How do you get a baby to sleep through the night? Do they really exist… those super babies who sleep through quickly without any problems? Don’t worry, sooner or later every baby will learn to sleep. With a lot of patience and tips in our guide, yours will too.
The first few weeks after the birth of a child are a new experience for both parents and the baby. The child in particular has to adjust to a new rhythm. Because babies are born without feeling for night and day. You still have to learn the distinction. It usually takes a few weeks for the baby to adjust to the day-night rhythm.
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But watch out! Sleeping through doesn’t mean the same for infants as it does for adults. In fact, the sleep cycle lasts only 50 to 60 minutes in three-month-old infants. In addition, deep sleep and superficial sleep alternate. A total of six hours straight in bed are a complete success.
The two most important goals in staying asleep are therefore that babies learn the difference between day and night and fall asleep again when they wake up at night.
Ways to get a baby to sleep through the night
At the age of three months, according to statistics, 70 percent of those sleep through the night. The causes of the nightly restlessness in the other 30 percent are different. Reasons can be, for example, that
- more food is needed to boost growth and development.
- the first teeth are coming .
- the child gets sick and does not feel well.
- stomach upset.
- they restlessly dream.
- the diaper is full.
- Prevented rituals alone prevent falling asleep again.
These rituals promote the rhythm of sleep
Babies quickly associate certain rituals with falling asleep. Perhaps it is worn, breastfed and falls asleep on the chest or gets a pint. The problem: wake up at night, ask for these rituals. The long sleep rituals and the frequent getting up at night can rob parents of sleep and drain their nerves and strength.
The sleep ritual should therefore be designed so that the baby falls asleep alone. Before that there is still time to cuddle, read books, sing a bedtime song and tell a little story.
These rituals help baby and parents sleep through the night:
1. Darkness
The regular alternation of light and darkness helps the baby to fall asleep and over time it learns to sleep through the night. If you also dim the lights in the nursery and speak calmly, your baby will notice that it will soon go to bed.
2. Wake up in bed
If you want the baby to sleep alone in its crib at night, you should put it awake in bed and let it fall asleep.
3. Settle the child
If the child becomes restless at night, you can calm him down by placing your flat hand gently on his chest or by letting your child know that you are present.
4. No distraction
If your baby cannot fall asleep again or has to make a farmer, you should take it up for a short time. It is important not to cuddle or do other activities, otherwise the child feels that it is time to play.
5. Feed the baby later
In order to ensure that the baby sleeps through the night after about six months, it should be nursed extensively from the first weeks of life relatively late in the evening. This can be between 10 p.m. and midnight, even if the child is already asleep at that time. So the next breastfeeding unit is delayed. Use the moment to relax and sleep yourself.
6. Small meals only
If the baby vehemently demands food at night, smaller amounts can help settle them without having their digestive system hinder them in the sleep process
7. Sleep research
A completely natural behavior and a proven ritual is to let the baby fall asleep on the breast, according to the Breastfeeding experts. However, critics fear that the child links drinking and falling asleep and only falls asleep again after breastfeeding at night, whether or not it is hungry.
Every child is different and all parents behave differently. They usually instinctively act correctly for themselves and the child when it comes to sleep. With their methods and new sleeping techniques, many counselors can unsettle babies and parents more than help them.
What has proven itself, however, is the following: a lot of empathy, trying out gut feelings and patience to find the right rhythm and the best everyday rituals .
It takes a lot of time to overcome habits such as lengthy sleep rituals and restless nights, because the changes should be made in small steps. For example, gradually less and less physical contact or ever longer distances between the bottles. It is then particularly important that both parents and other caregivers pull together.
However, before they are exhausted, parents can also opt for sleep advice. These offer clinics, midwives but also mother and father advice.
