6 Common Mistakes When Putting Your Baby To Sleep
Rest is essential for anyone. For this reason, knowing what to do and what not to do when it’s time to put your baby to sleep will help him get to sleep and allow you to be calmer.
It’s time to put your baby to sleep and you don’t know if you’re doing everything right. We don’t always behave in the best way; yet it is important to help him adopt good sleep habits. Below, we point out which are the most common mistakes when making your baby fall asleep. Bedtime is always a special time. We want to help you with some tips based on the 6 most common mistakes to make this moment easier and less agitated as possible.
If you are a primipara, you are certainly wondering if there are any behaviors that you can adopt that make this situation easier for you. It is always useful to know which are the most common mistakes when making your baby fall asleep, which absolutely must not be repeated.
Educating in the hygiene of rest
Sleeping is also a habit that must be learned, like many others.
Teaching a child to sleep is not an easy task, even if it is absolutely necessary. Sleep hygiene ensures a good quality of life for your child. In addition, it offers many other advantages:
- Generate a routine and bring stability. Knowing in advance what will happen and associating different events with each other brings stability to your child. As he begins to learn what steps to take at bedtime, his emotional state adjusts to the task at hand. Thus, if we combine the sleep routine with tranquility, your baby will calm down more and more as he learns the new routine.
- Facilitates the autonomy of your baby. Good sleep habits give your child the confidence to sleep alone, first in the crib and then in his bed. This way you teach him to rest alone, without the need for constant contact or dependence on his mother. Furthermore, you will facilitate its autonomy.
- Give some time for yourself. When your baby learns to make his sleep routine his own, you will guarantee time for yourself, because he will be able to fall asleep sooner and better, while you can rest.
6 common mistakes when putting your baby to sleep
First of all, know that even if you make a mistake, nothing happens. It is never too late to change and start doing things better. Be patient. All that we recommend you have to adapt to the specific characteristics of your baby. So, trust yourself. You know your baby better than anyone else.
- Delaying the hour of rest. Routines are very important. We must try to avoid constant time changes. It is recommended that your baby always go to bed at approximately the same time. Some exceptions can happen, but try to keep the hours as regular as possible.
- Accustom your baby to sleep on the go. Rocking your baby is important to help him relax in moments of great tension. Under normal circumstances, however, you should try to get him to fall asleep on his own. The aim is to avoid having to depend on this rocking to fall asleep.
- Excessive stimulation around him. The crib is the place where you sleep, not where you play: an excess of stimuli will make your baby more active. He can keep some stuffed toys or something that makes a soothing sound with him, but avoid making the crib look like a playground. What you want to look for is tranquility.
- Don’t create a quiet routine. Before going to sleep, you need to do activities that will bring calm to your baby. Baths, massages, silence … everything you think appropriate to associate with the time of falling asleep.
- Remove it from the crib as soon as it starts to cry. It is not a good thing to let your baby cry, especially an inconsolable cry, but it is also not good to remove him from the place where he sleeps when the slightest noise occurs. You can look out, calm him down and stay close to him, but if you remove him from the environment that should represent tranquility for him, learning the routine will be more difficult. We must find the balance between complaining and inconsolable crying.
- Change the environment in which he sleeps. Your baby will love knowing where he sleeps. It must always be the same. If he sometimes falls asleep in the crib, sometimes in the bed, sometimes on the sofa, it will be difficult for him to acquire a habit. Try to provide him with an environment in which he feels comfortable, calm and peaceful.
Do not hesitate to put into practice the advice we have given you. They will be of great help to you!