Does your baby sleep soundly through the night? If so, what did you do? Or maybe your kid doesn’t even sleep at all at night, and you are wondering what is it you are doing wrong? Well, whatever your situation might be, chances are you haven’t been doing anything right or wrong to deserve your child’s sleeping habits. A good one is vital to a baby’s health, and as a parent, the last thing you want is for your few-months old baby to be struggling with their sleeping habits. So what do you do? Give in and accept it as your fate? Never! What you need are some practical how-to-sleep tips, which is exactly what you will find in this article. So be sure to try the following tips if your infant has been struggling to enjoy some quality bedtime.
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Develop a bedtime routine
Did you know that you can actually get into a routine that will make your child fall asleep at around the same time every night? For a fact, we know how well children respond to their environments, which means that you can actually reconfigure your kid’s habits by changing their routine. A good routine practice would be to give him or her a nice bath and a massage or both before putting him to bed. If not, you can try singing a lullaby while carrying the kid in your baby carrier before tucking them in bed or you can even read them a bedtime story. Another wonderful idea would be to wash them, put on a new diaper and pajamas, and then put the lights out. Do this every night and your kid, knowing that it’s night time, will subconsciously develop a natural ability to fall asleep. By the way, if you are choosing the option of the lullaby with a baby carrier, be sure to get the best baby carrier for your newborn like the ones from BabywearingInternational.org.
Put them in bed while awake
Yes, you read that well; you can actually make your baby falls asleep by simply placing him or her in bed. Provided babes are not hungry; they can actually fall asleep themselves. In order to make this work, you should do it both at night and during the day when he or she takes a nap. Gradually, your infant will become accustomed to this practice and will sense the relevance of a bed – that is, a place to sleep.
Rock the baby’s bed
This idea isn’t new to most parents, but unfortunately, many parents still do it wrong. Rocking your toddler’s bed doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be a mattress-like bed; that is, you can rock your newborn to sleep in your baby carrier or a regular crib. Irrespective of the method you choose, be sure the tot would feel comfortable in it.
Feed until full
Although this doesn’t work on every child, it can be a fine trick for those babies that really enjoy eating. The idea is to feed the little one until he doesn’t want more. Do it every now and then, and especially in the evening, and you will notice that more often than not, your newborn will fall asleep while still eating.
Mom-smelling blanket
Mom and milk are what kids love to have whenever they wake up. With a stuffed animal or blanket with your scent on it, by your baby’s side, you can expect a comfy night for the child. To do this, you can put the blanket or animal close to you for a few days or weeks, and then give it to your child every time he goes to sleep. Not only will your baby sleep soundly through the night, but he will also not feel lonely at night because of the sensation he will be getting from the blanket or animal.
Slight coverage of the eyes
Weird, right? Well, it works wonderfully well with some infants. Some babies fall asleep, almost instantly, when their faces are covered with a very thin cotton cloth. The idea is to cover their eyes from the distracting visual impressions around them. For starters, you can try this for naps and never at night, and never leave the cloth with the baby out of your sight.
Try sleep bags
Sometimes, babies are not able to sleep at night because of the weather conditions. When babies feel too warm or too cold, they tend to wake up more easily. So in this situation, a sleeping bag might be your best bet.