Almost all new parents don't have it easy adjusting to new routines when a newborn child comes into the world. Part of the struggle entails teaching the little one to fall asleep at regular times. This is important, since helping the infant to establish a nightly and daily sleep routine has consequences for later development. Below are suggestions on how to get your baby to sleep at nap time, especially during the day. Following these will help parents make matters easier for the child, and also make the adjustment process less taxing.
Before proceeding to suggestions, on assisting the little one to take naps or short sleeps, here is some information about babies and sleeping patterns new parents ought to know. First of all, it's important for the infant's development that the little one do take short rests during the day. It's also relevant to mom, or the caregiver's, sanity and well-being.
Babies quickly develop sleeping rhythms or patterns, and it will be useful for parents to note these. Most infants take longer rests in the morning and shorter ones in the afternoon. As babies mature, and they do so quickly under normal circumstances, they tend to fall asleep for shorter periods during the day.
The best way to get the little ones into daily habits of rest is to create a stable environment with the same routine. Doing so is not just important for purposes of rest, but for development as a whole. What caregivers should aim for is to do the same activities at more or less the same time daily that would signal to the little one that it is time for rest. Singing lullabies, for instance, or playing soft, soothing music to ease a young child into falling asleep should occur daily, at regular intervals like day the before.
It also helps if the young child sleeps in the same spot every day. These will help the little one to forge an automatic association between rest and resting place. At home, the ideal spot is where the infant falls asleep at night. The same goes for when babies go to daycare; ensure that the infant sleeps in the same place daily.
What mom and dad should also do is to notice an infant's sleep signals. This would alert the adults to clear the environment of distractions that would interfere with the child's rest. Some kids will suck on the thumb, fidget non-stop, or stare blankly into space to when it wants to doze off.
Granted, it's not easy for new parents to make the necessary adjustments that would make life as comfortable as possible for a newborn child. It takes heaps of patience, consistency, and cooperation. But arrangements that suit the little one's development and well-being have to made, and once these are in place, things tend to go relatively smoothly from then on.
It might help not to think of an infant's nap schedule as something rigid and inflexible. Take it as a framework with which to work, and make adjustments as necessary. Pay close attention to the young child's signals especially, because these are important markers as to what to do, and when to do it.
Before proceeding to suggestions, on assisting the little one to take naps or short sleeps, here is some information about babies and sleeping patterns new parents ought to know. First of all, it's important for the infant's development that the little one do take short rests during the day. It's also relevant to mom, or the caregiver's, sanity and well-being.
Babies quickly develop sleeping rhythms or patterns, and it will be useful for parents to note these. Most infants take longer rests in the morning and shorter ones in the afternoon. As babies mature, and they do so quickly under normal circumstances, they tend to fall asleep for shorter periods during the day.
The best way to get the little ones into daily habits of rest is to create a stable environment with the same routine. Doing so is not just important for purposes of rest, but for development as a whole. What caregivers should aim for is to do the same activities at more or less the same time daily that would signal to the little one that it is time for rest. Singing lullabies, for instance, or playing soft, soothing music to ease a young child into falling asleep should occur daily, at regular intervals like day the before.
It also helps if the young child sleeps in the same spot every day. These will help the little one to forge an automatic association between rest and resting place. At home, the ideal spot is where the infant falls asleep at night. The same goes for when babies go to daycare; ensure that the infant sleeps in the same place daily.
What mom and dad should also do is to notice an infant's sleep signals. This would alert the adults to clear the environment of distractions that would interfere with the child's rest. Some kids will suck on the thumb, fidget non-stop, or stare blankly into space to when it wants to doze off.
Granted, it's not easy for new parents to make the necessary adjustments that would make life as comfortable as possible for a newborn child. It takes heaps of patience, consistency, and cooperation. But arrangements that suit the little one's development and well-being have to made, and once these are in place, things tend to go relatively smoothly from then on.
It might help not to think of an infant's nap schedule as something rigid and inflexible. Take it as a framework with which to work, and make adjustments as necessary. Pay close attention to the young child's signals especially, because these are important markers as to what to do, and when to do it.
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This article collected, selected and written by: Author Van Hoc
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