1) Hold her a little longer, rock her a little more, read her another story, you’ve only read her four. Let her sleep on your shoulder, rejoice in her happy smile. She is only a little girl for such a little while.

-Unknown

2) Sleep training tends to punish babies and toddlers for problems that don’t belong to them. They are left to cry, put down while they still need a hug, denied milk when they are hungry and ignored when they most need comfort.

-Sarah Ockwell-Smith

3) We cannot train our babies not to need us. Whether it’s the middle of the day, or the middle of the night, their needs are real and valid, including the simple need for a human touch. A ‘trained’ baby may give up on his needs being met, but the need is still there, just not the trust.

-L.R Knost (Two Thousand Kisses A Day: Gentle Parenting Through The Ages and Stages)

4) Your baby doesn’t magically transform into a different life form at the moment of birth – he is the same person he was just a minute before. So, the first three months of life, are like a fourth trimester, and should be treated as a gentle entry into this world – with respect and loving care.

-Elizabeth Pantley. The No Cry Nap Solution.

-L.R Knost

6) Actually, I want my baby to ‘expect’ to be held, and to ‘expect’ to be soothed, and ‘expect’ to have her cries answered immediately. That’s called trust.

-L.R Knost

 

7) When babies sleep with or near their parents, they are not being spoiled, they are being made to feel secure and accepted.

-Dr Lendon Smith

8) Your baby needs you. It’s that hard and that simple.

-Grubby Mummy and the Grubby Babies

9) So rock, cuddle, sing, hum, carry and nurse on gentle mamas. You ARE doing it right. You are doing what works for you and your baby. Your time and effort is not in vain. Your work right now is the most important investment to our world. You are resting a tired, rapidly wiring, growing brain. Allowing it to flourish feeling secure, comforted and loved. You will never regret this time with your babe. Take a deep breath, relax and know just how valuable you are.

-Grubby Mummy and the Grubby Babies

10) Remember that babies are not like dogs. If you mess up early training with a dog, you can often reteach them how to behave (as dog whisperers show). Humans are much more complex and sensitive periods of development come and go. If you miss providing what baby needs early on, you are setting the child’s whole trajectory off kilter for everything that develops after that. The foundation will be “slippy” and “gappy”, though you may not notice till adolescence when key developments rely on those earlier ones.

-Psychology Today

What are some of your favorite baby sleep quotes that gave you comfort in those early hazy days? I’d love to know… add in the comments so other new mums can enjoy them too!

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