As a new parent, you may be wondering how you can establish healthy sleep habits for your baby from the beginning. There are many parents who assume that getting their baby on a schedule will be a piece of cake but here are some common sleep mistakes new parents make when putting their little one to sleep.
After bringing your little one home, you may have a hard time putting them down. Unfortunately, many parents have made their first mistake by doing this. It is great to hold your beautiful bundle of joy and it seems like you could do it forever, but please don’t. Put the baby down! When you hold your baby constantly, they become accustomed to this and well, good luck trying to get anything done in a couple of weeks. Babies should be put in a bassinet or crib from the beginning. They will get used to it. Holding your baby is fine, but not for long periods of time.
Another common mistake is allowing your baby to sleep all day. Yes, this is a tough one to reinforce, but if you allow your baby to sleep all day, they will likely to stay awake all night. So, instead of putting them down to sleep every time they eat during the day, talk to them and sit them up. Let them know it’s not time to sleep yet. You can do this for 10 minutes and that will be enough, just do it a lot throughout the day and this will help your baby figure out that we are up in the day and sleep at night.
Babies do this because while you were pregnant, they got used to getting rocked to sleep everyday by your movements. Do you remember being pregnant and trying to go to sleep and your baby would be just as active as ever?
Many parents like to co-sleep and this is a hot topic and causes much debate. Please get your baby a co-sleeper or bassinet you can put right next to your side of the bed, if you decide to co-sleep.
You should always put your baby to sleep on their back due to the fact that stomach-sleeping increases the risks of suffocation. Also, do not put a lot of blankets or stuffed animals in the crib with them for the same reasons. A new baby cannot move away from these things as well as an older baby can. Follow these tips and you will establish healthy sleeping habits for your baby and rest easy yourself.