One of the biggest challenges for new parents is sleep. You went from sleeping through the night, to suddenly needing to wake up all the time to take care of your baby. Baby sleeping patterns can be very challenging and when problems arise it becomes even more difficult. There are many things you can do to help yourself get more sleep, and to help get your baby sleeping more easily.
The first thing every new parent must learn, it may not be baby sleeping problems, it could be yours. Babies are going to sleep for short periods of time, then wake up and demand eating. You need to learn to sleep when your baby sleeps. It is tempting to watch TV, read books, or just relax when you get a few minutes in the evening. If you want to maintain your sanity, and keep the bags from developing under your eyes, you need to sleep when the baby sleeps. You can watch a DVD, catch up on news, or other entertainment items while you waltz your baby around the living room at 2AM.
Getting your baby to sleep sometimes seems impossible. You need to learn a few simple techniques to help put your baby to sleep, and stop the fussing. The best place to start is swaddling your baby snugly in a swaddling blanket. If you like the easy way, buy swaddling blankets with velcro closures to keep them securely closed. The baby will feel more comfortable when tightly wrapped. It mimics the feeling they had in the womb.
Speaking of the womb, realize that anything you can do to imitate those feelings will help calm your baby, and help get your baby sleeping again. Lightly bouncing or shaking your baby is a great way to help them sleep. When they were in the womb and mommy moved, they bounced. Making whooshing or shushing sounds can help your baby fall asleep. It mimics the sound of their mothers heart and blood flowing. Make sure to be loud enough for your baby to hear the sound over their crying. As they get quieter, you decrease your volume, too.
While using these simple techniques may make you feel silly in the middle of the night, just keep in mind you may be back to sleep in 15 minutes instead of 1 or 2 hours if you take the time to satisfy your baby’s needs. Never neglect checking the baby’s diaper, or keeping them fed. If either of those are overlooked you will be battling a very unhappy infant.
On those nights where your baby simply refuses to go to sleep, it is time to become a tag team. You must rotate the efforts allowing each of you to catch a couple hours of sleep, and then rotating responsibility. Overcoming baby sleeping problems is not a long term issue. Your baby will change rapidly, and in just a few months will be sleeping most of the night. Using these few simple ideas can help you survive until all of you can sleep soundly every night.