Mamalettes, has your baby been fussy all night? Have you been having problems getting your baby to sleep?
Has your baby been giving you sleepless nights? This can be exhausting we know, during work hours you doze off…. at night he takes forever to fall asleep, and then when he finally does, he wakes up every 20 minutes.
And since babies can’t tell you what’s wrong or what’s going to help then fall into a happy dream state, so you try it all until one does the magic.
1. Discover your baby’s sleep needs
Ability to predict baby’s sleep time makes it easier for infants to sleep and stay asleep. From six to nine months, awake time is about two-and-a-half to three hours, from nine to 12 months, awake time is about three to four hours, with two days sleep of one to two hours in the morning and one hour in the afternoon. So discover your baby’s sleep pattern and follow the routine.
2. Regular feedings during the day help with sleep at night
Be sure to feed your baby well, your baby is actively breastfeeding when your breasts feel empty when she’s done. And if she’s often using your breast as a pacifier, it could be time to consider other soothers, such as rocking, patting, and shushing.
3. Bedtime routine
Start each night with a bedtime routine, babies like routine as it gives them a feeling of security and safety. So if you can’t read them a poem or short story, you can sing them a lullaby or give them a bath. It doesn’t matter what the routine is, as long as it sends a signal to them that it’s time to go to bed. And be consistent.
4. Swaddle your baby
Swaddling is the art of snugly wrapping a baby in a blanket for warmth and security. It can keep your baby from being disturbed by her own startle reflex. You can also shush (making an shh shh sound and patting her in the back) her.
Swaddling keeps their arms from flailing around and accidentally whacking and waking them. Contrary to popular myth, new babies don’t need freedom, they need holding and security. But, it’s is important to swaddle correctly. Poor swaddling can cause dangerous overheating, blankets over the face and stress on the hips.
5. Leave her be
Don’t rush in at every sound; only go to her when she needs you. Babies are noisy sleepers – they grunt, roll about, snore and can even cry out. Let your baby ‘make sounds’ as she unwinds remember that your baby is trying to fall asleep and allow her to do it on her own.
6. Dream feed
You can give your baby a ‘dream feed’ every night at the same time until you don’t need to because she is sleeping through.What is dream feeding? Dream feeding is a method of feeding the baby at night without waking the baby. A ‘dream feed’ is a calm, quiet feed between 10.30 to 11 pm when your baby is usually asleep and she will probably take the feed with her eyes closed. She will sleep all through the night
7. Know what works
What works for another baby may not help yours. If reading a poem lulls your friends’ baby to sleep, it might not make your’s sleep but rather make him more excited. So you have to explore all possibilities to know what makes your own baby sleep.
8. Find out what is wrong
Do a routine check to know what is the cause of the crying and fussing, if the baby is wet, change the diaper and his clothes, give him a warm bath then shush him to sleep.
However, if your baby keeps crying all night for days, has a pained body and is always fussing, you are advised to take him for medical check up for there might be more to his persistent crying and fussing than meets the eyes.
Has this been helpful? We at Mamalette would like to know your response. Share your experience with us, visit our forum or post your comments below.
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