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Making it through the Night
Are you wondering if your baby will ever sleep through the night? For many families with a newborn or young baby, bedtime can be the most stressful time of the day, but it doesn't have to be that way. Babies are creatures of habit; so the sooner you establish a consistent and predictable bedtime routine the better for everyone in the house. With a little planning, patience and lots of consistency, both you and your baby will soon be getting a good nights sleep!
Just six to eight weeks after you bring the baby home from the hospital, you can start setting the groundwork for creating a successful bedtime pattern. What you incorporate into your baby's bedtime is an individual choice, but the more relaxing and predictable the ritual, the easier it will be for your baby to fall asleep. Creating a calm, comforting and consistent routine at the same time each night is the most important key in establishing a successful bedtime ritual.
Remember to keep your baby's routine as simple and as effortless as possible. If you set up long and drawn out bedtime practices, your baby will begin to depend on them, making bedtime a battle every night. The bedtime ritual should be trouble-free; you may want to include a warm bath, fresh pyjamas, a diaper change, lullaby, and some time for cuddles and kisses. Regardless of what activities you decide to include in your baby's routine, be sure to run through the same activities at the same time each night within a reasonable time limit.
Creating calm is important in keeping your baby relaxed at bedtime; but that is not to say that you will need to tip toe around the house when the baby is sleeping. From the outset, familiarize your baby with your household noise; soon she will learn to go to sleep through talking and usual background noise.
A cuddle or rock will help her feel safe and secure and is a nice lead up to bedtime. Although it may be tempting to rock the baby until she falls asleep, I learned firsthand that this would create a problem in the long run. Rather keep an eye out for signs when the baby starts to get sleepy and place her in the crib while she is still awake; this will eventually teach her to fall asleep on her own. Some babies also enjoy nursing or having a bottle before bedtime, and a full belly may also extend the duration of sleep. But never place the baby in the crib with a bottle, this will cause serious tooth decay and can become a bad bedtime habit. Instead if you wear a receiving blanket over your shoulder during feeding, roll it up and place it in the crib, this will provide the baby with a nice scent of mommy throughout the night.
Once you have established a bedtime ritual that is working well for your baby, make every effort to maintain the same pattern every night; predictability is a great comfort to babies and will help induce sleep. Even after you have tried to establish a firm bedtime routine, your baby may still wake up during the night. If this is happening to you, first try to give the baby a chance to fall asleep on her own; if after a few minutes, she continues to have trouble drifting off again, it's possible she just needs her blankets adjusted or reassurance that mommy or daddy is nearby. The key is to try to keep the middle of the night visits brief and to the point.
The responsibilities that come with being a new parent are very demanding, and can be completely overwhelming when you are exhausted. Remember that sleep deprivation is only temporary and that sticking to a good bedtime ritual will set the foundation for healthy sleep habits in the future.
