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How to Get Baby to Sleep through the Night

Making your baby sleep at night might be a huge issue. You love to see the sweet and innocent face of your baby when they sleep. But sometimes it might be hard to make them sleep, especially through the night. You do not have to struggle anymore to make your baby sleep peacefully at night. Follow these few tricks and tips which might be able to help you get your baby sleep at night. Babies might not be able to differentiate between night and day and this is the biggest problem as it tires you out when your baby just does not sleep at night.

Wean your baby off the pacifier: Pacifiers are a great way to keep your baby occupied and while weaning them from breastfeeding. However, they might be one of the reasons that your baby is waking up at night. The pacifier might fall out during their sleep and this wakes him up again and again. Even though some babies have the skill to put their pacifier back themselves, many do not. In such cases, it is better to get rid of the pacifier completely or let them cry out through the night. When you initially wean the pacifier off of your baby, they may keep crying for a long time. This may sound brutal but it will be quite beneficial in the long term. Eventually, your baby would get used to sleeping without the pacifier and this would not make him cry.

Cover other sounds with white noise sounds: Most babies have very keen hearing and are quite light sleepers in their initial years. They can be easily awoken by the brightest of sounds. If you switch on a light or fan or move something your baby may wake up and refuse to go back to sleep again. This issue can be solved by using white noise such as a fan or even a white noise machine which can mask the other sounds that you make and not distract them and wake them up. You can even make it a part of the sleeping routine as it will provide a soothing and relaxing environment for them and help them fall asleep faster.

Avoid soothing the baby for a long time: Babies are the most active during their growth spurt. They remain awake for a long time and might need comfort from their parents more during this period. They would wake up at night and want to play with you. You should be really firm with your babies at this time and ensure that they know that nighttimes are not for playing but for sleeping. They might cry and crib initially but eventually, they would be used to the routine. However, keep a track of the behavior of your baby and make sure that they are not crying for a long time which might be caused due to separation anxiety. If that happens to go in and soothe you bay for a few minutes and lay him back in his bed and comfort him to sleep.

Stop feeding at night-time: If you have a habit of nursing your baby to sleep then it might be a good time to stop. Nursing your baby to sleep would become a bad habit for the baby and they might not be able to sleep without nursing. The best way to avoid this is to lay down your baby when they are awake but on the verge of sleeping. Check on them every few minutes to see if they have fallen asleep. The baby might stay awake for a long time the first few days and you might have to check on them often but within a few days they would be used to the routine and would fall asleep in a few minutes. Take the advice of best pediatrician to ask if you can reduce the night feeding and then keep decreasing the amount of formula in the feedings. This way your baby will slowly lose their dependency on milk for falling asleep.

Provide a toy to help them feel secured: You baby might often not be able to sleep at night since they do not feel secured being away from your touch. If you have a baby who is older than 6 months it is better to give them a security object such as any stuffed toy or a blanket which they might be associated with. If you place the security object with them during the night-time they might be able to get used to being separated from you while they sleep. To get them used to the object you can keep it with you for some time so that the object smells of you. This will help them to calm down if they wake up in the middle of the night.

You can use the Ferber Method: The Ferber Method is sleeping technique that was invented by Dr. Ferber and it helped a lot of families out their baby to sleep. In this method, you check on your baby in intervals. If you hear your baby crying, go to her and give her a pat and leave. If you again hear your baby crying after some minutes, go again and repeat the process, but wait for ten minutes before you go in. If this happens again, wait for 15 minutes and then repeat the whole process. Increase five minutes in your waiting time and repeat the process. This way your baby will be able to go to sleep without having to receive reassurance from you. Though the Ferber Method has been stated by many parents as harsh since their baby keeps crying during the waiting period, it has been successful in many instances.

Follow the above-mentioned tips to make your baby fall into a routine of sleeping on their own during the night-time without your help. Keep checking on them to ensure that they are okay and have fallen asleep without your assistance.                   

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