5 Ways To Establish A Blissful Newborn Sleep Habits
After months of waiting, planning and excitement, the most important member of your family is finaly here. Congratulations, now comes the challenge, trying to understand your newborn’s sleep needs. Effective sleep routine is the key for both baby and parents, because every family member has to recharge batteries for the fun days ahead.
Unfortunately, there is no set schedule at first. Many newborns have their days and nights very confused which leads us to a conclusion that they think they are supposed to be awake at night and to sleep during the day.
Just like many new moms, you have done your research about baby sleep, and you have probably gotten an earful about how establishing a bedtime routine is key to ”infusing” good sleep habits in your baby.
We can say that it is a true! A calming bedtime routine that follows a predictable pattern every night and day willl help your baby to be aware of putting her or his little head down.
What is the most beautiful thing? Bedtime routine is a wonderful way to bond with your angel at the end of a very long day.
To help you transition your baby into sleep-mode, keep these tips in mind:
Don’t start a bedtime routine right away
No need to have a sleep schedule on your newborn as soon as you bring her or him home. Your adorable little one will likely sleep a lot those first days. After all, newborns have to recover a little bit of being born and you have to recover too. All the newborn sleep will not come in long period of time, because newborn have to eat every two to three hours. The fact is, it will probably be a few weeks before a pattern emerges to your newborn’s sleep.
You should observe your baby’s sleep predisposition
Before you start with a bedtime routine, you should be sure about when your baby usually goes to sleep for her or his longest period of the night (keeping a sleep log can be very helpful). Once you figure it out, you can start to time your bedtime routine in advance of that. For example, if your baby tends to sleep his or her longest stretch from 7 pm till midnight, you can start fitting in a bedtime routine around 6:15 or 6:30 pm.
Bedtime charms
When you determine that you are ready to start including a bedtime routine into your baby’s life, very slowly over the next few months introduce the nighttime rituals. Bedtime charms can be a soothing bath, beautiful infant massages, a cuddly feeding, reading a book to your little one, singing a lullabies or whatever you prefer. Any ritual you decide to include must be consistent and always in time, and then your angel will learn to equalize those things with bedtime.
At the end of your bedtime routine
When you finish your bedtime routine, if you can swing it, try to put your sleepy little one down while he or she is hardly able to keep eyes open. If you do it like this, your favourite person in the whole world gets used to falling asleep on her or his own (not in your arms). This will make your life much easier when your baby gets older, since you won’t have to spend hours singing your sleepyhead off to the Dreamland.
If your baby learns how to fall asleep alone, then she or he should know how to put himself or herself back to sleep when wakes up in the middle of the night. It is also true that this trick doesn’t work for every newborn, but it is good to know and to try it over and over again.
Growing baby changes
We all know how important it is to be consistent with your baby’s bedtime routine while you are establishing one, but it is equally important to be conscious of your growing baby changes. Trials and errors along the way can help you figure out a bedtime routine that will definitely continue to work out for your baby and you, of course.
Like everything else, your baby’s schedule is unique. It reflects individual needs and temperament. Some babies sleep 16 hours a day, for others, 12 is more that sufficient. There are babies that are more active or have faster metabolism. Getting to know your baby will help you respond the best way to all her or his needs.
