Sleep, deep restful sleep, once upon a time it was your nightly pleasure. Now, with a new baby, your nights are disturbed with the siren of a baby crying. You are starting to develop dark circles under your eyes. Relax, there are a few things you can do to help your baby sleep, or at least go back to sleep quickly.
The first thing all new parents need to understand, this is a very temporary situation. The feedings every couple hours will come to a stop in just a couple months. Your baby will start sleeping for several hours at a time, and will develop a regular sleeping pattern. You will still hear your baby crying when they get hungry or wet in the middle of the night, but instead of many times, it will only be once or twice.
When you hear you baby crying in the middle of the night, you need to develop a routine of what you are going to do. The first two critical items, change the diaper, and see if they are hungry. This will get you started on the right path. No guarantee this will satisfy you little baby, but at least you know the essentials are covered.
The next step is to use a swaddling blanket and tightly wrap your baby. Make sure to pin the arms on the inside of the blanket. One thing which can keep your baby awake, and upset is their own flailing arms. It scares them since they were not able to do it in the womb, and it is shocking for them. You will see many babies who are almost a sleep and suddenly they throw their arms out and the next thing you hear is the baby crying again. Give them the comfort of being carefully bundled.
As adults we believe silence is the best sound for sleeping. For your baby it is a very foreign sound. Think where they have been. In the womb they heard mommy’s heartbeat, her breathing, the sound of the blood rushing, and other bodily noises. All of these sounds were constantly happening. By providing similar sounds either by making shushing noises, or even using a CD, you can help your baby relax. Your baby crying could be from feeling displaced. They do not have the warm, tight, and noisy feeling of their mother’s womb.
Going along with the sounds, your baby never experienced lack of movement either. When mommy walked, sat, and even slept there was always a little motion going on. This is another clue to how to stop the sounds of a baby crying, and enjoy the sight of a sleeping baby. Lightly swaying, rocking, or bouncing your baby when added to making noises, and be swaddled can calm even the most agitated baby.
Using these few steps can help you reduce the dread you feel when the baby crying starts in the middle of the night. You now have a game plan to help your baby get back to sleep, and you can head back to bed, too.