Parent Tips for Sleeping Babies
Nothing is sweeter than a sleeping baby. Getting your infant to sleep and keeping them asleep can be a challenge. As well as, getting their days and nights on a schedule. Here are some tips to help you understand your sleeping baby when they are in dreamland.
Babies Sleep
Typically, a baby can be rocked or walked about while being fed, and they will drift off to sleep. Even though, their eye lids are closed, their eyes are still moving and their breathing is irregular. During this time, they make rapid movements, and even flash adorable smiles. Even when a bottle is not in your sleeping baby’s mouth, they still continue to suck. When you think it’s safe, you place them in their crib. That’s when their eyes flash open, and they begin to cry.
Parent Tip #1
Infants tend to need someone close to them when they are sleeping. All babies are different, therefore different tactics will be used. Adults easily drift into a sound state of sleep. Babies, on the other hand, have a period of light sleep. This will last for about 20 minutes, and then they will enter a deep sleep. At this stage, they will not easily be woken up.
Sleep Cycles
If you have ever noticed, about an hour after your little one goes to sleep, they start to move about. This is the period of time when they are teetering in between light sleep and deep sleep. If there is any kind of disturbance it could instantly awake your sleeping baby.
Light sleep will last for about ten minutes, and then the baby will enter back into a deep sleep pattern. They cycle through this every 50 to 60 minutes, and that is why they wake easy through the night. If you notice they are in a light period and are moving about, you can gently stroke their back. This will help them enter their deep sleep once again.
Parent Tip #2
Sleeping babies often need your help getting back to a deep sleep. A gentle hand or voice can ease your little one back into dreamland. The goal is to help your baby get through their light sleep pattern, and back into deep sleep without waking up.
Deep Sleep
No matter how deep of a sleep a baby is in, it will never be as deep of a sleep as an adult experiences. There are good reasons for this, and once you understand them, night time becomes less of a nightmare. Your baby is growing and adjusting to life outside the womb, therefore they have to settle into habits gently, not all of a sudden.
Parenting tip #3
Deep sleep will not always be obtainable. There will be nights that your baby has complications, and never find that realm of deep sleep. Don’t give up, this is merely an adjustment period. They will find deep sleep, and a sleep time schedule will be developed.
The way a baby sleeps depends on their temperament. If they tend to be a fussy a baby, then they will probably sleep less. Also, remember other parents are really good at stretching the truth when it comes to their babies. How many times your baby wakes in the night is not a reflection of your parenting skills.