The last thing you want when you are tired and need to rest is a baby who is not ready to sleep yet. This can lead to frustration especially when you have been sleep deprived for days,Guest Posting exhausted, and have work is are piling up more and more each day. As a parent, you can’t just complain. You need to find solutions to make the situation better.
Although you can’t force an infant to sleep, there are ways to help them sleep fast.
Swaddling. According to studies, wrapping a baby in a blanket makes them sleep longer because it mimics their environment in the womb. It keeps them warm, comfortable, and feeling secure. It also protects them from their natural startle reflex which can wake them up easily.
Turn off lights or use dim light during bedtime. Making this a routine helps babies figure out that lights off means it’s time to sleep. Turning off lights or using dim lights for few minutes before bedtime helps baby calm and doze off fast. This is because a dark room has less distraction than a bright lit room. It’s good to practice this routine at the same time every night for the infant to learn a regular bedtime schedule.
Give a warm bath. A warm bath is a soothing activity for infants. It promotes good blood circulation, cools down their body temperature, makes them calm, and fall asleep easily.
Massage. Just like in adults, a body massage helps babies feel relax. In fact, research suggests that babies who receive regular massage sleep longer at night than infants who don’t. This means that baby massage can help little ones’ circadian rhythms or body clock to be on track. That is being more active during the day and having more sleep at night.
Sing lullabies or play soothing music. Gentle sounds makes babies feel relax and calm making them sleep fast. You can continue playing white noise even when your little angel is fast asleep to encourage longer rest period.
Try these tips to help your baby sleep quickly and soundly especially at night. Aside from the tips mentioned above, it’s also important to avoid active games and screen time at night. These activities can make infants more active and difficult to fall asleep.
The sleep disruption of new parenthood is both well known yet unexpected. While new parents are aware that babies need frequent nighttime care, the reality is often a nasty surprise.
There are three currently prevalent views of infant sleep norms. These are known as the cultural norm, the biomedical norm, and the biological or evolutionary norm.
The cultural norm refers to the beliefs held by different cultural groups that underpin notions of what is right.
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What is ‘normal’ baby sleep?
PTI Updated on: Aug 06, 2022
How evolutionary clues, not cultural expectations, can help new parents
The sleep disruption of new parenthood is both well known yet unexpected. While new parents are aware that babies need frequent nighttime care, the reality is often a nasty surprise. “What’s wrong with my baby?” new parents ask themselves, or “what’s wrong with me that I can’t get this baby to sleep?”
If you face this, you are not a bad parent, nor is your baby abnormal. You are simply asking the wrong questions. Rather than “why won’t my baby sleep?”, parents should be asking, “why do I think they should be sleeping now?” and “what am I basing my expectations on?”
There are three currently prevalent views of infant sleep norms. These are known as the cultural norm, the biomedical norm, and the biological or evolutionary norm.
The cultural norm refers to the beliefs held by different cultural groups that underpin notions of what is right.
Dominant cultural beliefs about babies in the UK are that “good babies” are not demanding and sleep through the night; a good baby is a sign of a good parent.
This cultural norm also holds that babies must be left to cry and will be spoiled if they are picked up too often.
It says babies should learn to “self-soothe” (to fall asleep by themselves) and that rocking or cuddling a baby to sleep prevents this.
These cultural beliefs about infant care are recent. They emerged in the late 1800s and early 1900s and were heavily promoted by authoritative figures such as American psychologist John B Watson and paediatrician L Emmet Holt.
They reflect the practices and lifestyles of the white middle classes 100 years ago when independence, self-reliance and stoicism were highly prized in western society.
Child-rearing experts claimed their methods would help parents raise children with these qualities.
On the other hand, biomedical (or clinical) expectations for what is normal tend to come from average values determined by classic studies, which may be presented in parenting books, websites and charts in baby clinics as guidelines for normal infant sleep.
For instance, they might suggest that at three months, babies need 14-16 hours of sleep a day, and should take three or four naps per day.
However, these recommendations often reflect only the averages from data gathered from smallish samples at specific times and places.
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