Every parent-to-be can’t wait for a baby to be born and starts preparing everything much before its birth. However, once your baby is born, your life will change from the root. You won’t have time for your favorite daily routines and your number one obligation will be to satisfy your baby’s needs.
One of the largest problems concerning new parents is the shortage of sleep. Most babies wake up at night and cry because they are not fully accustomed to their new environment. If your baby does the same, don’t despair. Although putting your baby to sleep looks like a mission impossible to you now, there are numerous ways for you to do that.
For decades, people have tried to find the most effective methods to get their baby to sleep. Numerous guides are published in order to help young parents to overcome this problem. Here is a brief summary of the most effective methods and experiences.
Don’t Make Your Baby Sleep
The most important thing you need to know is that your baby acts according to its physiological needs, which means that it will eat when it’s hungry and sleep when it’s sleepy. Sleep is supposed to be a pleasant and satisfying state and that’s why you shouldn’t force your baby into it. If you do that, you child might have more serious sleeping problems later.
Don’t Trust Everything You Hear
As we already mentioned, there are numerous tips guides used to improve your baby’s sleeping habits. However, not babies are the same. They react to people, sounds, objects and colors differently. For instance, something that makes your baby sleepy will irritate some other baby. Therefore, you shouldn’t completely trust everything you hear. Follow your instincts and try to detect what your baby likes and what not. Once you find out that, everything will seem so easy.
Don’t Make Eye Contact
One of the most common mistakes young parents make while trying to put their baby to sleep is gazing at it constantly. Believe it or not, babies perceive eye-contact in a different way. For them, it is a stimulus that encourages them to get out of sleep zone. Don’t be surprised if your baby looks straight into you expecting you to sing or play with it.
Noise Stimulates Sleepiness
As you probably know, the noises babies hear while in uterus are quite intensive. That is why you shouldn’t use silent method while trying to put your baby to sleep. Instead, you could talk or sing to your baby or even play calming music. There is a wide range of methods you could use and they depend on what your baby likes most. If you notice that a particular sound stimulates it to stay awake or makes it cry, you should immediately replace it with something else.
Dark Stimulates Peaceful Sleep
Your baby needs to get used to sleeping in a dark room for darkness stimulates an important sleep hormone, melatonin. If your baby sleeps more during the day than during the night, you should teach it the difference. For example, make your home as bright as possible or take your baby outside. Also, when you are putting your baby down for a daytime nap, you need to let a lot of natural light into the room.
When it comes to the nighttime sleep, you need to create a pleasant environment. For example, light in the nursery is allowed, but only if you use dimmers or if the light fixture is really small. Also, you should consider installing dimmers in other rooms where you usually spend a lot of time.
Cut Diaper Changes
One of the most important rules is that you don’t have to change your baby every time you feed it or when it’s awake. Instead of making it sleepier, that procedure will wake it fast. That is why you should use quality night diapers and when the baby wakes up, you should change it only if it’s necessary. All you have to do is to make sure whether the diaper is soaked through or soiled.
Lower the Temperature
Did you know that temperature also influences your baby’s sleep? Babies sleep better and longer if a room is cooler, especially if the temperature is between 65 and 70 F. If you are not sure how to regulate the temperature in the nursery, you could use a thermostat, which is easy to control.
Cozy Sleep Spot
Unlike adults who are able to easily accommodate to almost every room and bed, babies need to be treated differently. They are more sensitive and require a cozy sleep spot, such as bassinet that makes them feel safer. Don’t overcrowd the bassinet with sharp plastic toys. On the contrary, fill it with soft materials in which your baby will simply enjoy. Use soft blankets and comfy clothes, such as swaddle bags to make your baby feel cozy. Swaddle bags simulate the womb, thus your baby will be able to freely move arms and legs and at the same time, it will be covered all night.
Although new parents might face numerous difficulties during first few weeks, once they get used to all changes in their lives, they will be happier than ever. One of these changes is the lack of sleep and the methods used to overcome it. Following these tips, you will learn how to get your baby to sleep easily.
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