How to Get Your Baby to Sleep in a Crib
Your baby has spent all day playing, eating, and, of course, bonding with you and is now exhausted. What they need is a long nap, but they just can’t seem to sleep in their crib. You hold them close in your arms, perhaps singing and rocking them, and they drift off, but as soon as you lay them in their own bed, they are wide awake and crying for you.
This isn’t an uncommon occurrence in babies, so don’t worry; it isn’t just you! Your baby spent nine months in the comfort of the womb, where they had all of their needs met. Then, they were born and have to wait until you can figure out what they need! For someone who just recently had everything they needed at all times, this can be a huge adjustment.
Fear not, as with a little time and patience, you can have your baby sleeping comfortably in their crib without too many tears! Continue reading to learn how to get your baby to sleep in a crib.
Meet Their Basic Needs
Getting the baby to sleep at night can be a stressful event for many parents. It may feel like some nights they go to sleep without a hiccup, while others you may be spending hours at a time trying to get them to finally doze off, just for them to wake up as soon as you set them down in the crib. As much as this doesn’t help at the moment, rest assured that this is a normal thing and that parents all over the world go through this!
Before you begin to put your baby to bed, the most important thing you need to do is make sure all their basic needs are met. Once you have finished all of these steps, you can begin comforting your little one to sleep.
Diaper Change
You might have changed their diaper in an hour or so, putting them to bed, but changing them right before they go to sleep can make all the difference for bedtime. Some babies prefer to be as dry as possible, so a quick change right before you begin to put them to bed may be just the thing they need to fall asleep.
Feeding
I think it’s safe to say that no one likes going to bed on an empty stomach! Making sure your little one has a belly full of milk is a great start to their bedtime routine. If it’s been a couple of hours since your baby has eaten and they are laying in their crib, their belly might start rumbling, which means starting the bedtime process all over again!
Soothing
Comforting your baby is absolutely considered meeting their basic needs. Once they are fed and clean, loving your baby and soothing them will help them fall asleep. An important thing to note is that your baby is developmentally unable to self-soothe until they are at least six months old.
Design the Perfect Bedtime Routine
Sometimes, meeting all of your baby’s basic needs isn’t enough to help them fall asleep. This is why creating a bedtime routine can be just the thing your baby needs. With a daily routine, your baby will know what to expect, and this will help them learn that once the routine is finished, it is time to go to sleep.
Bathtime
This isn’t necessary to do each night, but who doesn’t love a nice warm bath before drifting off to sleep? On bath nights, once you have fed your baby, spoil them with a warm bubble bath with lavender to encourage those little eyelids to start drooping.
Read a Book
Did you know that even when your baby is a newborn, reading to them is beneficial for their brain development? Although they don’t yet understand what you are saying, reading to your baby each night will help develop their language down the road. Plus, you get to sneak in a few extra snuggles with your baby before bed while you read!
Dark Room
It can be difficult for anyone to fall asleep in a bright room. Making sure your baby’s room is the perfect oasis will help them fall asleep faster. Try to avoid any bright lights, especially if they need to have a feeding or diaper change in the middle of the night. A low lamp light will keep them from becoming overstimulated and will allow them to fall back asleep faster.
If you find that the room is too dark for your little one, you can use a dim nightlight.
Sound Machine
Not many people enjoy sleeping in complete silence. A low noise, such as a fan or a noise machine, can help soothe your baby to sleep with the rhythmic noise. It will also help drown out the noise coming from outside their bedroom!
Monitor Your Baby’s Sleep Schedule with Baby Connect
Sleeping is something that your baby needs a lot of as they grow and develop. Without sleep, your baby may not only have learning problems and decreased brain development, but they will be irritable, too! You want to ensure that your baby is getting as much shut-eye as possible each day.
Monitoring your baby’s sleep habits is the perfect solution to ensuring your baby is getting enough sleep each day. Baby Connect allows you to track every single cat nap, nap, and nighttime sleep session so that you can be confident that they are getting enough rest. But why stop there? Baby Connect also has the capacity to track each feeding, diaper change, and even skin rashes so that you are always on top of your baby’s health!
