Nursing For Dummies

[simpleaffiliate source="chitika" results="0"][/simpleaffiliate]

How Do I Help My Baby To Sleep Better?

Sleeping problems are often caused by poor sleeping associations created unknowingly by parents. A sleep association is something that a baby learns that signals sleep to them. But this is easily corrected, especially when they are still a few months old. Sleep is a high priority for all new parents. As every parent knows, the early days can be really difficult, as babies are up every few hours in the night looking for a feed. Some babies sleep really well from the outset, but these children are rare indeed. The majority of parents experience difficulties with sleep deprivation, and unfortunately for some, this can last well into the toddler years and beyond. So how do you create a better sleeping environment for your baby? There are lots of things you can do to help create the right sleep associations and avoid the bad ones. A sleep association is essentially what the baby associates with going to sleep - in other words it is a learned response. Babies are clever because they get to know these associations by repitition - the more you do a certain behaviour before they sleep, the more they associate that behaviour with sleep itself. So for example, if you always bath the baby before bedtime, they will get to know in time that bathtime signals sleep time. The trick is to create sleep associations which work without reliance on the parent to help the child to sleep, Some examples of poor sleep associations includes: - rocking baby to sleep - holding baby to sleep - patting/stroking baby - nursing or feeding baby to sleep - use of a dummy Why are these poor sleep associations? Because they work by allowing the baby to rely on either you or a pacifier to help them sleep. This creates long-term problems because each time your child wakes at night, they will require your assistance to help put them back to sleep. Imagine you always rock baby to sleep. As wonderfully nurturing as it seems, what will you do when the child gets older and heavier and puts pressure on your back because you are struggling to rock your toddler to sleep - something that can take an hour or so in some cases? The best solution is creating sleep associations that do NOT rely on you to help them sleep. These can include: - creating a routine - winding down - dimming the lights and speaking softly - placing tired baby in cot in the dark and calming them down by speaking softly and not picking them up - differentiating between night and day - removing the dummy before baby falls asleep - never allowing baby to sleep in your arms - always let baby sleep in the cot These are just some suggestions, but there are many other things you can and should do to improve sleep. If you stick to your guns, you should see an improvement in sleep patterns within a week, and certainly within two weeks. With older children, you may need to resort to sleep training methods to help them sleep soundly. Learning the correct behaviour takes time, but the above mentioned ideas are the best way to help a newborn learn the correct sleep habits that will set them up for a lifetime.
About the Author

For more information on getting your baby sleeping well at night, visit www.ultimatesleepguide.co.uk

Nursing for Dummies


[simpleaffiliate source="amazon" results="10"]nursing for dummies[/simpleaffiliate]
[simpleaffiliate source="cj" results="10"]nursing for dummies[/simpleaffiliate]
[simpleaffiliate source="clickbank" results="10"]nursing for dummies[/simpleaffiliate]