Setting a Routine

Establishing a good sleeping pattern for your baby

It is a good idea to establish a sleeping routine from birth. your aim is to make your baby feel secure in his cot, so that he learns to go to sleep on his own - however, it is quite likely that this will take several months so don't despair. To start with, if you can teach him to go to sleep on his own for daytime naps, then he will learn how to get himself back to sleep at night.

Daytime Routine:

With a newborn baby it is natural that you will want to breast or bottle feed your baby to sleep. Indeed, until about your six week check, your own and your baby's lives are totally focused on feeding, changing and trying to get enough sleep. When you feel strong enough it's time to start the routine.

Once a day try putting him into his cot while awake. If your child cries when you first put him down, don't go to him immediately. Many babies have a tired cry and will settle to sleep after about 10 minutes.

It's worth timing how long he takes to settle - hopefully you will find the settling time lessens over a week or two. As he gets older try putting him in his cot while awake twice a day, and begin to leave a space between feeding and sleeping of at least 10 minutes - this can happen naturally with winding and changing. By doing this you are teaching him a trigger for going to sleep - being in his cot.

Once your child is in his cot:

Make sure he is not too hot or cold by feeling his tummy or the back of his neck with the back of your hand.

Be sure he is lying on his back.

Don't tiptoe around and talk in whispers! Ordinary background noise is comforting for babies and keeping too quiet may make your child become a light, over-sensitive sleeper.

As your child grows older:

Children seem to have inexhaustible amounts of energy and they often don't know how to prepare for bedtime. So, as your child grows up you need to include a period of winding down into their routines.

You can do this in a number of ways.
He will by now have learnt his triggers for sleep ie being in his cot. So: Bath your child just before bedtime. Most children enjoy bathtime as they grow older. The warm water is relaxing, loosens the muscles and makes them feel sleepy.

Make bedtime a happy loving time for parents and child by giving your child a warm milky drink, cuddle and by reading a story.

Bedtime Routine

When your baby is about 2 to 3 months old and you have survived the worst, it's worth trying a bedtime parcel. This consists of wash/bath, in the bedroom for a feed and then into the cot. Try putting your baby into the cot while he is awake and stay with him until he is asleep. if he cries you will need to comfort him by stroking, patting, singing to or rocking him.

The parcel should take about half an hour - so start the routine half an hour before his natural time of going to sleep - if he hasn't got one, make it at a time which is convenient to you but not too early.

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4Safe Sleeping

4Preventing
   Problems