How Do You Put A Baby To Sleep?
If you would like your baby to sleep through the night it is necessary to make sure that the child doesn’t get too much sleep during the day and doesn’t take naps close to bed time. To ensure that your baby gets enough sleep make sure that your baby gets used to a schedule/routine. The child will know that after lunch it’s time for a nap if the routine is repeated every day. The most important thing to remember is what NOT to do when putting the baby to bed at night. If your baby gets in the habit of being rocked in a rocking chair or walked around to be put to sleep a few things can happen.
- If you rock your child to sleep at night the baby will get used to that routine and will NOT go to sleep at night without you rocking him/her to sleep. Parents have also confided in me that the more they rocked their children the more intense they had to rock their children with time.
- Same thing goes with walking your child around.
As a mother or father you might treasure the time you have with your child by rocking them or walking them around but it can become difficult with time. It is especially important to note that if you are busy with a job that you may need a babysitter. As a babysitter for many children whose parent’s rocked them to sleep it is the hardest thing to get a child to sleep not being the one that normally rocks them to sleep. There is no possibility of the babysitter or nanny to alternate the child’s sleeping routine for the night.
The best way to get your child to sleep is just to lay them down around the same time every night and to leave them in the room. The baby will probably cry, it is completely normal! Don’t give in right away or the baby will know that you will be there every time he or she cries. You will know when it is something that is really wrong or if the baby just wants to be held. Stay strong parents!! Bed time can be one of the toughest times! 🙂
Very young babies cannot develop habits. They still have the phenomenon of "out of sight, out of mind," meaning they don’t have the memory to connect past, present and future, so do not be afraid to attend to your needy baby, and to comfort them to sleep. You will not spoil them! In fact, providing them with security in the very early stages will likely help them to learn to self-soothe later, when they they have no separation anxiety knowing you are near and are available.
I have found that for very young babies, up to 3 months old, the first and most important thing to get the baby to calm down and go to sleep is to wrap them in a very tight swaddle. You need to pin their little arms and legs down and bind them up with their swaddling blanket. This can be perfected with practice. They feel secure, as if they are back in the womb, and it is very calming.
Next, a baby needs to suck, whether you are nursing, giving a bottle, a pacifier, or encouraging finger or thumb sucking, try to pacify the baby with sucking.
A loud shushing sound in their ear, while it seems counterproductive, will simulate the sound of the womb, and provide a calming white noise that will cancel out other background noises.
Finally a swift rocking or swaying, especially with the baby’s tummy against yours, should be the cherry at the top of the sundae for you! Even apparently collicky babies seem to succumb to this method when calmly and swiftly executed.
As you do all of these things, do them calmly, but quickly. Showing frustration may be more upsetting to the baby. Knowing that there is a method – there is something you can do – should provide you with a sense of calm. If you do this everytime, eventually, the baby will associate the first steps, for example, the swaddling, as time to sleep, and the entire method will not be necessary.
Once you see that this works, immediately begin to associate the things that you want to happen at bedtime. Namely, do this at the same times so that you start to schedule sleeping times. Do it in the nursery, so that baby knows the nursery is the sleeping place. Gently place baby in crib as soon as they fall asleep, so they know that is where they will go to sleep. In the early stages, you may have to pick baby back up and resume shushing and swaying, but as soon as baby nods off, lay them in their crib again. They will stay longer and longer.
Remember, while this all seems so complicated, it quickly becomes routine, and also remember, these few weeks, or even months are very, very temporary. This will pass.
Putting a baby to sleep does not have to be hard. With infants I always swaddled them and then rocked them to sleep. With my grandson who sometimes fights sleep and is now 8 months old, I have found out he loves singing. I know this will sound crazy but atleast try it, Jamey Johnson’s song "In Color" gets him to sleep every single time. When I play this song and rock him while singing along, he watches me so intently and by the end of the song he is sound asleep.
Putting a baby to sleep during the day is a little different from getting him or her ready for the night. Rocking, singing or playing soft music can help the baby relax and fall asleep. My kids always fell asleep with some sort of "white noise": a hum of a fan, the sound of rain on a CD. Even setting a radio between stations to have the static noise. While it can be very annoying for adults, these sounds are very soothing to babies.
When it comes to putting your baby to sleep for the night, the key is to establish a routine. Each baby is different and the parents need to find out what works best for their child. Taking a warm bath, a relaxing massage, nursing, singing a lullaby or even reading a story will set the right mood, help the baby to get used to it and will fall asleep much faster.
Are you having trouble putting your baby to sleep? If you need help putting your child to sleep, here’s how you can help your baby feel relaxed so that you can have peace and quiet yourself. • Give the baby some times to play and wind down before he or she goes to sleep. Don’t get the baby worked up with vigorous games, or bedtime will be that much more difficult. • Offer your baby the opportunity to eat or drink. • Give your baby a warm bath. Most babies find the warm water very relaxing. (Although a few hate baths or find them too exciting!) • Change the baby’s diaper, if necessary. • Dress Baby for Bed. Be sure the clothing is not too warm nor too cold. A “snuggle sack” (a pajama set with a sack-like opening in the bottom) is sometimes used by parents. • Soothe the Baby. Each baby is different, but all need help being soothed before they will go to sleep. Try: • Telling a story in a soothing, monotone voice • Walking around with baby • Rocking the baby in a rocker or glider • Singin
