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How To Induce Sleep In Infants?

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Posted on Mon, 7 Apr 2014
Question: My seven month old does not take naps and at night struggles sleeping for more than a couple hours at a time. The exhaustion seems to be affecting his health. Is there a safe amount of benadryl I can give him to help him sleep or is there something else I can do?
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Answered by Dr. Michelle Gibson James (46 minutes later)
Brief Answer: not safe to use to induce sleep in babies Detailed Answer: Hi, thanks for using healthcare magic As a mother myself , I can understand how difficult this may be for you. He is exhausted and you must also be exhausted. Unfortunately it would be a very very bad idea for him to come to rely on medication to help him sleep. Some children learn to sleep through the night early (one colleague told me 4 weeks) whereas others take over a year to develop this ability but the night time routine is important in this area. (1) Ensure that his supper is heavy. At 7 months he should be able to use some crushed foods. You want him to be full on his way to bed (2)Always start at set time. For example, every evening start supper around a consistent specific time and then start the bath routine at a consistent time as well. Children do well when they have a specific bedtime routine. Try not to vary the times by too much (3)it would be best if he does not rely on you to fall asleep. For example , it would be best if he does not fall asleep while feeding or rocking or walking The reason for this is- if he wake up, he needs you to help him back to sleep. He needs to learn to sleep on his own.Sometimes they toss and turn and wake up but if he knows how to go back on his own, he may do so. It is suggested that they go to bed, sleepy but awake. (4)There is a pick up put down method that is sometimes used to help them to settle with day time and night time naps. It was popularised by the baby whisperer. Her books are still available and the technique described in detail on baby sites, if you are comfortable with it you may want to try it. The basics- put baby down sleepy but awake He may cry (does not know how to go to sleep on own), if cries for more than few minutes, pick him up, comfort him and put him back down It can take a few days for it to start helping (took me a week with my first, longer with the second). You can do it if you are comfortable (5)if he wakes during the night, keep the room dark, voice low and interaction to a bare minimum. Feed, change and back to bed. Must learn night is for sleep It can be struggle and truthfully as mentioned, it can take a while for babies to develop sleep skills but medication is not considered an option. He would learn that he needs medication to sleep and may come to rely on this and then eventually other medications to sleep as he ages. I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Michelle Gibson James

General & Family Physician

Practicing since :2001

Answered : 16808 Questions

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How To Induce Sleep In Infants?

Brief Answer: not safe to use to induce sleep in babies Detailed Answer: Hi, thanks for using healthcare magic As a mother myself , I can understand how difficult this may be for you. He is exhausted and you must also be exhausted. Unfortunately it would be a very very bad idea for him to come to rely on medication to help him sleep. Some children learn to sleep through the night early (one colleague told me 4 weeks) whereas others take over a year to develop this ability but the night time routine is important in this area. (1) Ensure that his supper is heavy. At 7 months he should be able to use some crushed foods. You want him to be full on his way to bed (2)Always start at set time. For example, every evening start supper around a consistent specific time and then start the bath routine at a consistent time as well. Children do well when they have a specific bedtime routine. Try not to vary the times by too much (3)it would be best if he does not rely on you to fall asleep. For example , it would be best if he does not fall asleep while feeding or rocking or walking The reason for this is- if he wake up, he needs you to help him back to sleep. He needs to learn to sleep on his own.Sometimes they toss and turn and wake up but if he knows how to go back on his own, he may do so. It is suggested that they go to bed, sleepy but awake. (4)There is a pick up put down method that is sometimes used to help them to settle with day time and night time naps. It was popularised by the baby whisperer. Her books are still available and the technique described in detail on baby sites, if you are comfortable with it you may want to try it. The basics- put baby down sleepy but awake He may cry (does not know how to go to sleep on own), if cries for more than few minutes, pick him up, comfort him and put him back down It can take a few days for it to start helping (took me a week with my first, longer with the second). You can do it if you are comfortable (5)if he wakes during the night, keep the room dark, voice low and interaction to a bare minimum. Feed, change and back to bed. Must learn night is for sleep It can be struggle and truthfully as mentioned, it can take a while for babies to develop sleep skills but medication is not considered an option. He would learn that he needs medication to sleep and may come to rely on this and then eventually other medications to sleep as he ages. I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions