How to get a newborn to sleep. The advice of the sleep nanny

How to do sleeping a newborn? For the parents struggling with the first sleepless nights it may seem like one mission impossible, one of those skills that would require a degree. Or at least one dedicated masterclass. Well, today specialization courses on sleep they really exist and are the ones who Elena Biondibetter known as the Sleep Nannymakes available to parents to answer all those doubts and questions that mum and dad have always asked about the greatest mystery of all time: the baby’s sleep.

Neonatal nanny expert in infant sleep, Elena Biondi for over fifteen years has in fact proposed a kind and positive approach to the first nightssupporting many parents and providing useful advice to set healthy habits oriented to what she herself defines as a real one “Sleep hygiene”.

Also very popular on social (@elena_the_nanny), where with its 116 thousand followers, it is now considered one sleep guruElena Biondi has also recently signed Sleep Nanny’s Tips – Times, naps and feedings between 0 and 4 months, published by Fabbri Editori. The book, which will be released on May 31, is a manual that aims to dispel the most common myths about sleep, starting from an assumption as simple as it is underestimated: sleeping well is first of all a path to be undertaken together as a family.

Here’s what he revealed to us in this interview.

How did she become the Sleep Nanny?

“I started this profession while I was studying other subjects. I had been a nanny since I was 16 and at 19 I started working with Roberto Albani (Gastroenterologist Pediatrician, author of several books, ed) who for 5 years sent me to follow children who did not sleep, also training me through specific courses. I worked a lot like neonatal nanny, even working night shifts and also with experiences abroad, in cities like London, Los Angeles and New York. The world of children has always been my passion. Today a staff of specialists also work with me, including pediatricians, midwives and psychologists, and we follow nearly 700 people a month“.

Your intent is not to propose a rigid method but rather small, large strategies that can best adapt to the life of the parents, is that it?

“Sleep is made up of many aspects. I believe that little is known about sleep and that one method cannot work for everyone, for the simple reason that each child is unique. After that, I try to come up with strategies that may be useful. The decisive part of my work, however, is the one I carry out with single parents, in which they tell me what happens and we try to understand together what the problem may be, clearly once it is established that the little one is fine. What too often we tend to ignore is that the dimension of sleep concerns two people: the child but also the parent with his emotionality“.

In your book you talk about “sleep hygiene”. What is meant?

“Means all that body of knowledge on the physiology of sleep and all those small behaviors that may seem trivial but actually make the difference: the various types of sleep, the times, the rhythms, the temperature, the environment, the routine but also the emotion of the parent. All elements that build the basis of sleep. I believe very much in the fact that give these tools to parents right from the start, can help them over time to avoid having to cope with nights with 7/8 awakenings, a problem that today concerns many Italian parents “.

Is the purpose of helping the baby sleep through the night?

“In reality, the central theme is not to have perfect children who sleep all night but to help children, especially those who may have more difficulty, to sleep well because sleep is essential for a child’s development and health. We work for children, not parents. It is also obvious that, consequently, helping children to sleep also means allowing parents to be more rested and to live parenthood better “.

So can sleep be educated from an early age?

“I wouldn’t talk about sleep education. Let’s say that it is possible to accompany children on their own path. The goal is that there is no hyper-fragmentation of sleep after 6/8 months, which, according to our experience, is the thing that happens most often “.

A scientific approach to sleep, then …

“Actually also very human. He is always the parent, in fact, who guides. We can provide some indications but then it is up to the parent to carry on what has been learned ».

In your opinion, what is the most common false myth about children’s sleep?

“Disinformation has led to the belief that it is normal for children to sleep, up to the age of 3, fragmented and studded with many awakenings per night: in reality, without striving for a perfection that does not exist, something can be done. The secret? Leaving with fewer expectations. Let’s say that for parents it is essential finding the right balance between having too many expectations about sleep and giving in to the false myth that babies can’t sleep“.

So what are the small strategies that can help put a newborn to sleep? The answer in the gallery below!