It’s important that you make an effort to develop healthy sleeping habits for your baby right from the beginning. Not only will this help them to get the sleep they need, it will also speed up the process to you regaining a good night’s sleep. So what can you do to instill healthy sleeping habits?

Don’t engage in the night

When your baby is in ‘sleep mode’, it’s important that you maintain this throughout the night. If they wake up to feed, you don’t want them to become too awake and then struggle to settle afterwards.

The best way to avoid exiting ‘sleep mode’ is to not engage with them. This means no singing, cuddling or eye contact – anything that engages with them. To make this easier, keep a dim light on all the way through the night and they’ll be less disturbed when you come in to feed them.

Develop a routine

It’s important that you develop a night-time routine to encourage healthy sleeping habits for your baby. By doing so, they’ll begin to recognise when it’s time to sleep. They’ll also begin to learn the difference between night and day which will allow you to get a fuller night’s sleep.

Keep at it

Most importantly, though, you need to keep at it. If you develop a routine, then stick to it otherwise you’ll end up creating a disrupted schedule that will simply confuse things and not help anyone.

This involves ensuring everyone else knows the routine as well. Grandparents and babysitters, everyone needs to know the bedtime routine in order for it to remain consistent and effective.

Recognise the sleepy signs

Watch out for the signs that tell you your baby’s tired. One of the best healthy sleeping habits for your baby is enabling them to go to sleep when they need to. Keeping them awake unnecessarily only creates a cranky baby and more headache for you. Some of the signs to watch out for include:

• Rubbing their eyes
• Faint, dark circles under their eyes
• Whining and crying – although it can sometimes be hard to distinguish what they want
• Staring blankly into space
• Yawning and stretching more than usual
• Losing interest in things, such as people and toys
• Becoming still and quiet

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Read More:
Newborn Sleep Guide from Birth to 3 Months
18 Tips to Newborn Care for Stressed-Out New Parents
Newborn Baby Skin Care Tips for First Time Mums

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Don’t forget you’re not on your own. Take it in turns between you and your partner to settle them at night and get them familiar with people other than you.

This also applies when they wake up in the night. Sharing the responsibility will help you to feel more settled and allow you to both to share the burden of a disrupted night’s sleep.

Manage napping

Although your baby is going to nap throughout the day, one of the best healthy sleeping habits for your baby is to monitor just how much, when and where they’re napping. Monitoring this closely and managing it better may enable them to sleep more soundly at night and therefore prevent a stressful night-time routine every time you put them to bed.

Resources:
https://www.babycenter.com/0_parents-favorite-baby-sleep-tips_7528.bc  
https://www.todaysparent.com/baby/baby-sleep/5-ways-to-healthier-sleep-habits-for-your-baby/  
https://www.babycentre.co.uk/a7654/establishing-good-sleep-habits-newborn-to-three-months  

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