• Expert on infant development warns mothers are storing up trouble by rocking babies to sleep
It may seem the natural way to soothe a tired, fractious baby.
But mothers who rock their child to sleep are storing up trouble, a leading expert on infant development has warned.
Lynne Murray, a professor of developmental psychology, said that babies take note of what is going on as they drop off – and come to want the same thing each time.
So a baby that becomes used being held will need to be rocked in order to fall asleep in the future.
Similarly, a mother who allows her baby to nod off while breastfeeding can expect to have sleepless nights ahead.
The professor, who has spent more than 40 years researching child development, advises that parents study what their baby naturally does when drowsy – and make it easier for them to do it.
So an infant that finds comfort in sucking its thumb could be wrapped in a sheet with its hands close to its mouth.
Professor Murray, of Reading University, says that getting into such a routine early should prevent months and months of sleepless nights.
She said: ‘It is worth noting that when these principles are adopted before the onset of sleeping difficulties, the baby is unlikely to have more than brief periods of occasional distress.
‘By contrast, if problems have already developed, and the baby then needs to give up an established habit of falling asleep, with their parent’s active involvement, considerably more distress is likely to be involved.
‘Once you’ve got a problem, it’s a nightmare. My approach has been you can avoid the problem if you understand the process right at the beginning.
The basics are not rocket science.’
Speaking at the launch of her book The Psychology of Babies, Professor Murray said that parents should wait until their babies are a few weeks’ old and don’t fall asleep instantly after feeding.
They should then watch how what the child does when it becomes drowsy and capitalise on it.
The professor said: ‘If you notice in the very early weeks that your baby tends to get off to sleep by sucking on their fist then you can set a way to put them off to sleep when they get tired.
‘Maybe wrap a thin sleep around them with their fists up to their chin so that when the baby surfaces from sleep and wants to go back they’ve got their fists available and they can do it for themselves without needing the parent to be there.’
Other babies might become drowsy on looking at complex patterns – and so intricately detailed fabric could be put round the cot.
Teddy bears and comfort blankets may also provide the necessary reassurance – with even every young infants likely to be aware of their smell or texture.
The professor also advises getting babies into a routine, says that reading to a child is one of best ways of boosting its brainpower and that the first two years of life provide the foundations of everything from sociability to IQ.
