How to put a baby to sleep: effective methods and techniques, practical tips

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

One of the toughest tasks for new parents is getting their little one to sleep. Not all peanuts fall asleep immediately, and even the smallest do not always want to go to bed. Of course, it is much more interesting to be in mother's arms and look at new bright toys. How to put the baby to sleep correctly so that he can quickly fall asleep, have a good rest himself and let his parents sleep? About everything - in this article.

How does a newborn baby sleep?

A newly born baby sleeps most of the day. This is approximately 16-18 hours. As a rule, a he althy baby, having received a lot of impressions from the world around him, after eating tightly and lying on his mother's arms, begins to yawn, becomes less active and falls asleep.

Babies who live only the first weeks of their lives usually wake up from hunger, discomfort from wet diapers, or other reasons. If the baby and his mother had an Rhesus conflict, whatresulted in neonatal jaundice, he will sleep a little more than a he althy child. This is absolutely normal. But if he screams, constantly cries, sleeps little, you need to go to the pediatrician for an appointment.

How to put a baby to sleep if he either does not want to go to bed, or falls asleep, but wakes up after a short period of time, and also writhes? Neither lullabies, nor carrying on hands help. In this case, it is necessary to look for the cause of what is happening as soon as possible. The more the baby is awake, the more difficult it is to put him down later, because his nervous system will overwork, and switching it to a sleepy state is very, very difficult.

Possible causes

Baby may not fall asleep for a number of important reasons:

• colic (how to put a baby to sleep 2 months old, it will become clear if you remember that up to three months colic occurs to one degree or another in all newborns);
• baby just doesn't want to sleep;
• biting insects;
• baby missed mom;
• hungry or thirsty;
• stuffy nose (there are many reasons - rhinitis of an infectious nature, drying of the mucous membrane, allergies);
• tight clothing;
• baby gets sick;
• baby is worried about headache (if there is ICP syndrome);
• wet diaper;
• mom is very nervous or is in a dangerous, conflict situation.

Before you start "begging" the baby to sleep, you should make sure that there are no obvious reasons for himanxiety. When they are found, they must be eliminated immediately.

If the baby, in addition to not sleeping well and crying, often spits up, sometimes not as usual - after eating or after 15-20 minutes, and after an hour, if his chin, arms and legs twitch, you need to show a neurologist. If the nose is blocked, the body temperature has risen, then you should go to see a pediatrician.

Put the baby to bed

The difficult question of how to quickly put the baby to sleep at night worries many parents. Possible reasons have already been mentioned above. And now - about the rules and age characteristics, thanks to which you can get to know the little ones better and come as close as possible to solving this issue.

If a baby does not sleep well at night, this indicates that, most likely, he gets enough sleep during the day. But due to the fact that the quality of rest cannot be violated, it is necessary to reduce the duration of daytime sleep and increase the duration of night sleep.

So that in the evenings, laying down does not take place in parallel with crying, the pause between the last daytime sleep and nighttime sleep should be at least four hours.

If the baby is not yet a year old, he should be well fed before laying down. Otherwise, the baby will scream from hunger. But this rule is not necessary if the child likes to play after eating.

To understand how to put a baby to sleep at 3 months old, you need to remember that up to six months the baby needs feeding at night. So often moms not to climbevery two hours, practice co-sleeping. As nighttime feedings are reduced, falling asleep tends to improve.

If a baby confuses day and night in the first six months of his life, you just need to endure this rather difficult period for parents, while trying to transfer the little one to a comfortable sleep and wakefulness regimen.

Basket and motion sickness

How to put a baby to sleep at night? You can use two simple ways - a basket and motion sickness.

The first days of his life, the little one still remembers how he lived in his mother's tummy. Therefore, it will be enough just to put your hands on his priest or head, and the baby will fall asleep almost instantly. Some pediatricians advise at the beginning of a child's life to put him to sleep in a cradle or a small basket. So he will feel like in the tummy and be calm. This method is most effective during the first months of a baby's life and will allow him to accustom him to the regimen.

Sickness is perhaps the most favorite way of Soviet mothers. Today, there are several options: motion sickness in a cradle, on a fitball, on hands, in a crib or sling.

For the smallest children, this is the most effective way, because this way they feel comfortable and protected. The physical preparation of the mother is also of some importance, because sometimes it takes a long time to get rocked.

Sleeping, lullaby and rituals

More and more parents advocate sleeping with their baby. It is very convenient for mom, especially if the baby is onbreastfeeding. Yes, and the child is happy: it is safe near the mother, and her smell and heartbeat soothe. This is a great way to solve the problem - how to put a baby to sleep without motion sickness. The baby's night sleep will be stronger and longer, and emotionally it will be much better for the little one.

Baby knows how to recognize her mother's voice from birth, and after only a month - and her smell. That's why only mom can calm the baby as soon as possible. Even if the mother does not know how to sing, but will pronounce “ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah” in recitative, the baby will fall asleep pretty quickly. When the association “lullaby=sleep” is developed and the necessary regimen is added, the question of how to put the baby to sleep will not be so acute for parents.

Each mother (and of course, dad) can try to come up with certain rituals, habits that the baby will associate with sleep. It can be quiet conversations, tummy massage, farewell to the sun, reading fairy tales…

From baths to watches

As a rule, taking a warm bath is good for babies. Especially if they like to plop down there. It is permissible to add decoctions of soothing herbs to the water, but first you need to consult a pediatrician (for example, it is believed that string and calendula dry the skin). If in the process of taking a bath, the baby begins to rub his eyes with his hands, it remains to feed him and put him to bed.

