Parenting Blog

The little one inside you is now taking rest besides you. Isn’t this feeling the most magical of all the experiences during pregnancy? Looking at the little angel taking rest has now become your favorite task. But as a mother you must be well aware of the sleeping habits of your little baby.

Most of the babies sleep for at least 14 hours in a day. This includes daytime naps. The babies by this age will develop a predictable pattern of sleeping and waking up. You might be relaxed, as you won’t have to feed your baby in the night any more. But you cannot expect our little baby to follow a strict, regular sleep program. Try some sleep training for your child if you want his sleep time to be more regular and should fit in your family lifestyle.

Observe how your baby responds to a regular sleeping pattern. You might have to make some adjustments in your sleep time according to what is suitable for our baby.

Most of he babies develop habit of sleeping for longer stretches in the night. Though not 8 hours, still they can sleep for around five to six hours in the night. You cannot hope for a long eight to nine hours of sleep for yourself if you are a parent of a 3 month old. But that does not mean you will feel deprived of rest. This will allow you to get through few sleep cycles which will make you feel more relaxed when you get up in the morning. This is an important stage for not only your baby but also for you.

Don’t be depressed if your baby is still waking up in the night for night feeding even if he is 3-6 months old. A lot of babies in this age keep their mothers waking in the night. By the time your baby gets 6 months old, if given proper training will definitely start sleeping for more hours in the night and stop troubling you.

You might have started to enjoy after your baby learns to sleep for long periods at night but to your shock a lot of babies may start to wake up in the night again. You might have to break your sleep after every few hours. This is natural, so don’t get upset. It might annoy you and make you wonder, what happened suddenly. The baby is now learning new skills like sitting and rolling. His body might try some rolling in the sleep and the little twitches made by him will wake him up. Some babies might feel insecure during night and might wake up crying just to find themselves in the arms of their mother

Young babies need good sleep to keep getting along well. But oftentimes, moms face difficulties in putting their babies to a peaceful night sleep. The baby usually keeps waking due to what has been called ‘separation anxiety.’ The baby’s wee mind is filled with the thought of having mom away. To ensure your young one gets a peaceful night sleep, try the following 4-step guide to putting your child to a deep slumber.

• Put the child to bed using his/her normal routine i.e. bedtime story, bath, playing, cuddle etc.
• Back off slowly and return to kiss and cuddle if you see the baby is not settled immediately. Stay and see if he/she tends to get up with unease. Cuddle and kiss again for reassuring him/her of your presence. However, remember not to lift the baby out of the cot or bed.
• If the baby wakes and cries, return to him/her soon as you can. Repeat the reassurance and keep coming back to him/her as long as it is needed. Usually, the first two nights are more tiresome for moms. By the third night, most babies get settled in their sleeping place.
• Keep a dim light on in the room where the baby sleeps. This helps reduce the effect of darkness that causes many babies to fret in separation anxiety.