Fixing your baby’s sleeping cycle

Taking care of your newborn is fulfilling and exciting. But a newborn baby hardly almost never sleeps straight-eight or nine hours a day so the parents should be prepared for some sleep deprivation.

The older a baby gets the more regular his/her sleep pattern becomes. But to initiate this process you must try to have a routine for your baby’s sleep after they are 3 months or older. If a baby doesn’t get healthy food and a routine sleep regularly, their overall development will be affected. Regular uninterrupted sleep will do wonders for your baby’s brain development as well as buying you some rest from the duties.
A baby of 3 months or older is ready for a routine sleep pattern. To get the baby accustomed to the pattern you may try a few ways.

Here are a few steps you can follow to fix your baby’s sleep cycle.

Do not wait until the baby is too sleepy

When the baby is too sleepy they will rub their eyes, act restless and eventually start crying. If you want to get your baby accustomed to a sleeping pattern you can not wait until the baby is too sleepy. Try to make your baby go to sleep before they start crying or getting agitated. Sometimes babies get too tired and refuse to go to sleep even when they are sleepy.

Put the baby to sleep at a fixed time from its birth

When the baby is 3 weeks old make a habit of playing with them in the daytime and putting them to sleep at night. Do not let the baby sleep for a long time during the daytime. Put them to sleep for a short amount of time each time so they can have a long uninterrupted slumber at night. If you can continue this, the baby will make a habit of playing in the day and sleeping at night. Keep the lights dimmed during the baby’s nighttime sleep. That way the baby can differentiate between the light of day and nights in its sleep.

Put a gap between feeding and sleeping

A newborn baby will usually go to sleep while eating liquid foods. But after the baby is 1 month or older, try to get rid of this habit. Try to put the baby to sleep after you are done with feeding. If the baby seems sleepy, stop trying to feed them and put the baby to sleep. Continue feeding when the baby wakes up. Do not feed too much food to your baby before sleep. Coughing may lead to vomiting while the baby is sleeping.

Do not wake the baby up in the night to feed

If your baby weighs okay according to their age then do not interrupt its sleep in the night to feed them. During daytime, feed the baby periodically to keep them full. But if the baby eats less food in the day because of daytime sleeping then you can feed the baby at night so he/she doesn’t get hungry.

What to wear during naptime

If the baby isn’t wearing comfortable cotton clothes, their sleep may get interrupted frequently. Wipe your baby with a fresh towel, put some powder on them and slip your baby into some soft, comfortable cotton clothes. This way the baby will be fresh and comfortable when they go to sleep.

The baby will take some time to get used to proper sleeping patterns. As a parent, you must be patient through it. Until the baby has a proper sleeping pattern, rest while they are sleeping. But if the baby refuses to be accustomed to a proper sleeping pattern and cries a lot, seek help from a pediatrician.