Sleep is a vital to your baby's healthy development. But getting her to sleep can be a challenge. You can minimize the challenge by filling her day with activities that allow her to spend her energy and then making bedtime a routine that's familiar and relaxing.
Step 1
Create a bedtime routine. If your baby knows what to expect, she will be more likely to fall asleep without a fuss, say Jennifer Waldburger and Jill Spivack, authors of "The Sleepeasy Solution: The Exhausted Parent's Guide to Getting Your Child to Sleep from Birth to Age 5." Choose the activities that will be included in your bedtime routine and do them in the same order and at the same time each night. Waldburger and Spivack suggest a bath, a book or a song as ways to signal that bedtime is approaching.
Step 2
Avoid active play before bedtime to allow your child to calm down and relax. The pediatricians' website Healthy Children recommends that you play with your baby during the day so she is more likely to be ready for sleep at night. Playing with your baby during the day will help keep her awake for longer periods of time so that she is more likely to go to sleep and stay asleep at night. Quiet activities, such as books or songs can prepare your baby to fall asleep when it is time.
Step 3
Refrain from staying with your baby until she falls asleep. If your baby depends on you to rock her to sleep she will have a hard time falling asleep on her own, as well as staying asleep all night, say Waldburger and Spivack. Sing, read stories or rock your baby at bedtime, but put her in her crib while she is drowsy, not asleep, Healthy Children advises. A baby needs to learn how to soothe herself to sleep.
Step 4
Make your baby comfortable so she can fall asleep easily. Remove distractions such as bright lights and loud noises to encourage her to relax and go to sleep. Leaving a night light on or playing soft music can encourage sleep without causing a distraction.
Step 5
Give your baby time to fall asleep even if she is fussing. Returning to your baby's room as soon as you hear her will encourage her to continue fussing, because she knows you will appear. Allowing her to fuss for a few minutes will teach her that she can fall asleep on her own. If she continues crying, you can return to her room and offer her comfort. Healthy Children recommends leaving the light off and not playing or picking her up. If she knows you are nearby but that you will not let her get up, she will eventually fall asleep.
Tips and Warnings
- Dress your baby for comfort to keep her warm or cool enough. Also, make sure her room is the right temperature, suggest Waldburger and Spivack.
- Always put your baby to sleep on her back, cautions Kids Health. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises that this reduces the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. Also keep pillows, blankets and stuffed toys out of the crib, because they pose a suffocation hazard.
Things You'll Need
- Books
- Lullaby recording
- Night light
References
- Kids Health: Sleep and Your 4-to 7-Month Old
- "The Sleepeasy Solution: The Exhausted Parent's Guide to Getting Your Child to Sleep from Birth to Age 5"; Jennifer Waldburger and Jill Spivack; 2007
- Healthy Children: Getting Your Baby to Sleep
