How to put a Baby to sleep through the night || Budding Star

Baby Bed Time – Stages and different sleep issues with their solution

Good sleep is important for everyone and it is even more crucial for kids. Sleep helps in their overall growth and cognitive development. And, of course, sleep improves the mood of babies. Bed time is also important for mothers, because the time a mother spends in making the baby sleep, gives a baby those precious moments when she enjoys the mother’s company without disturbance. The bedtime hugs and snuggles make the baby-mother bond stronger. This article discuss the strategies to How to put a Baby to sleep.

Till now, I have seen three different sleep patterns with my growing baby. As a newborn, my son had a different sleep pattern. During 3 to 18 months, the sleep pattern changed and now when he is a toddler, his sleeping habit is again different. In these three stages, babies can have different types of sleep issues and they need different treatment for best results. So here I am going to share a few tips that can help in solving sleeping problems in each of these three stages:

How to put a Baby to sleep: Newborn

Before a baby completes her first three months, she sleeps a lot, more than 16-17 hours a day. However, she keeps on waking up. This is the easiest time in terms of sleep of babies and there are ways to help babies sleep peacefully:

The only sleep issue during this time comes when babies cry inconsolably. So the mother should be careful in terms of checking why the baby is crying. She may be hungry or need diaper/nappy changing. There could be other reasons as well like gastro trouble, so be watchful for that. Seek help from elders of the family.
This is also the best time to start teaching the baby the different between day and night to set her body clock. When she sleeps during the day, keep the lights on or don’t put on curtains. At the night, other the other hand, switch off the light or use a dim night lamp.
Keep the ambiance quite and calm. Limit your talking to her and disturbance around. Slowing the baby will understand the difference of the sleep during day and night. You will also notice that your baby’s longest periods of sleep occur at night.

During 3 to 18 months: Your baby still might be learning the difference between the day and night. So start building a sleep time routine for her.

The routine includes giving her bath, then a gentle and love-filled massage and finally putting her bed quietly. The sleep time habits give the mother to cuddle the baby and showing her love.Make sure the baby is fed else she’ll not enjoy this sleep time routine.
When she gets adjusted with her sleep time plan, add more items in this plan. Like, teaching your baby to soothe As per your family’s, convenient decide a suitable sleep time (For example 9 PM) and put your baby down to sleep when she is drowsy but awake. The baby should start learning to fall asleep independently so that she can self-soothe when she wakes in the middle of the night. Honestly, this is the most time-taking thing and varies from a baby to baby. But setting up schedule is a very necessary step for future as well.
The family should also adjust their sleep time plans. Don’t make noise and disturbance when the baby is sleeping during the night. Don’t talk or play with him when her sleep time has started. It helps.
You still need to make sure the baby’s stomach is full else she’ll not be able to sleep properly.

How to put a Baby to sleep: Toddler

A toddler needs between 12 and 14 hours of sleep in total, usually 11 to 12 hours at night and another 1 to 3 hours during the day. So keep in mind these things:

A toddler sleeps for lesser time than the babies but sticking to the bedtime routine eases her into sleep while strengthening the bond you share.
By this time, most of the babies learned how to soothe themselves and how to sleep through the night without any feed. Toddlers who eat proper dinner don’t need feeding during the night span so night gets relaxing for mothers as well.
Teaching them the importance of time is also important. Set up their sleep and wake up time is a good step. Don’t let them sleep till very late in the morning (until they are unwell).
Make sure that you stay consistent and follow the same pattern every evening. Your toddler will feel more relaxed if she knows what is coming next.
Tell them bedtime stories and give them your time to feel valued. It’s also importance for their good night sleep.

Happy Parenting with Budding Star

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About Shipra Trivedi

I am a software professional having 9 years of experience in my domain. Writing is my hobby and for pursuing it other than my work, I write for a few parenting and social websites. Most of my blogs talk about my own parenting experiences, social issues and health awareness. My life's motto is "If you believe, you can achieve." I share my parenting experiences on my blogspot as well https://www.facebook.com/abundanceoftalks/