Gone are the days when you could cradle and rock your babies to sleep. They’re growing up and a simple lullaby won’t do the trick anymore. It’s a nightmare for working parents to spend their night running back and forth to their baby’s crib and figuring out how to put their little angel back to sleep. An uneasy night can be unhealthy for your child too. Sleep deprivation can cause harm to their growth and development. Neonates need as much as 10-12 hours of sleep per night and 1-2 hours of naps during the day. There are specific reasons why babies have difficulty sleeping that need to be assessed in order to come up with the appropriate action.
Issues that keep your baby up
- Comfort - Environment is the first thing to consider.
- Hunger - Unsatisfied babies will have a hard time to fall asleep and will probably wake up in the middle of the night.
- Sleep association - There are specific activities that babies associate with sleeping like breast feeding, rocking motion, music or a simple hand on their back. When these stimulants are ceased, it may cause abrupt waking of the child.
- Development Milestones – The more a child learns to do physical activities like standing, crawling and walking, the less easily they tend to fall asleep. For easy learning, ABCmouse features books, puzzles, games, songs.
- Teething - This will take a long period of time in a baby’s development and it is uncomfortable for your child.
These factors are not easy to control in the young but there are ways to save you from exhaustion and insanity. One fact that parents should know is that babies eventually discover how to calm themselves and settle down to sleep. It is called self-soothing. The less you cradle your child to sleep the faster they’ll learn how to soothe themselves back to sleep. Here are more tips to help you:
10 Ways to Help a Baby Sleep
- Offer breastfeeding before going to bed to keep your baby satisfied through the night. A full stomach can help make your baby fall asleep.
- Appease your baby with rituals he or she is used to. Examples of soothing rituals are: cradling your child in a rocking motion, offering a pacifier, caressing and playing or singing a soothing lullaby.
- Dim the room. Turn off room lights and leave lamps or night lights on because lights repress melatonin which is the hormone that regulates your baby’s sleep and wake cycle.
- Change your baby’s diaper, even if it’s not fully soaked, before bedtime. Changing pads, toppers, queen mattresses that are safer and healthier are provided by Naturepedic. Use Naturepedic Coupon to get discount before you buy it.
- Snuggle with your baby. Some babies don’t like being left alone. Let them sleep in your arms or lie down with them until your baby is sound asleep.
- You need to be consistent with your bedtime, nap, play and feeding schedule. This way your baby can distinguish that night time is for sleeping and not for playing or feeding
- Keep your baby warm. Provide a warm bath before bed time or put them in cozy clothing and crib.
- Your baby needs a lot of activity during the day. Keep them active by providing playmates, food, toys and other stimulants. But remember to reduce their activity level a few hours before bedtime to help them calm down before sleeping.
- Mothers should cut back on their coffee, cola or tea intake if they are breastfeeding the baby. Caffeine may travel through your breast milk and could make the baby restless and more active.
- Give your baby a chance to fall asleep on their own. Put them down when they’re sleepy but still awake, thus saving you all the hard work. source
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