Rested interest, are these bedtime boo-boos standing in the way of you and the sandman? You want to crash, but your peewee has other plans. While you can’t will your little one to snooze through the night, there are things new parents unwittingly do that make bedtime harder. How many do you recognize?
DON’T expect too much, too soon. You've sung the lullaby and lowered the blackout blinds, but your little one still won’t nod off. Until they are about 4 months old, babies have no concept of the difference between night and day. So, don’t expect anything anything from her, sleep-wise, before this stage. The stomachs of babies this age are also so small that they can’t hold much milk, so they wake up to feed frequently.
DO suck it up — if you start getting stressed about bedtime, your baby will pick up on this and start feeling anxious, too, which will only make sleeping even harder. Go with the flow and you'll save yourself a lot of heartache.
DON’T do too much. Yes, you've had a baby, but life doesn't stop. You've still got people to see, places to be… But anything new is hugely stimulating for a baby who’s under 12 months. Every place she goes to will be full of different smells, sounds and sensations she’ll need to adjust to. Her brain is working overtime, such that she can become overstimulated, then overtired and because she’s upset, she’ll find it harder to get to sleep.
DON’T introduce too many new things in one day — especially in the run-up to bedtime.
DON’T rush the bedtime routine. You’re exhausted. You can’t be bothered to run the bath. Or read a book. Tonight, just for once, you’ll just lay your cutie down, very gently in her cot and... No, she’s not having it. That’s because, from about 6 weeks old, sticking to a routine is key to sleep.
DO be consistent with your routine, regardless of what it is. This makes bub feel relaxed, secure and signals sleep. Don’t try and get it done quickly — just enjoy this quiet time with your Kewpie.
DON’T wake junior from a nap. Your baby barely sleeps at night, but is a snooze machine during the day. Surely the best way to help her slumber more later is to curtail her daytime naps? Actually, it doesn't work that way. The only person who knows how much sleep she needs is your little one. If you wake her
up, you’re depriving her of rest that she needs. That will make her overtired, making her grumpier and less able to sleep later.
DO join junior during nap-time — this downtime will help you all feel better.
DON’T keep things too quiet. Your little one has finally dozed off and you’re desperate not to wake her. So, you creep around the house, being as quiet as you can be. Good idea? No! If a sound is familiar to a baby, it won’t worry her — she’ll sleep right through it. For example, if she’s used to her big brother singing, she’ll sleep through it. Same for banging doors and creaking floorboards. It’s unfamiliar noise that will wake her.
DO go about your business as normal when your sweetie is asleep. The quicker she gets used to it, the easier it’ll be for her to sleep through it in the future.
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