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How to Help You and Your Baby Get Some Sleep

By David Cummings

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 21Feb2009 Word count: 649 Viewed: 269 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

When you have been getting up night after night to soothe your crying baby back to sleep, and neither you nor your little one are sleeping well, you can become quite frustrated. Although you can provide a secure, restful environment for your baby, until he or she learns that sleep is a safe and secure state of being, you can't force your baby to sleep. You can teach him that sleep is OK and he'll feel better if he does get some rest. Numerous formulas for getting your baby to sleep have been developed and some of them are just differing versions of the 'cry it out' method which many parents find very difficult to use because it is as hard on the parents as it seems to be on your baby. The real issue is what will help your child develop a habit of sleeping securely?

One possibility to consider is that you may need to change your daytime or nighttime routines to help your baby sleep throughout the night. Take some time to observe where your baby sleeps the best. This can provide some helpful clues as to how to get him to sleep through the night. Does your baby rest better in her own room or in a bassinet in your room? Perhaps she would sleep better in her room if you left some music playing softly. One thing that can help is determining which sleep time activities work the best for her. Change up one evening by singing her to sleep instead of rocking her to sleep. The next night try nursing or feeding her while she goes to sleep. Get your baby used to your mate putting her to bed as well. In this way you can find one or two ways that your baby prefers and then you can use those methods in your bedtime routine.

Some experts advise that the best way to get your bay to sleep is to let your baby soothe herself to sleep. Eventually this is less work on the parents, but it does take some time and patience and your baby needs to be of the correct temperament. This method may not work well if your child is more high-strung than easy-going. This method should be discussed with your pediatrician if your baby has medical conditions which may cause them to wake and cry in the night.

Take stock of what your baby's day has been like if she has trouble sleeping at night. Has she had a peaceful day? Is she at a day care during the day? How stimulating is the environment there? Does she nap during the day? Some studies have shown that babies who are carried in slings or use other types of carriers like those in use with attachment parenting get a lot of positive attention and nurturing during the day tend to sleep better at night.

Predictable nap times for you and baby and predictable bedtimes help your baby to develop a good sleeping routine. The idea is to find the routine that is consistent that works best for your baby, your family, and you. Your spouse's and your work routine may not allow for an earlier bedtime. A later nap may be in order, or perhaps a later bedtime as well. This may especially be true if you have other children that are going to try to stay up later to get some attention from you or your spouse because of arriving home after work. Develop the daily routine that works best for you and your family.

After you find what works for you, your baby, and your family, you will be able to use the methods you have chosen to create a routine that will allow you to get the sleep you need, and help your baby grow into the happy baby and toddler you know he can be.

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