Developing your baby's sleeping pattern
Newborn babies sleep for pretty much the whole day. This is usually in between intervals of waking up to eat. As a result of this, their sleeping patterns are very uneven. It takes about 3 months to a year for a baby to be able to sleep through the night. During this period, it is possible to shape your child’s sleeping patterns in a healthy way. Here are some helpful tips on the road to developing your baby’s sleeping pattern.
Let your baby go to sleep by themself
It involves providing the baby with perfect conditions for sleep. However, the baby should be left to sleep on their own accord.This will require time as the baby will cry as you attempt to train them to follow this routine. As such, you will need a strategy to manage the crying during this period.
To implement this tip, you will need techniques such as controlled comforting and camping out. Controlled comforting involves putting your baby to bed, comforting them and quickly leaving them to fall asleep. In the long run, this helps reduce the amount of attention you give the baby when they cry out. Cutting down on this attention helps the baby adapt and will thus learn to fall asleep without too much attention.
Learn to detect sleep readiness
You can help your baby develop sleeping patterns by learning how to detect signs of sleep readiness. Once you detect these signs, this is the time to teach him/her how to fall asleep in a structured manner. Once you detect these signs also take the baby to the place you want it to sleep. The environment where the baby sleeps is also very important. This is because, once the baby gets used to sleeping in a place, it is highly unlikely that they will be unable to sleep anywhere else. For example, if you let your baby sleep in the bed with you, it will be difficult for it to sleep in its own cot.
Develop a daily routine
Stimuli is a crucial part of how a baby goes to sleep. As your newborn’s brain develops, introducing stimuli at the right time is crucial in developing your baby’s sleeping pattern. Some of the ways you can do this is keeping activities fun during the day and at night keep things relaxed. For example you can play with the baby throughout the day. Activities such as playing with their favorite toy and making them laugh can suffice. At night feed them in semi dark rooms and minimize activities completely. This induces sleep. This in the end ensures the baby realize that the day is for fun and at night is for sleep.
