Me + My Baby
Sleep Tight
When your baby has been home from hospital for a few days you may find yourself wondering if you're ever going to get a decent night's sleep again. Sleep, or lack of it, is one of the major pre-occupations of most new parents. Getting your baby settled into a good night-time routine could be the answer to all of your prayers...
Babies and young children thrive on routines. The world can be a pretty confusing place when you're small and a consistent plan to the day can help your little one to make sense of everything. Providing your baby with cues for when they will be bathed, fed or put to bed can make for a contented family all round!
What is a Routine?
A routine means nothing more than being consistent with when you feed and put your baby to bed. Some parents prefer a fairly strict routine throughout the day with all naps taken in the cot at the same time. Other parents prefer to be out and about during the day, but stick to a regular pattern of bath, feed and bed at the same time in the evening. What sort of routine you go for is up to you, but the key is to be consistent, particularly in the hour or so before they go to bed for the night.
Is my Baby too Young?
As soon as your baby is just two weeks old you can start to help it differentiate between day and night by treating daytime naps differently from night-time sleep. You shouldn't worry too much about your baby sleeping in a dark, quiet place during the day - in fact you may be quite surprised at what they will sleep through! At night-time, however, most parents find it helps if they put their baby to sleep in a dark, quiet room and keep all feeds as quiet, sleepy and brief as possible with playing and talking kept to a minimum.
Self-Settling
From around six weeks, you can begin working towards your baby settling itself without being fed or held. Try putting your baby in its cot when they're feeling settled and content, but not asleep. It is important to establish good sleep associations from an early age - if your baby gets into the habit of being comforted to sleep then they may expect this throughout the night every time they come into a light sleep. This is how parents can easily fall into a pattern of soothing their baby to sleep every two hours throughout the night.
What is a Routine?
A routine means nothing more than being consistent with when you feed and put your baby to bed. Some parents prefer a fairly strict routine throughout the day with all naps taken in the cot at the same time. Other parents prefer to be out and about during the day, but stick to a regular pattern of bath, feed and bed at the same time in the evening. What sort of routine you go for is up to you, but the key is to be consistent, particularly in the hour or so before they go to bed for the night.
Is my Baby too Young?
As soon as your baby is just two weeks old you can start to help it differentiate between day and night by treating daytime naps differently from night-time sleep. You shouldn't worry too much about your baby sleeping in a dark, quiet place during the day - in fact you may be quite surprised at what they will sleep through! At night-time, however, most parents find it helps if they put their baby to sleep in a dark, quiet room and keep all feeds as quiet, sleepy and brief as possible with playing and talking kept to a minimum.
Self-Settling
From around six weeks, you can begin working towards your baby settling itself without being fed or held. Try putting your baby in its cot when they're feeling settled and content, but not asleep. It is important to establish good sleep associations from an early age - if your baby gets into the habit of being comforted to sleep then they may expect this throughout the night every time they come into a light sleep. This is how parents can easily fall into a pattern of soothing their baby to sleep every two hours throughout the night.
