No Sweat Baby Gear

5 ways to get your baby to go to sleep and stay asleep longer

5 ways to get your baby to go to sleep and stay asleep longer

Nowadays, it seems as though everyone’s an expert when it comes to advice on how to get your baby to fall asleep and to stay asleep longer.  Books are published regularly and experts are endorsing every gimmick under the sun to “help” your baby to sleep.  What ever happened to helpful lists and tips?  Below you’ll find the first of our four part series on things you can do to help your baby to fall asleep and stay asleep longer:

1. Develop realistic attitudes about nighttime parenting:  You can’t force your baby to eat, so what makes you think you can force your baby to sleep?  It’s impossible, right?  Instead of forcing the issue, create a secure and welcome environment that allows sleep to overtake your baby.  By teaching your baby a restful attitude about sleep as a youngster, both you and your child will sleep better when they are older.

1. Stay away from sleep trainers:  Our ancestors have managed for centuries without the help of parenting books and magic formulas promising to get babies to sleep through the night, so why have we become so reliant on them?  There is no one step fix that will lull your baby into sleep, much less keep him asleep, so don’t let yourself be tempted into buying oscillating cribs, breathing teddy bears, vibrating mattress pads or anything else that seems too good to be true, because chances are, it probably is.

1. Remain flexible:  Nothing works every time, all the time, so keep your expectations realistic and don’t persist with a failing experiment.  Develop a nighttime parenting style that works for you and your family, following your heart rather than some stranger’s sleep-training advice.  By doing so, you’ll eventually work out the right nighttime parenting style that works for you and your family.

1. Decide where baby sleeps best:  There is no right or worng place for babies to sleep.  Some sleep best in their own crib in their own room, some sleep better in a bassinet in their parents room, while others sleep best snuggled between Mom and Dad in their bed.  Over the course of the first two years, be prepared for your baby to transition through a number of different sleeping arrangements before reaching the one that works best for him.

1. Get baby used to a variety of sleep associations:  The way an infant goes to sleep at night is the way she expects to go back to sleep when she awakens.  By creating a variety of sleep associations in your baby’s sleep routine, you’re avoiding the reliance on one method of association and teaching your child to be adaptable and flexible.  Sleep associations to include in your child nighttime routine include a regular bathing schedule, dressing him in a sleep sack, story telling and quiet time before putting him down for the night.

What your baby sleeps in is just as important as how he gets to sleep at night.  Be sure to dress baby in a sleep sack until at least one year of age, ensuring that the fabric is made of a natural fiber and not a petrochemical derived fabric such as fleece, microfleece or polyester.  Merino sleep sacks are best for baby because the fabric is able to breathe and regulate your child’s body temperature, keeping him warm if the temperature drops or cooling him if he becomes hot.  Synthetic fabrics just aren’t able to offer the same benefits and can potentially cause overheating, dampness, sweating, rashing and a myriad of other skin related issues.

Look for Part 2 in our four part series on things you can do to get your baby to sleep and stay asleep longer.

About the Author

Francis Frost is the owner of Module Marketing in Auckland New Zealand. He is the new father of 1year old boy and an advocate of using merino and baby sleep sacks, especially the Merino Kids Baby Sleep Bag. With its award winning design, merino fabric and outstanding function the Merino Kids baby sleep sack is second to none.

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