Introduction
In the first weeks and months of their still young life babies must develop their individual sleep – awake – rhythm. Since this process takes a certain amount of time, the term “sleeping problems” is only used after the first half of the first year of life. Besides problems with sleeping through the night, the process of falling asleep is a particular difficulty for many babies. Often the babies are very restless, cry a lot and find it very difficult to find their way to sleep. The term “difficulty in falling asleep” is usually used if the baby can only find its way to sleep with extensive measures taken by the parents, such as prolonged calming or carrying around, or if this process regularly takes more than 30 minutes.
What can I do to make my baby sleep?
Since many babies have problems falling asleep, there are some helpful tips to consider. For a newborn baby, sleep is the main part of life. However, as it has an increased need for food, it will report every 2 – 3 hours to be fed.
It is helpful to feed the baby in a quiet atmosphere so that it can quickly find its way back to sleep after feeding. Especially at night it can help to leave the light out and avoid conversations. Many parents have the newborn baby in the bedroom close to the bed so that no long journeys have to be made, no restlessness occurs and the baby can be quickly put back into its crib.
With time, the sleeping intervals become longer and from the age of 6 months on, feeding at night is normally no longer necessary. To make it easier to fall asleep, an item of clothing with the smell of a parent can be placed in the crib. This makes separation at night easier and gives a feeling of security.
It is important to have calm, repetitive sleep rituals that prepare the child for sleep and provide a certain amount of consistency and stability. For example, fixed bedtime and singing or reading aloud. If babies sleep a lot during the day, they should be woken up early so that they are tired in the evening.
If the babies wake up or do not find their way to sleep, they should be calmed down. Avoid restlessness, loud noises or conversations. Often it helps if you leave the light out and just stroke the baby when it becomes restless. If the baby needs to be changed, this should be done with as little effort as possible.