Ways to Create Successful Sleeping Habits for Babies
When a baby will fall asleep without need of help from the parent, and at a routine schedule, it's a blessing that can add a world of peace to any parent's life. Because, while baby might not understand time, and schedules, mom or dad certainly does, and every parent can relate to the need of a good night's sleep. Or at least a nap they can count on.
Basic Guide to a Sleeping Pattern
- Put your baby in the cot while he's awake. He won't learn to self soothe and fall asleep if it's always done for him, and placing him in the same environment over and over when it's time for bed will condition the response, once it's learned.
- Make sure it's always at the same time, and repeat this for 3 - 14 days. Babies, just like adults, need repetition to form a habit. Skip a day or two, and you may need to start the counter over again.
- Expect your baby to protest for the first several nights. Infants don't often like change, especially not when the change expects them to do things on their own. Just keep up with it, and baby should be sleeping soundly on her own, and falling back asleep after waking up.
Helping Your Baby Fall Asleep Without Your Assistance
As stated above, infants learn from repetition. So if a baby is always allowed to start their snoozing only after they've been rocked, coddled, or carried around, it's what they'll come to expect. Along with the expectation that you'll still be around when they wake up.
If your baby cries when you put them in the crib, awake, with the intent to let him learn to fall asleep on his own, you can spend about five minutes comforting him down. After that, leave the room. If the baby continues to cry once you're gone, let her for another five minutes. (It takes some emotional endurance to complete this, sometimes, but it's both doable and healthy for you and your child.) After that five minutes is up, you may return and comfort your child again, but don't take him out of the crib, and when another five minutes is up, leave again. Do this until your child is asleep, and continue doing this for another few weeks, slowly lengthening the time between soothings. Baby will eventually grow to learn to function without you always there, and doze off without a problem.
Do's and Don'ts, and How to Fix Them
- Don't put your baby down with a bottle. This can create a multitude of problems, from psychological dependency, to an unhealthy amount of calories, to inner ear infections. A baby used to going to sleep with a bottle every night will find it difficult to nod off without one, so weaning him off the bottle must also be done with care. A suggested idea is to reduce the amount of formula in the bottle every night, until there's nothing left, or replace the entire thing with mere water. After a week or two, the problem should be resolved.
- Don't bring your baby into your own bed with the intention of helping her sleep better. Infants are not yet children. Eventually they might reach the stage where mom or dad might be needed to starve away the fear of something in the closet, or under the bed. But for now, your child is only likely to be further disturbed by your own movements, the bedding, or the chance of building a dependency to falling asleep with you. Never being away from you can cause the child to develop anxiety, and create stress in times you'll need to be away. So it's suggested by professionals to follow the above procedures, and give your baby that developed independence they're going to need.
- Do not expect problems to be fixed easily, or right away. These kinds of things take repetition and time, along with patience. In the long run, your baby will develop a good sleeping pattern and the independence the both of you need, for her personal growth, and your own rest. But it takes time. Just keep trying.