CLEVELAND — If you have a new baby in the house - maybe that's why you're up watching us right now. Getting babies and toddlers to sleep longer and better is always challenging for parents.
In today's Mom Squad, Maureen Kyle talks with Dr. Harvey Karp, who wrote "The Happiest Baby on the Block" and has researched baby's sleep for decades. He says they are still making breakthroughs in infant sleep.
“A big change between the way we care for children today and the way we care for them two years from now. It hasn't happened yet, but it's coming,” Karp explains.
“And one of those big changes is, should babies sleep in the quiet dark? For 12 to 14 hours a night. Or should they sleep with rocking, shushing, and rhythmic stimulation,” says Karp.
In the interview, Dr. Karp explains what he calls “the 4th trimester” and why babies, even adults, sleep better with white noise.
Dr. Karp also discusses those months of sleep regression. He says you have to remember that our babies are social. They wake up in the middle of the night, and they miss us.
We go in-depth about things like melatonin and what to do if your toddler is still not sleeping. You can catch all of this on the latest episode of Mom Squad on WKYC+ and on the WKYC app.