We’ve all heard “sleeping like a baby” used as a way to say we slept great. Oddly enough babies don’t all “sleep like a baby”. Every parent has experience the difficulty of getting their baby down for a nap, or to bed for the night to some degree. There are those of us that have it easy, then there are the rest of us that have to work at it.
Here are some tips to help your baby nap more consistently and make nap time a little easier on us parents.
No matter where you look, blogs, Google searches or Pinterest there seems to be ONE tips that is everywhere. That is …
Put your baby to sleep drowsy, not asleep! This one can be difficult, especially if you are a nursing mom. But, it is so important to follow. I was very good at following this rule with one of my children, and not so great with the other. Years later, I still notice a very big difference in their sleep patterns. I can’t help but wonder if it’s because one learned to soothe themselves to sleep and the other was dependent on me to do it for them. The key to this is being aware of how tired your baby is. I read somewhere having a sleep scale in your head of 1-10. 1 being wide awake and 10 being sound asleep. Try to gauge when your baby is a 7 or 8 on that scales and lay them down. It may take a few times, or more, for your baby to soothe themselves all the way to sleep. But be patient and try your best not to pick them back up if they don’t immediately fall back asleep. You will thank yourself 5 years later, I promise.
Have a routine. Not all nap time routines have to be strict and unbreakable. But, it is best to try to stick to a daily time frame. If you put your baby down and 11 one day, 3 the next, 10 the next day and so on, it can result in poor sleep patterns and difficulty at bedtime as well.
Set the mood. Odds are your baby will sleep best if you put them in a calm, darker, quiet setting. Sometimes it can be very difficult to control noise levels, even at home. The HUSH Hat is great to help keep your baby napping so that they can Sleep Soundly and Wake Happy.
Clean, Full & Comfortable. This one is pretty basic. Make sure your baby has a clean diaper, a full tummy and is in comfortable clothing.
Happy Napping!