As a parent you know that if baby doesn’t sleep, neither do you! Trying to get your bundle of joy to sleep better doesn’t have to make you resort to medication. There are more natural, effective ways of getting your baby to dreamland.
Getting medication from your doctor for your baby to sleep better is not always the best thing. Sometimes this is required if their sleeping problem is serious and usually a sedative or melatonin will be prescribed for a short period of time. Interestingly, the use of a sedative will not work by itself – you will still have to encourage healthy sleeping habits.
There are medication dangers involved, though. Many adults can’t handle the effects of a sleeping pill, so how can they be safe for babies? Some medications can even slow down brain activity – that doesn’t sound safe for a baby’s brain that is developing. As for melatonin, it can affect how the body matures sexually, even delaying puberty, so it’s best avoided.
Safer Ways to Get Baby to Sleep
Take your baby for a walk. The fresh air can be really helpful to your baby and you! Let them listen to the birds singing and feel the soft breeze to calm them down, but make sure you carry them. Research has found that when you carry an infant for three to four hours daily, this decreases how much they cry or fuss, which is good because if they’re calmer they will find it easier to sleep.
Give your baby a massage
You know how relaxed you feel when you get a massage, so try a gentle one on your baby. This is also great for easing colic, which could be a reason why your baby can’t sleep. Massage bonds you to your baby, so it’s lovely to do it regularly.
Create a sanctuary
Whether your baby sleeps with you or in their nursery, you want to make the room comforting. That means it should be dark and not too hot. There shouldn’t be noise that can make them battle to sleep, either. It’s also important to make your baby spend time in the sunlight or in a sunny room during the day and then make them sleep in a dark room at night so that they will fall into a healthy circadian rhythm.
Avoid caffeine if you’re breastfeeding
Although this could be helping you stay awake, it will affect your baby because it takes longer for an infant’s system to eliminate caffeine.
Let them sleep during the day
You might cut down their daytime naps so that they’ll sleep throughout the night, but this can backfire. Not getting enough sleep during the day can make babies fussy later on. How much should your baby sleep? Your newborn to six-month-old baby will need between 16 and 20 hours a day (they’ll wake up every few hours to eat), so you won’t be ruining their chances of sleeping through the night if you let them sleep lots in the day.
Sneak in a feed before bedtime
Try to get your baby to eat a bit more before bedtime to prevent him/her from waking up during the night from hunger.
Stick to a routine
Just like adults need routines, so do babies. If you do the same thing every night before bedtime, your baby’s internal clock will get into the right habit.
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