6 SCIENTIFIC-BASED STRATEGIES ON HOW TO GET BABY TO SLEEP ALL NIGHT
By: Naomi Harrison
Tags: Baby Sleep Training, Baby, Baby Sleep Routine, Baby Sleeping, Baby Sleep

6 SCIENTIFIC-BASED STRATEGIES ON HOW TO GET BABY TO SLEEP ALL NIGHT Naomi Harrison Apr 6·8 min read

At 3 A.M., it is a truly frightening experience to think about everything that is involved in finding a safe place to sleep.

A single little mistake in your child’s training could have a dramatic impact on their development: your child will either end up waking at night through his high school years, or being diagnosed with anxiety, depression, or mood swings.

It may seem as if you aren’t sure who to believe, what sleep training method to follow, or which sleep expert to listen to when it comes to the ideal timing and method for sleep training.

The purpose of this article is to explain sleep-related theories and practices as well as to provide information on a few strategies aimed at promoting good sleep habits in babies and young children.

Want some assistance in getting baby to sleep click here and check out what’s working for 100’s of women around the world

Strategy #1 — Learn Your Child’s Sleep Cues

Like all of us, your child has a window of opportunity where he can sleep well and will wake up relatively fresh in the morning.

In the event that the window closes before you have the chance to tuck your child into bed, the child’s body will start to release chemicals to fight Sleeping sounds difficult unless you know if your child is tired. And if he is bored, you will have difficulty getting him to sleep.

A one-month-old baby has no way of telling you what needs to be done, but here are some sleep signals that may indicate that your baby is ready to kick off sleeping:

The most obvious way to tell your baby is tired is to look for signs that he is calmer and less active.

It may be that your baby is more distracted than usual — his eyes may be less focused and his eyelids may droop.

A baby may become quieter — if your baby usually chatters at the drop of a hat during the course of his day, you may notice that he has a tendency to start to wind down before sleep time.

When your baby gets too sleepy, he will tend to nurse less vigorously and instead take more time to swallow his food. In fact, if he’s sick enough, he may even fall asleep while eating.

It’s not a very subtle sign that your baby is sleepy when he starts to yawn — if he does this, that’s a true sign that he’s very tired.

As a newborn, you can get him started on his morning routine within an hour of waking up and follow the routine for the rest of the night time.

You will normally come up with an exact count of the exact number of minutes until you feel comfortable that your baby has begun falling and staying asleep these days. When you have a newborn, you get plenty of chances to learn to notice sleep cues — you can hear them at least six or seven times a day!

To help a more rested and happier baby, you need to learn to recognize your baby’s unique sleep cues.

Another thing to consider regarding sleep cues is that if you aren’t watching out for these signals, they can throw you a curveball.

During the six-week mark, babies have more fussiness. Their number of cries per day increases noticeably, as they reach the milestone.

The baby goes through this stage for a few days. You are not doing anything wrong, nor is your baby.

You may observe your baby exhibiting these behaviors if they become overtired (results may vary depending on various factors, such as age and personality):

When you expect your child to be drained of energy, you’ll be surprised to find her bursting with it.

When your child is hyperactive and “wired” after eating, you will see hyperactive behavior that seems totally uncharacteristic for him or her during other times of the day.

If he becomes uncooperative or argumentative, he can become troublesome for you.

In the absence of sleep, your child will be whiny or clingy or fall apart in general because she simply can’t keep her head above water.

You may notice that your child has his or her own unique response when tired. Some children start looking pale and some babies start latching onto anything within a distance of a breast, including your face or your arm!

When all seems fine (he’s clean and fed), but he always demands that he beheld and whines about everything, it’s because he’s overtired and needs help getting to sleep.

It’s key to a well-rested and happier baby to learn to read their own sleep cues.

Strategy #2 — Teach Children to Distinguish Night from Day

We all have different circadian rhythms which operate on a 24-hour and 10-minute to 24-hour and 20-minute cycle while the 12-hour clock in the universe is in sync with the 24-hour clock on which the planet operates.

the internal clock must be set every day — or our internal clocks would slowly and surely grow out of whack.

Our biological clocks are managed by the effects of daylight.

At night, darkness keeps our internal clock in sync so that at the appropriate times of day, we feel sleepy and awake. In the morning, sunlight keeps our bodies’ internal clock in sync.

In exposure to daylight shortly after your baby gets up each morning, and maintaining bright lighting throughout his waking hours, you help his circadian rhythm to set them up to feel tired at the right times.

