If you haven’t had a good night’s sleep since your baby was born, you are not alone. This is a natural phase that you ought to adjust to. Parents have to wait all day for that well-deserved break from doing the dishes, changing the diapers, and other demands. At times, the baby doesn’t feel like sleeping soon enough.
The last thing you’d want as a parent is having the baby not ready to unwind when you are. Even though sleepless nights are like a rite of passage for most new parents, you should not despair. It is possible to make your baby sleep early enough and for longer at night.
It would be helpful to note that you can’t possibly force a child to fall asleep at your command, but there are things you can do to make them crave for their bed.
Here are five baby sleep tips to help them sleep throughout the night:
Develop a rhythm
Newborns sleep for at least 16 hours every day, but in short stretches of a few hours. The best sleep routine for a newborn would be to develop a rhythm and stick with it. The baby gets used to such a pattern, and you could, on the other hand, align your schedules with the baby’s sleeping patterns.
You should note the times when you take the baby for naps during the day and keep the consistency. The same applies at night, and you’ll be thankful whenever you’re too tired, but the baby goes to sleep at their scheduled bedtime.
Swaddling
Infants (up to four to five months old) innately possess a startle reflex. They constantly feel like they are about to fall, and this sensation causes jerking movements forcing the baby to wake up incidentally.
You can use a baby swaddles to make your child more comfortable, and the tight covering takes away their fear of the startle reflex.
Put your baby to bed drowsy but awake
Make it a habit to take your baby to bed when they’re still awake but drowsy. This helps them associate their crib with sleep, and whenever they’re out there, they can easily go to sleep. Ensure that you create a conducive environment for them, get rid of all other non-essential things in their bed, and only leave their beddings alone. This will make them focus more on their sleep whenever they’re put to bed, whether tired or not.
Limit the length of naps during the day
It might be a little harder to wake a sleeping baby, but allowing them to sleep longer stretches during the day may end up robbing them of their sleep during the night. A good strategy would be to let them rest for at least two to 2.5 hours before waking them up to get fed.
Allow them to stay awake for at least another 30 minutes before taking them back to sleep. Doing this makes it possible for you to feed the baby more and give them more time to have a good night’s sleep.
Respect your baby’s preferences
Babies are built differently, so you ought to understand what yours prefers: are they a night owl or an early bird? Once you’ve figured it out, you can adjust your schedules accordingly to accommodate your baby’s night sleep patterns.
Many other tips would help ensure that your baby gets a good night’s sleep. However, none makes the baby more peaceful than the feeling of being comfortable and feeling safe when snuggly wrapped in a baby swaddle. This is one of the most important aspects to consider immediately after your baby is born.
