Help Your Baby Sleep
Sleep is essential to your baby’s growth. It is when he sleeps that his body is at its most active state of repairing tissues, strengthening bones, and developing brain function and activity. This is parents should know just how to help your baby sleep.
Here are some things you can do in order to help your baby sleep better and longer:
· Make sure that the temperature in the nursery is neither too hot nor too cold. Babies are very sensitive to extreme temperature.
· Make certain that he is comfortable in his crib. Put enough pillows and blankets to keep him warm, but not too many that he will become uncomfortable.
· Sing to him in very soft dulcet tones. Hearing his parent’s voice will calm him down and make him feel more secure. If you have a music box, play it right in his bedside very softly.
· Avoid causing any noise or sudden movements while your baby is trying to fall asleep or when he is already sleeping since this might startle him and keep him awake for the rest of the night. Some babies become more irritable when woken up suddenly and they tend to stay awake longer.
· Make sure that you change your baby’s diapers regularly. Wet or soiled diapers would cause your baby to wake up in the middle of the night because of the discomfort. If your baby has already fallen to a normal sleeping pattern, change his diapers just before sleeping to help him sleep better.
· Always have a bottle of milk ready. Sometimes, babies wake up at night for feeding but they can go right back to sleep after finishing up their milk. However, most babies find it hard to go back to sleep after being awake for a longer time waiting for their formula to be given. If you are breastfeeding, you have to be familiar with your child’s sleeping pattern and be available for feeding all the time or store your milk for the rest of the night, every night.