Parents have to teach their children many activities that seem elementary to adults. At first, the baby does not know how to hold a spoon, brush his teeth, walk on a potty. Even the need to go to bed sometimes causes a small child to protest. He really wants to play and indulge, and his parents make him go to bed.
While the peanut has not realized the charm of a night's sleep, adults have to invent various tricks to calm him and put him to bed. Later it turns out that this is not enough. At night, many babies wake up several times, get scared of the dark or babaykas and start calling their mother. All children have their own fears and peculiarities, so it is impossible to give parents universal advice that will help them provide their children with a sound and sound sleep. However, there are certain principles, observing which, you quickly teach your baby to follow the regimen.
1. Your place to sleep
The child needs to equip a separate place for rest, and the child must be aware that it is here that his space for rest and sleep. Parents often take very young children to bed. There is nothing wrong with this, just mom and dad should understand that this will not last forever. Besides, even a child needs a personal corner. Therefore, let the little one immediately get used to the fact that he has his own bed. Otherwise, it will be much more difficult later. teach him to sleep separatelyand someday it’s still necessary to do it.
Here are some helpful suggestions that will help parents create a cozy place to relax for the smallest family member:
- Ideally, the child should have a separate bedroom in which he can feel like a real host. However, often the baby has to share a room with his parents, his brother or sister. In this case, you can separate the child’s bed by placing a screen, a closet in front of him or hanging a curtain. Decorate the children's corner with pleasant little things: posters with the characters of your favorite cartoons, a shelf with toys and books of fairy tales. For the baby to sleep well, he must feel comfort and safety around him;
- Let the child fall asleep with whatever toys he wants. The baby may be scared to sleep alone. But in the arms with a plush friend, he will feel protected. The main thing is to sit a little at the child’s bed until he falls asleep, and make sure that there are no speakers among the toys. Otherwise, at night, when accidentally pressed, they will scream loudly about how they love their little master, which will frighten him greatly;
- A crib is best placed in a corner or next to a wall. So the peanut will see everything that is happening around and feel safe.This simple trick will help calm down babies who are afraid to stay in the dark, because a “scary monster” may crawl out from under the bed;
- Do not place your child’s bed near a window or battery. Otherwise, he will catch a cold during airing or suffer from heat in winter;
- If possible, protect the baby from the effects of potential allergens: do not hang dust collecting carpets on the walls in his bedroom, take away flowering indoor plants.
2. A cozy bed
Increased attention should be paid to furniture for the child. The crib and its sides should be so high that the baby gets out without the help of adults. Still important choose a comfortable mattressbetter - orthopedic. Otherwise, the baby will toss and turn for a long time, trying to take a comfortable pose, and eventually run into the room to the parents.
To make the baby's sleeping place more comfortable, decorate his bed with a canopy. Such a decorative element looks beautiful, and also allows you to separate personal space for a child who does not have his own room. Being under the canopy, the baby will be sure that at night no monsters will penetrate him. This will allow him to sleep soundly until the morning.
Fasten the canopy stronger so that the child does not pull it onto himself. However, do not forget that the fabric will have to be removed periodically for washing. It accumulates dust, which the baby may develop an allergy to.
We also read: how to choose a crib for a child
3. Blackout curtains
The hormone melatonin contributes to falling asleep and sleeping soundly. This is a hormone that is produced in the body in the dark. Therefore, make sure that light from street lamps and headlights of passing cars does not penetrate into the kid’s room. To do this, you should buy blackout curtains made of opaque fabric or blinds. Under such conditions, the child will begin to produce melatonin, so he will fall asleep.
4. Nightlight
Even many adults experience discomfort in absolute darkness when they wake up at night. Only parents know that monsters do not exist, and children seriously think that someone lives under the beds. Therefore, waking up at night in pitch darkness, the kids begin to cry and call their mother. Reassuring them can be quite difficult.
Leave the included nightlight in the nursery: its weak light will not disturb sleep, but will help the baby calm down if he wakes up in the middle of the night. Perhaps the child can even fall asleep without the presence of parents.
5. A toy for sleeping
Do not allow the child to take everything to bed? Then buy him a special toy with which he will sleep. Allow the kid to pick up a new friend for himself, who will protect him and scare the woman away throughout the night. With such protection, the baby will no longer be afraid to be alone.
As a night amulet, an ordinary teddy bear or a bunny will do. However, in stores you can find special toys for sleeping, which make sounds. Now parents are not advised to put their kids to sleep in absolute silence, because they can be very alarmed by any rustle. For this, modern toys for sleeping are created. They imitate the sound of my mother’s heartbeat, rumbling in the womb, the sounds of rain and sea waves. Inside each toy there is a sleep sensor. If the baby wakes up in the middle of the night, the programmed noise will automatically turn on, which again lulls the baby.
6. Essential oils
Essential oils, which have a calming effect, help prepare the child for sleep. They also have bactericidal and antiseptic properties. Bathe your baby before going to bed in a bath with a few drops of essential oils or place an aroma lamp in his crib. All this will help the baby to quickly plunge into the arms of Morpheus and sleep soundly until the morning.
Before using essential oils, consult a pediatrician, as they can provoke an allergy in a child.
We also read:
- 5 secret ways to put your baby to sleep (LIFE HACKS for MOM)
- How to put a child to sleep without tears and vagaries
- An ingenious trick - how to put a child to sleep in 1 minute
How to teach yourself to fall asleep / 5 rules of baby sleep!
How to put a baby to sleep without tears
My baby can't sleep without the nightlight on. There are tantrums there that run hunting.
We turn on the nightlight when a fairy tale, and calmly falls asleep to it!
But the eldest daughter, when the little one was so asked to sing lullabies!
Until the first year of life, the child slept with me. Well, my baby didn’t want to sleep alone, and it was much easier to feed while lying down. Then the retraining process began. It lasted for more than a month. We played the “put the doll to sleep” role-playing game. The child first put the toy in bed, sang something to her, and then mother did the same. Now there are no tantrums when I say that it’s time for a little baenka (she still sleeps with a toy). In addition, before going to bed, we definitely have a shower, brushing our teeth and going to the potty.
Personally, I give my son a 5-minute massage before bed and put calm lullaby music throughout the night, falling asleep at the same time for 5 minutes. Grandma recommended this method to me.)