Hey, Congratulations on the birth of your newborn! It is a sentence that brings lots of colors in any parent’s life. Carrying your newborn in your hands for the first time is such a breathtaking feeling. These are the feelings that one cannot express in words. Where going home with your newborn is exciting, and on the other hand, it is also very thrilling and scary, too, as one of the most challenging phases of your life is about to start.
Every newborn has lots of needs from its diaper changing to feeding him after every couple of hours and massaging him with a baby massage oil. But among them, the most essential and daring task which we are skipping here is to make him sleep. This cycle of cry, feed, sleep, and repeats occurs all day and night.
According to a very well-known psychologist Arthur Kovacs, “it is imperative for new parents to understand as soon as possible that life after baby is a terrific challenge of time.” Every baby is different and has unique habits like some babies cry a lot while some sleep a lot, and some are always hungry, no matter how much and how many times you feed them. Whenever any new parent is dealing with their babies, few factors should be kept in consideration.
One of the most common factors is Feeding. Most babies of this age are either fed on mother’s milk or given top feed. But breastfeeding makes the baby stronger and protects him from many allergies.
Another essential thing is massaging. It is necessary to massage your baby with an extraordinary baby massage oil. As it not only soothes the muscles of your newborn, it also plays a vital role in helping him to sleep. So, hey new parents whenever your little one is giving you a tough time, try to provide him with a good massage. Last but not least is napping, the average newborn sleeps all day and all night, he only wakes up at feeding hours. According to the new-born sleep patterns, they usually sleep for about 14 to 16 hours. Generally, it is complicated for parents to know about sleeping patterns and how to make them sleep. Through this article, we are going to share a few tips which might help you in making your little one sleeps faster and longer.
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SLEEP STRATEGIES BY EXPERTS:
A sleeping pattern for your baby is not just crucial for your baby but yourself as well. Because if your baby does not sleep at night and wakes you up all long night, you will eventually get exhausted, tired, and dull. So, it is essential to develop a sleep pattern for your baby. It takes a few weeks to understand the pattern of sleeping, but it is not a difficult task which you cannot do. There are a few techniques which might help you to make them sleep faster.
METHOD OF CONTROLLED CRYING:
According to a sleep training expert, Richard Ferber suggests to let your baby cry for a while. Though it seems challenging to watch baby cry, it has some benefits, he claims. First, let him cry for a short but period, and it will make the baby sleepy, but soon after this, you need to put the baby in his cot and give him a goodnight kiss to let him sleep. Keep this thing in mind that this method is not about allowing your baby to cry and wait for him to fall asleep. However, some people consider this idea insensitive as they think by doing so, it can harm the baby emotionally and psychologically.
Reduce Day Time Naps:
Though it is not easy to know about the sleeping time of newborns as it varies. But once you are aware of it, make sure to set up the routine. If your baby sleeps a lot in the day time, then it is evident that this will steal his nighttime sleep. A nap of 2.5 hours is fine after the baby wakes up for feeding. Feed him and then let him sleep again. Sleep breaks during the daytime will help the newborn to sleep peacefully at night for a long time without any hindrance.
BABY MASSAGE:
According to research, the baby’s circadian rhythm produces some mental and physical changes every 24 hours. That results in affecting appetite, body temperature, and sleep as well. Massaging is one of the ancient techniques which has been using for many centuries. This technique does not only helps your baby to sleep smoothly, but it also provides other health benefits as well. To ensure ease in the circadian rhythm and sleep at night, massage is one of the best ways that will help your baby to sleep well and relax at night.
There is a component in our body called Melanin that makes us tired, and it releases continuously at night. So the people who sleep at night are more likely to have an increased number of melanins. A gentle and soft massage before bedtime is quite effective and productive in making newborn sleep. Selecting the right baby massage oil is also very important as some oils contain harmful chemicals that can damage your baby’s skin.
Cuddle up:
Every technique has its pros and cons. Some believe that this technique ends up spoiling your babies as they will need you whenever they wake up from a night of broken sleep. But again, according to some sleep experts, cuddle up your baby helps to turn him down to sleep faster rather than letting them cry for hours.
Dream Feed:
The term dream feed refers to giving a feed to your baby while he is asleep. It is a technique for your newborn to sleep for a more extended period. You can wake them up to your baby gently between 10 p.m. to midnight and breastfeed him.
Baby Shusher:
A few of you might be reading about this technology for the first time. Well, it’s a device that will help to produce the soothing-parents sound called shushes. This device imitates the parent’s ‘sound,’ their blood flow, and other various noises which the baby has experienced in the uterus. It has an automatic shutter that turns off after 15 to 30 minutes. You can also download the app to have all sleep-inducing sounds that help your baby to sleep.
Summary
The above techniques at first might seem strange for some people, but they have been proven right for many people as well. These ideas can be used all alone or in combination with other techniques. Or you can also use these tactics altogether that help the baby to sleep. Either it’s the crying out method, cuddle up dream feed, or baby massage. Some pediatricians also encourage to lay down the baby while he’s drowsy and let him sleep. Whenever you’re trying to make your baby sleep, make sure he sleeps on the back as it will help in having a better sleep.