If the mother is breastfeeding, problems with laying down without tears usually do not occur until breastfeeding stops. Usually, parents of babies from 6 months to 2 years complain about difficulties in laying. At the same time, mothers may experience difficulties with laying down for an afternoon nap, and with evening going to bed, and with waking up at night.
Laying a newborn with the help of motion sickness helps out many parents in the first months, but when the little one grows up and the mother discovers that the child is unable to fall asleep without the usual rocking, the problem of putting the baby to sleep without tears becomes very urgent. The child is already used to falling asleep in this way, and the mother often does not know how to put the baby in a different way - this is the root of this problem. What to do?
Schedule
Babies behave more calmly when they live according to a certain daily routine. Newborns do not have such a regime, since they do not distinguish between night and day, but already in the second month of life, the baby develops its own regime of wakefulness and sleep. By six months, the baby sleeps twice during the day, and after a year - only once.
It is important that your baby goes to bed at the same time every day. If it is day, then after lunch, if it is evening, then after swimming and other procedures.
For children over 2 years old, daily activity is important - if the baby sits at home all day and moves a little, then he will get tired less and it will be more difficult for him to fall asleep.
Perseverance and patience
These are very important qualities for a mother who wants to teach her baby to fall asleep on her own and without motion sickness. If mom decides to change the way she is laid, then she must be consistent and not return to motion sickness. Starting to swing the baby again, she will only confuse the baby.
Both parents should be confident and calm, and understand how important it is to improve the baby's sleep, regularly follow evening routines and pay attention to external elements (clothes, toys, bed, and others). The baby will feel the psychological mood of mom and dad - if they are nervous and anxious, it will be more difficult for the child to tune in to rest.
Rituals
A "sleepy" ritual helps to facilitate the process of putting the baby into sleep. These are certain actions in an order that is repeated every day for a long time. Such actions help the baby to tune in to sleep. These may include:
- Bathing;
- Relaxing massage;
- Reading a book and looking at pictures;
- Farewell to the sun and pulling curtains;
- Lullaby;
- Putting toys to bed;
- Uttering certain phrases that are repeated daily.
When the baby gets used to this ritual, he will fall asleep without tears and whims. An exception may be only ailments, when the child has a fever or a tooth is cut, the ritual may not work and the mother will have to make additional efforts.
The duration of the ritual will be influenced by the temperament of the toddler - calm babies can fall asleep after one or two actions, and for very active children, a longer period of preparation for bed is required.
Self-sleep techniques
According to experts, a child should be taught to fall asleep on their own in exactly the same way as teach how to dress, eat or learn other skills. There are techniques that teach the baby to fall asleep independently. They can be used from 9 months of age. Usually, all these techniques are aimed at eliminating the association of feeding and sleep, therefore, as a result of their application, food and sleep are separated in time, which makes it easier for the baby to fall asleep:
- With a timer. Before feeding, the baby is introduced to the timer and is told that when it rings, the milk will run out. As soon as the timer beeps, the baby's breast is removed and the baby is placed in the crib. Mom needs to be patient and soothe the baby, but no longer give the breast. In the first days, the timer is set to 10 minutes, then it is reduced to 4 minutes, and after weaning the mother reads the book to the baby for another 5-10 minutes. After a few days, laying down is completely replaced by reading a book. So, firstly, they affect laying on the daytime sleep, and then on the evening feeding.
- Weaning gradually and gently. For a long period, the mother tries to lay the baby down without sucking, but if the baby asks for breast, then she does not refuse. Gradually, the mother manages to find other rituals to help the baby fall asleep, and as a result, the baby stops drinking breast milk at night. The next step will be the refusal of night feedings. If the child is over 1.5 years old, it can be explained to him why there is no more milk in the breast.
- Using the exit from the room. This is a very painful way for the baby, but it may work for some toddlers. Mom, having put the baby to bed, leaves the room for 5 minutes, waiting for the baby to fall asleep. If the baby begins to cry, the mother comes back, tries to calm the baby down and leaves again. After a few days, the child begins to understand that he has no choice but to fall asleep on his own.
Tips
- It is recommended to start weaning crumbs from motion sickness while laying down in the evening. Before going to bed at night, the child is determined to fall asleep more than during the day.
- If you have been trying to put your baby to bed for a long time (an hour or more), take a short break. Take a break and stop laying for 15-20 minutes, then return to your usual ritual (it may be shortened).
- Do not take a baby's cry as a sign that you are bullying your baby. The fact that a baby protests against the order to which he is used is absolutely normal. You also need to think about the future - soon the baby will stop crying, and your arms and back will no longer experience unnecessary stress.
- It is important not to miss the moment when the baby wanted to sleep. If you notice that the baby is yawning, has become lethargic, has begun to be capricious or rubs its eyes, then it's time to go to bed.
- Do not forget that the conditions in the baby's room should be comfortable for sleeping (the temperature should be maintained at + 18 + 22 degrees, and the humidity should be 50-60%), and the clothes on the child should be comfortable.
- Eliminate any annoying and exciting factors, such as active play or watching a cartoon, one hour before bedding. It is also important that the family atmosphere is friendly and calm.
- Allow your child to fall asleep with toys if this will calm him or her. If the toy, with which the baby constantly falls asleep, has worn out, it cannot be replaced with a new one. Just wash the "friend" and give it back to the child.
- If you put your baby to sleep in a separate bed, you can put a heating pad in there for a while before you put your baby to bed.
For information on how to put a child to sleep without a breast, see the video by Anna Gapchenko.
