Is your infant getting enough sleep every night? Are there reasons why your infant is having trouble sleeping? Every parent encounters sleep regression or problems with their child sleeping at night at various stages.
Sleep regression usually happens earlier in the baby’s development as they’re adapting to the environment around them. As they get older, having nightmares and bed wetting can all contribute to that lack of sleep they may be experiencing.
As a parent, you want to make sure that you’re doing everything you can to ensure your child or children are getting a good night’s sleep every night. Without a good night’s sleep, it can impact the child’s development and energy levels to function throughout the day.
Here are some helpful tips that will hopefully ensure your infant gets more sleep every night from now on.
Make sure a bedtime routine has been established
A bedtime routine is important to establish because sending your child to bed at different times throughout the evening isn’t going to set that sleeping habit in properly. It’s therefore important to make sure you’ve got a good bedtime routine in place. If that’s not happening currently, speak to your partner or figure out a time that’s best to put the child down for the night.
A bedtime routine is not simply putting the baby into the cot or bed either. It’s giving them their bottle of milk, a bath and perhaps singing some lullabies to them as you’re getting them dressed into their bedtime outfits.
This type of bedtime routine that’s being repeated every evening is going to set your children up well for a restful night’s sleep.
Teach your baby to self-soothe themselves
When your baby is young, it’s going to be relying on you as a parent to soothe them off to sleep. This is because they’re after that security and comfort when the world to them is probably a very big and scary one.
As your baby gets older though, it’s important to teach your baby to self-soothe themselves, rather than you having to go into them and help.
By teaching self-soothe methods, you’re going to find that if they wake up in the night, then they should easily be able to get themselves back off to sleep. They may cry for a brief period of time, but it’s good to allow this to happen before they eventually get themselves into that sleepy state again.
Start weaning off the night feedings
Night feedings are encouraging your child to wake up at certain points in the night because their bodies are expected to be fed at certain points. While this was necessary when they were younger, it might be at a point where they no longer need nighttime feeds as so it’s useful to start weaning them off the night feeds if they’re having trouble sleeping.
How and when should you be weaning your baby off night feeds? Night weaning might start from around 4 months but on average it typically occurs during the 6-8 month mark. Every baby and parent is different, so it’s worth knowing when is best for you.
Weaning your baby off the nighttime feeds takes time and will often need to be done gradually every other day.
Follow a schedule
When it comes to your infant, make sure they’re following a schedule. It’s very much like your bedtime routine but moreso for the daily activities you do. Make sure that every day is following the same sort of schedule because that helps ease the baby into certain habits.
When sleep regression occurs, following a schedule is a good way to help avoid it where you can or to at least reduce this typical problem that occurs around four months.
Be patient
With anything involving your children, it’s important to always be patient. The reason for their lack of sleep each night is something that you yourself could have gone through with your own parents or guardians.
Being patient is going to help the child find their groove again and get back into the routine of a peaceful, uninterrupted night’s sleep.
Make sure bedtime is an appropriate time
Finally, make sure that the bedtime you’re selecting is an appropriate time that isn’t too late or too early. When your baby is young, you’re having to fit yourself into their schedule. However, as they get older, you can create a schedule that works best for you and your own routine.
With these tips, hopefully, you’ll be able to see a significant difference in your children getting enough sleep every night.