Having a newborn in your life is a blissful experience. Everyone around you showers their blessings on you and your little one. Your sisters is so happy to have a little angel and have brought cute little baby girl aunt clothes claiming Aunt loves the baby more than you. This all seems picture perfect.
You are proud to have spent your pregnancy period without any complications and you are relaxed to have a smooth delivery. You are holding your healthy baby, wearing beautiful and stylish urban baby clothes, in your arms, and enjoying these moments. But having a newborn is an overwhelming experience. It exhausts you out and you better be prepared for it.
Everyone around you will be giving you their suggestion and advice on handling the baby, settling their feeding and sleeping routine, how to bath them, dress them, and whatnot. Listening to their experiences and their success stories regarding how they have handled their newborn pretty well may appear appealing. But it puts a lot of pressure on you to do everything in a perfect way. It becomes stressful for you if you feel that you are failing in it and your baby wakes up a lot at night times, cries, and is hungry during night time as well.
Every infant is different from others. What is true for one infant can’t be right for the other. Remember that you know your baby better than anyone else. Everyone has their own different and unique experience. There is no need to compare your baby and your parenting with others and feel guilty about it. And there is absolutely no need to be stressed over the matter of sleep. It’s ok if you and your baby have sleepless nights. You can work it out without taking any stress. We are here to help you out on how to lessen the stress around sleep.
Understand Your Baby’s Needs and Sleep Patterns
Infants have their own sleep cycle which is different from an adult’s sleep cycle. Their sleep cycle is shorter than adults which lasts from 50-60 minutes that is why they can experience arousal after every 60 minutes or so. Sometimes, after every arousal, they go back to sleep by themselves, and sometimes they don’t. The reason they don’t go back to sleep could be any of the following. They could be wet, hungry, cold, and hot or maybe breathing problems.
Infants have little stomachs therefore cannot take much at once. They need to be fed after short intervals. If they are wet and needed to be changed, they will wake up and cry so that you know they need you. The first 2-3 months is a process of understanding the needs of your baby and their behaviour. There is no need to overstress yourself with the efforts to set a routine at this early stage. Accept the fact that your baby will get up at night and you will have to attend them. Let’s have a look at how to make this process easy and how you can go back to sleep quickly after attending the baby.
- Massage your baby before bedtime as it will make them relaxed.
- Sleep with your baby in the same room but keep the baby in a separate cot of their own.
- Keep everything close and arranged – diapers, wipes, changing sheets, an extra pair of urban baby clothes, milk bottles, milk, hot water. It will help save time.
- Attend them quickly when they cry and don’t let them get exhausted because of crying.
- Do not engage yourself with baby in any activity or talking while feeding or changing and go back to sleep as quickly as possible.
- Give your baby skin-to-skin time during the daytime to make them feel secured.
- Spend as much time as you can with the baby.
- Don’t let your baby become over-tired.
Setting Sleep Routine of Your Toddler
Sleep pattern changes as the baby grows older. When your baby is one year or older their behaviour and habits change with their mental and physical growth. Their needs are different. Here’s how you can try to work on their sleep routine to lessen the stress.
- Keep them active during the day time.
- Keep their day naps short and early not later than late afternoon.
- Keep them well fed during the day and make sure they are not hungry before going to bed.
- Checkout their nappies and they are clean and dried before going to bed.
Setting the Sleep Routine of Pre-Schooler
The following are the tips to settle your naught pre-schooler in sleep routine.
- Fix their bed and wake time.
- Set a bedtime routine – Drinking Milk, Changing into pajamas, listening to a lullaby
- Keep their room noise-free and peaceful.
- Make sure the room environment is comfortable for their sleep.
- Keep their room dimly lit if they are afraid of darkness.
- Don’t associate their bedroom with a place for any other activity. Keep it associated only with sleeping.
How to lessen Your Stress
It is important to take out time for yourself whenever you can so that you don’t stress out.
- Take short day naps when the baby’s asleep to relieve your stress.
- Share the burden with your husband if you can.
- Take a quick and short break from all the works to relax.
- Go for a walk if someone else can look after the baby.
- Keep your diet healthy.
