Helping Baby Sleep
Five Tips For Helping Your Baby Sleep
Sleep is so important for a healthy, happy family. Unfortunately for many, sleep goes on the backburner. But really, sleep should be a priority and treated the same as trying to eat a balanced diet or getting enough exercise. Depriving yourself of sleep can make you sick and unhappy, right? How well do you function when you do not get enough sleep?
Introducing a baby into the home can completely throw off your sleep routine.
Here are some ideas that I hope will help you get the rest you and your baby need:
1) Sleep when baby sleeps.
This is probably one of the best ways to make sure you are getting all the rest you need. Babies wake up every few hours and do not sleep for eight hours straight like you may be used to doing. This means your usual going to bed at 11 and waking up at 7 is not going to happen, and a larger time frame needs to be dedicated to rest and sleep. Especially with a newborn baby that may not have worked out the difference between night and day yet.
2) Routine
A predictable routine can help your baby learn that at night time we sleep more, while also providing them cues of the sleep time to come.
You can customize your routine to fit your family. Some ideas could be giving your baby a bath, reading books, or singing a song and snuggling.
3) Environment
Think about the environment you sleep best in. Low lighting, quiet and free of electronics/TV is great. Fewer distractions to stimulate your baby and a calm mood can signal to your baby that it is sleep time. As much as possible keep the bed for sleep and rest only.
4) What works for your baby?
As you read this and possibly other articles and books on this subject, it is important to keep in mind that every baby is different. You may even find big differences between your own children. While one may find a bath before bed to be calming, another may find it energizes them and does nothing for helping them wind down for sleep time. For some babies, it may be easy to find a routine that helps them fall asleep, while others may need more patience and time.
5) One week is great. The next – nothing seems to work!
Your baby is in a time of their life when they are going through a lot of growth and development. What this means for sleep is that some weeks may be trickier than others. Try to be patient and know that “this too shall pass”. If your usual routine is not doing the trick anymore maybe try something a bit different, or stick with it, and then maybe by next week, the usual routine will work again. As your baby grows it may need permanent changes to the routine. The key here, as with many baby related things, is to be flexible. It can be frustrating at times, especially at the end of a busy day. But remember, you are doing your child a great service by helping them develop healthy sleep hygiene!
Happy Sleeping!
Please feel free to e-mail or call me if you are looking for more help with sleeping.
