3. When and How to Sleep Train Your Baby

6/19/2020

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Are you struggling with your baby’s cryingduring the middle of the night? Do you have a hard time putting your baby intosleep? Previously, we talked about why babies cry and how to reduce theircrying. Today I am going to give you 4 tips to make them sleep better atnight.  

Why do babies wake up so much? The younger theinfant, the shorter the sleep cycle they have. Babies sleep differently thanadults. Infants take at least 20 minutes to drift off and enter a stage of deepsleep. Passing from one stage to another, the brain is more likely awake.Babies’ brains are easier to be wake up by stimulus, like teething pain, loudnoise, hunger, or separation anxiety. 

Here are 4 steps to get your baby to sleepbetter.

Step 1, find out the spot you and baby sleepbest. It could be in their own bedroom or in the parents’ bedroom. Mostfamilies place multiple beds during their child’s early years and go back andforth at night. 

Step 2, know your baby’s tired times. Baby hassigns when they are tired. Like drooping eyelids, nodding head, zooming out,yawning, whimpering. When babies begin to show these signs, there is a 10-15minute window of opportunity to make them fall asleep easily. If you miss thesewindows, the tired baby may get progressively more cranky and revved up. 

Step 3, create a safe and comfortable environmentto conduct sleep. The baby may have difficulty going to or staying asleep ifthe room is too light, too dark, too noisy, too quiet, or too stimulating. Thesecret tip is filling your baby’s tummy before they go to sleep, as well aslessen physical discomforts. 

Step 4. Create a variety of bedtime rituals. Youmight need to make a connection in your baby’s mind between their fallingasleep and various places, experiences, activities, and feelings that precedenodding off into slumber. You may feed your baby to sleep, feeding almost tosleep, parenting down to sleep without feeding, rocking or walking down,putting down to fall asleep independently. Also, soft music, singing lullabies,dimmed light, white noise, pacifier, patting, verbal sleep cues, stories help.As you use these routines to repeat night after night, the baby will create andadapt to the cycle.

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