Sleep Help for Baby

In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the baby roars tonight. Sound like your house when you are getting baby to sleep at night? You need some tips how to get your baby to sleep. You’ve come to the right place.

  1. Classic lullabies. There’s a reason why lullabies work when putting a baby to sleep. This tried-and-tested technique works by giving your baby something that’s perceptually interesting enough to make him want to stop crying and pay attention. Also, rather than stimulating your baby, it calms them into stupor.

  2. Static Noise. Try turning the radio on to a soft, static station. Babies often find constant, unchanging noises comforting.

  3. Co-sleeping. Studies show that infants who co-sleep with their parents wake less and have more satisfying sleep.

  4. Massage. There are reports that reveal many health benefits to massaging your baby. Most importantly, it promotes healthy sleep by calming your baby’s nerves. This could help lengthen sleep periods during the night.

  5. Nursing baby to sleep. Naturally, your baby will wake throughout the night in order to feed. Again, cosleeping will help minimize the burden of these frequent feedings. Mothers who cosleep get more rest and their breastfeeding is therefore more relaxed.

  6. Let your baby have her fill. When breastfeeding at night, let your baby decide when she’s had enough from the first breast. This means your baby will drink more of the rich hind milk that is stored behind your breast’s normal milk. Hind milk is satisfying and will cause your child to sleep longer before needing to breastfeed again.

  7. Establish a sleep routine. Start to form a routine each time you put your child to sleep. Try feeding her, singing the same lullaby and then putting her in the bassinet. Predictability takes little cognitive effort and therefore a routine means that she can be more relaxed.

  8. Look to the cause of the problem. Are you and your baby losing sleep because of crying? Don’t just hand her a pacifier to stop those terrible sounds coming from her mouth; figure out what’s bugging your baby. It may be as simple as needing your comfort and reassurance.

What Not To Do

There’s a few things you may be doing during the bedtime ritual that may be putting off dreamland for you and your baby. Here are the most common mistakes:

  1. Don’t put baby to sleep with a bottle. Although it may be soothing to have a bottle to suck from, drinking throughout the night can cause teeth to decay. It may also cause ear infections, as fluid will build up in the ears! Lastly, you don’t want the bottle to become a crutch as it could mean a rude awakening when the bottle is found empty.

  2. Keep the horsing around down. Spurts of activity before your baby’s bedtime can make him too jittery to fall asleep easily. Keep rough and tumble play like knee bouncing scheduled to hours before bedtime.

  3. Don’t leave on any lights. It’s important for your child to learn the difference between night and day. When you put him to sleep at night, keep the room dark (that means no night lights!). During daytime naps and daytime breastfeeding, keep your baby in well-lit rooms. This should help them spend less time napping during the day and more shut-eye at nighttime.

  4. Don’t be a slave to your baby monitor. A parent who rushes to their baby’s aid at any noise will only foster bad sleeping habits in their child. Putting the baby monitor on low means that you’ll only be alerted when she really needs you.