Why your Baby needs a Good Sleep? – We all know that sleep influences our health on so many levels – be it mental, physical, or even emotional. But what is its impact on our little one’s well-being and development?
Newborns up to 3 months of age sleep for anywhere between 14 to 17 hours. Although, this number may slightly vary, less than 11 hours and more than 19 hours of sleep are not ideal. Of the total sleep time, around six hours may be during the day and by the third month, this reduces to five hours approximately. However, in this age group, babies may not sleep for over four hours at once.
Sleep Strategies
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Make daytime feeds:
Social and lively and night-time feeds quiet.That way you’ll help baby set their body clock so baby can learn the difference between day and night.
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Give baby a chance to fall asleep on their own:
About six to eight weeks baby, some specialist prompt against rocking or breastfeeding babies to sleep, even at this age, because your baby may come to depend on it. It’s up to you to decide what’s best.
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Set a bedtime routine:
Make it short and basic: Shower, diaper and pajamas, and a story or song. Finish the sleep time ritual in your baby’s bedroom. It vital baby learns their room is a nice place to be.
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Give baby a security object:
For example baby blanket or stuffed animal. An incredible way to make a blanket or teddy bear a favorite is to keep it near you for a while so it smells like you. Babies have a strong sense of smell, and when they startle awake, the smell of their mothers will quiet them.
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Let baby cry it out:
This is appropriate once you have four or five months old baby. When your baby crying after you’ve put down, tell baby everything’s fine, but it’s time for sleep. Be gentle, but firm. Leave the room. Wait for a set interval, anything from two to five minutes, and then check again. Do this repeatedly until baby falls asleep, extending the time between each visit.
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Tune in to your baby’s needs:
During the day, make baby feel secure by spending time connecting with baby. If baby wakes in the night, try to work out why. Is baby diaper full, pajamas comfortable, has baby got a cold?
If your baby is still, bear in mind that age will have a lot to do with how well baby settles, and you may have to be adaptable according to the baby stage of development.