1. Offering your baby cereal in a bottle will help him sleep through the night.
RARELY: Parents are often eager to start giving their baby solids (either by spoon or in a bottle) believing a full tummy will help him to sleep through the night. It seldom helps. When a baby sleeps through has more to do with brain development than a full tummy. If baby is not developmentally ready to go all night without eating, then its not going to happen, no matter how much food he eats during the day. Starting solid too soon can upset the nutritional balance of a baby\'s diet, which then has the potential to cause sleep disturbance.2. Some babies don\'t need to sleep during the day.
FALSE: Some parents are told this, often by health professionals, but it\'s simply not true. While some babies sleep less than others, all babies need to sleep during the day.3. Co-sleeping is the answer to a baby\'s sleeping problems.
TRUE & FALSE: There are advantages and disadvantages to co-sleeping. Many babies sleep more soundly when they can maintain physical contact with a parent, while others sleep better on their own. Some parents experience a sense of reassurance knowing their baby is close by and feel its easier to provide nighttime breastfeeds. Whereas other parents find co-sleeping may further disrupt their own sleep due to concerns for their baby\'s safety or due to their child\'s frequent movements during the night.4. \'High needs\' babies have trouble sleeping and therefore need parents\' help to sleep.
FALSE: There is a difference between wants and need. Although a baby\'s temperament can affect their ability to \'switch off\' and fall asleep as well as their ability to stay asleep, all babies are capable of learning to fall asleep independently. Some babies are clingy and demanding and thus labeled as \'high needs\' when in reality they\'re chronically sleep deprived owing to leaned dependence on outside help to sleep.5. If you keep your baby awake longer during the day, he will sleep better at night.
FALSE: Parents are often told this, but in fact all you will end up with is an overtired, cranky baby who may be find it even more difficult to settle to sleep in the evening, and may wake even more often during the night.6. Once a baby reaches a certain weight, he will start to sleep through the night without feeding
FALSE: Firstly, no baby sleeps through the night without arousing or awakening. The difference is some babies learn how to return to sleep independent of outside help. A baby\'s weight has little bearing on when he is ready to through the night without eating. He needs to be developmentally ready (physically and psychologically) to be able to achieve this. However, this does not mean a baby will automatically sleep through the night when mature enough to do so. Many babies continue to wake overnight beyond the age of readiness, due to other reasons. The most common of which is learned dependence on sleep associations that require others to provide.7. Removing your baby\'s pacifier from his mouth after he has fallen asleep with reduce the risk of him waking later.
FALSE: If your baby learns to depend on a pacifier to fall asleep, the pacifier then becomes a sleep association for him. Deliberately removing his pacifier after he has fallen asleep will not change his dependence on it as a way to fall asleep.It\'s perfectly normal for all of us all to wake between sleep cycles. If your baby wakes between sleep cycles to find his pacifier missing (regardless of whether it fell out or you removed it) he will cry for it\'s return so that he can return to sleep.
8. Babies don\'t suffer from sleep deprivation, only parents do.
FALSE: Babies can and do suffer from sleep deprivation, but they show this a little differently to adults. Like an adult, a sleep-deprived baby\'s attention span is reduced and co-ordination is affected. He\'s easily frustrated and has emotional meltdowns. He also finds it difficult to fall asleep. However, unlike adults who tend to slow down and become sluggish when sleep deprived, babies and young children become hyperactive.Sleep-deprived babies often display distressed behavior, which is commonly mistaken as pain. (See Overtired Baby.)
9. Moving a child from a crib to a bed will resolve a sleep problem.
RARELY: If your child has a sleep problem in a crib, he\'s just as likely to have a sleep problem in a bed. Moving your child into a bed in a bid to resolve a sleep problem offers you less control and can further complicate the situation as your child can easily climb out of bed.10. A child will learn to sleep without parents\' help.
TRUE: Most children do learn to sleep independently... eventually. However, for a child to learn to sleep independently without effective* encouragement from parents may take up to the age of 3 or 4 years (or older).*Parents often believe they are offering effective encouragement but in reality without realizing it they can be reinforcing the behavior they wish to change.
Source: babycareadvice
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