they develop two clear sleep cycles: still-deep sleep and active-light sleep. Babies "look asleep" in the still-deep sleep cycle. (See DVD Clips of cycles)They are totally still, their breathing is nice and regular, and the baby makes no sounds. However, in active-light sleep a baby will twitch, make mouth movement, open and close his eyes and even make grunting, cooing sounds. But he is still asleep, just in active sleep. If left alone a few minutes, he will often get quiet again and go back to still-deep sleep. Babies spend 40% of their time in still-deep sleep and 60% in active-light sleep.

"Ah-Ha" Moment: How The HUG's information helps this mother...

Mary Jane is interested to learn that some babies "just have noisy, busy active-light cycles." After hearing briefly about these two normal sleep cycles, she promises to let you know how the next few nights go.

She calls back Wednesday with a lift to her voice. "Yep, I just let him wiggle and squirm a few minutes. He really surprised me by going back to that still-deep sleep in only ten minutes. He didn't wake me up to REALLY eat for another one and a half hours!"

And, Mary Jane's still a breastfeeding mom and loving it!