He’ll learn that deep dark shadows correspond to sleep time and bright bright lights to wake-up time — you’ll find it better to take advantage of natural sunlight over artificial light when you can.

Research shows that baby exposure to daylight between noon and 4:00 P.M. increases the odds of your baby sleeping through the night.

Strategy #3 — Let your baby practice falling asleep on his own.

From your baby’s newborn stage till now, some sleep experts recommend putting him to bed on his back in an awake but sleepy state. This allows him to practice some self-soothing behaviors.

It is also recommended for you to let your baby try to fall asleep on his own at least once each day.

Other experts agree that you shouldn’t bother to work on these skills until your baby reaches the three-to-four-month mark (at which point your baby’s sleep and wake rhythms synchronize so that sleep learning becomes possible).

According to sleep experts, the sleep-association clock begins to tick around six weeks. When your baby awakens from her deep slumber, he or she becomes really tuned into his surroundings.

So, if he becomes used to falling asleep wrapped in your arms while you rock him, he will only want you to rock him and sing to him when he wakes up in the middle of the night — because it gives him the best shot at falling back to sleep.

Because you’ve developed a sleeping association with him, you’ve become a walking, talking sleep aid.

A few parents decide that it is a good idea to follow a mean-between approach to sleep associations during the first few weeks and months of a child’s life.

The couple decides that getting sleep should be the top priority for themselves and their children, and to take advantage of all opportunities to encourage healthy sleep habits for their children.

However, you will have to consider the following at some point regardless of when you start paying attention to the kinds of sleep associations your baby may be developing:

Feeding a baby while falling asleep

Being rocked to sleep is a great way to fall asleep

By soothing your baby by rubbing or patting his back, singing lullabies, or otherwise serving as a comforting influence,

Your baby will fall asleep with you present.

Getting used to a pacifier

There’s one thing important to remember, especially in the face of the fact that there’s been a lot of talk about sleep lately.

If your baby normally gets sleepy at night regardless of which sleep association is present, you can make sure it is only present sometimes when they are falling asleep.

It is not as easy to be hooked on a sleep behavior by nursing your baby to sleep some of the time, rocking him to sleep some of the time, and putting him to sleep only some of the time when he’s awake but not asleep.

A sleeping expert stresses that feeding and sleep have a strong association. If you can encourage your baby not to need to be fed to fall asleep, he will be able to learn to soothe himself once he comes of age.

By the end of three- to four months, most babies are ready to practice these skills.

Want some assistance in getting baby to sleep click here and check out what’s working for 100’s of women around the world

Strategy #4 Children who nap during the day sleep better than those who don’t.

Sleeping during the day leads to a better nighttime sleep for babies who nap.

The truth is that if you skip your baby’s daytime naps you will likely find it harder to get them to sleep later in the evening. Let’s face it, younger children tend to be more distracted and less able to settle down as they grow older.

Their lack of sleep the previous night prevents them from catching up in the morning, and when they get home, their naps are not sufficient to help them catch up.

Make sure your child gets a lot of sleep the way you prioritize making sure they eat a healthy breakfast and snacks throughout the day.

The child must consume nutritious foods throughout the day as a part of his main nighttime sleep meal in order to function as optimally as possible.

Napping also improves mood and capacity for learning as babies, toddlers, and preschoolers are in a better mood and more attentive than those who do not nap.

Strategy #5 — Know When Your Baby Can Stop Being Feed At Night

Despite outgrowing a need for a middle-of-the-night feed, your baby will still wake up at night out of habit.

The nighttime feeding should be eliminated if your baby does not nurse frequently or seems disinterested in nursing when he gets up in the night. You could try using other techniques to get him back to sleep instead of feeding him at night.

However, in the first instance, it is important to break that strong food-sleep association so as to prepare him for such feelings.

Depending upon the child, it may happen quickly. Other children may have a slower process.

Breaking that association will hopefully lead to the child stopping to wake so often during the night and maybe also starting to work on self-soothing skills.

Strategy #6 — Remain calm and relaxed during the sleep issue.

You will inevitably pick up your child’s feelings if you are angry and frustrated when dealing with your child in the night while hiding your emotions.

Feeling confident that you can solve your child’s sleep problems and accepting that some babies can take a while to learn the ropes will help you cope with the middle-of-the-night sleep interruptions.

It has been established that parents in whom realistic expectations are present are more able to cope with sleep difficulties. When parents are confident about their abilities to handle parental difficulties, they might be able to handle such challenges without much difficulty.

Want some assistance in getting baby to sleep click here and check out what’s working for 100’s of women around the world