How to put a baby to sleep if his time intervals do not coincide with his mother's? For several days, you can simply observe at what time the baby falls asleep andwakes up. And then wake him up half an hour earlier, until the biorhythms of mom and baby are equal.

Method "For Iron Ladies"

For strong-willed mothers, this option is also suitable. Although, knowing about the different methods, they still cannot choose the most suitable one, able to answer the question of how to properly put the baby to sleep. But this particular one can be suitable if you have patience and packs of tea with lemon balm and valerian.

Take the baby in your arms and put it in the crib. Quietly sing something to him, standing so that the baby sees his mother and does not cry. If, nevertheless, the little one began to cry and even fell into hysterics, you must again take him in your arms, calm him down and put him back in bed. Stay next to the bed until he falls asleep. It usually takes 45 minutes to an hour.

Harvey Karp Method

For several decades, the technique of the American pediatrician Karp has been used in practice by parents around the world. It has only 5 effective tricks:

• swaddling;
• laying on a barrel;
• motion sickness;
• using a pacifier;
• turn on "white noise".

Such steps can be applied both in a complex and separately. Some of the parents send the baby to sleep during the day or put it down at night only after motion sickness, someone says that the baby instantly calms down when “white noise” hisses over his ear - birdsong, the sound of the ocean, raindrops …

Nathan Dylo Method

When deciding how to quickly put the baby to sleep, you canuse this method. Especially if you approach the matter with imagination. In practice, a case is known when a young father from Australia plunged his little son into a peaceful sleep, just by rubbing a paper napkin over his face.

Specialists are sure that there is nothing strange in this, because many newborn little ones react in this way to touching their ears or face with soft objects. In the same way, in some cases, touching the nails on the handles or legs works.

Of course, a 100% accurate version of lulling a baby or a little older baby is hard to find right away. What works for one child may not work for another. Therefore, a suitable way is found through trial and error.

Estiville method

Similar technique of the Spanish pediatrician is more used for kids older than a year and a half, already able to understand a little the words spoken by their parents. This method is not suitable for newborns. But you need to get to know him.

This method of self-falling asleep consists in the fact that during the daytime the mother will tell the baby that today he will sleep in his crib without any reminders and motion sickness.

In the evening, mom puts the little one to bed, wishes him pleasant dreams and says that she will visit him in a minute. Then she leaves the room and closes the door. She needs to endure these 60 seconds, despite the fact that the baby will cry and rathereverything, very loud.

During the week, the duration of the seclusion of the baby should increase. Mom should not feel sorry for him, but explain in the same words why he sleeps in his bed.

Important! This technique of falling asleep has both followers and opponents. Therefore, it is necessary to focus not on what opinion other parents express on the Web, but on how their own child reacts.

Dr. Komarovsky's Rules

According to the reasoning of the main TV doctor - Evgeny Komarovsky, there are only 10 main recommendations, the implementation of which will help ensure he althy sleep for the baby and the rest of the household. How to put a baby to sleep without motion sickness?

• First you need to prioritize. This means that the whole family should have a rest. It is important for a newborn baby that his mother is calm and well-rested.
• Decide in advance where the baby will sleep. Komarovsky assures that the baby should sleep on its own and in a separate bed. Thus, adults will be able to get enough sleep, and when the child is one year old, the crib can be moved to another room. Although the mother can put the baby to bed with her if necessary.
• Increase daily activity. Mom can make her baby's wakefulness more active - walk with him on the street, observe the world around him, play more, communicate with animals and people. In this way, you can increase the duration of a night's sleep.
• You need to define the sleep pattern. In the schedule of wakefulness and sleep, one should take into account andbiorhythms of the baby, and the daily routine of the parents. Observe bedtime daily.
• Providing fresh air. The baby may not fall asleep just because the room is stuffy. Low humidity also does not contribute to he althy sleep. Parents should bring these parameters to optimal performance.
• Feeding optimization. Mom needs to see how the baby will react to food. If he will doze off after eating, in the evening he needs to be fed tightly. If, on the contrary, he wants to play after dinner, the amount of food should be reduced.
• Baby baby. Thanks to warm water, fatigue will be removed, mood will improve, and the little bather will relax.
• Prepare the crib. The doctor suggests every time to track how well the sleeping place is organized. It is very important to purchase exclusively high-quality mattresses, sheets and diapers for your baby.

• Don't be afraid to wake the little one. Quite often, the question of how to put the baby to sleep during the day gradually flows into another problem - the baby's unwillingness to sleep at night. Parents need to adjust their nap times.
• Mindful of diapers. A high-quality disposable diaper will enable the baby to sleep, and the mother will have a good rest. Therefore, you should not refuse such hygiene items.

If these simple recommendations are followed, the reward for mom will be a sweetly sniffing baby and saved nerves.

And finally

Never lose herthe relevance of the question: how to quickly put the baby to sleep? In order for the baby to fall asleep without tears and as soon as possible, parents will have to try many different methods and listen to a huge number of different recommendations.

But in this situation, it is very important for a mother not to forget about herself and her psychological he alth. After all, if she is tired and twitchy, this will not help the little one fall asleep soon. Therefore, you need to remain calm and solve the problem without unnecessary nerves.