We know that sleep is necessary and natural, so why is it so hard to establish good sleeping habits for our babies?  If the magic formula is simply to put your baby down to for a sleep when he's still awake, why is that so hard in reality?  I know from experience of both my children that as soon as I'd put them down awake, they would protest! Settling them would take so long I'd be tempted to feed them to sleep.
  The easy option would only take five minutes instead of sixty!    In their fantastic book, 'Sleep', Hollyer and Smith describe how falling asleep can literally be a frightening experience for babies.
  When we are asleep we are vulnerable.
  So for a newborn baby (who is completely helpless) to fall asleep alone, is clearly counter-intuitive.
  If we look back to primitive times, sleeping when not in the arms of a guardian may have meant death to a vulnerable infant.
  So it's no wonder they protest when we put them down!  Resisting separation from us is a basic survival instinct.
  Add to that the sensation of actually falling asleep, which is alien and frightening for a newborn, and I can understand why our babies would prefer we were holding them close.
  I must admit that I also had a secret desire to break all the sleep books rules and let my precious bundles curl up on my chest all night long.
  But there's only so long a baby will fit on your chest and once a sleep association is established, it's hard to break.
  Sound, peaceful sleep certainly goes a long way to helping us have fun filled days and a happy family.
  And setting up bad habits in the early days only makes it harder to establish good ones later.
  I recommend getting all the cuddles you can in the day and when it comes to sleep times, put your baby down awake so that he can transition to sleep on his own.
  Your baby will need some support.
He needs to know that it's safe to go to sleep.
My first son always used to cry just before he fell asleep, sometimes for a few minutes, and my going to him only made him fully wake again, so he'd have to start the process of falling asleep all over again.
  Once I realised that he needed to cry for a few minutes, I gave us both a break.
  I stayed close and he was able to go to sleep without my intervention.
  Here's some tips for settling your newborn to sleep awake: 1 - New babies are easily over stimulated.
Take him to a room that is dark and quiet to wind him down.
2 - Swaddle your baby so that he feels secure.
3 - A new baby (0-4 weeks) will only need to be awake for about 45 minutes before they need to go back to sleep.
Leave it any later and they will find it harder to settle - which means more intervention from you.
4 - Hold, rock or feed your baby until he is drowsy but still awake and then lower him into his cot (bum first and then head - other way round and they wake right back up again!).
5 - Some little ones may need white noise to help them transition between sleep cycles.
6 - Keep a baby comforter close to your skin for a few hours and place it at the end of your baby's crib so he is comforted by your smell.
By doing this in the early days, you will avoid setting up sleep associations that are later difficult to break.
Your baby will learn an essential skill - how to go to sleep by himself, without your help.
His need for sleep is both mental and physical.
When our babies are sleeping, they begin to make sense of their worlds, their brains develop and their bodies grow.
Sleep for our little ones isn't something to hope for, it's a necessity for us all!