Sleep problems can be one of the most frustrating problems that parents face with their children. They are vexing, not only because everyone loses sleep, but because they can be so difficult to stop. To try and prevent the emergence of sleep problems later on, new parents can try the following approaches:

When your baby is young, comfort him when he cries. Studies have shown that babies who are comforted in the first six months of life cry less in the second 6 months of life. By about four months of age, move your baby to a separate room. If you keep your baby in your bed or in your bedroom your baby will realize that you are there and may wake up more.

The foundation of good sleep habits are established early on. By 3-4 months of age, strongly consider teaching your baby to go into the crib sleepy, drowsy, but still awake. Richard Ferber's work tells us that babies normally wake multiple times through the night. If your baby knows how to go to sleep she can go back to sleep by herself in the middle of the night. If we make sleep associations for the baby such as rocking or breastfeeding to sleep the baby will naturally require these aids to return to sleep in the middle of the night.

By 1 year of age, it is a good idea to establish a bedtime ritual. For example, you could follow this routine: go upstairs with your child, give him a bath, put on his pajamas, give him a drink, brush his teeth, rock him in his rocking chair while reading him a story, then put him in his crib, and say good night. This ritual should be done at about the same time each night. This way your child will have a chance to unwind, and he will associate this ritual with going to sleep.