How to put a newborn baby to sleep? Effective ways to quickly rock your baby to sleep

The appearance of a baby in a family is not only a great joy, but also a serious responsibility. Unfortunately, the event expected by everyone is often accompanied by conflicts and resentments. The main reason for the tension in the relationship between a man and a woman is their incredible fatigue. The child takes all your strength, does not allow you to get enough sleep, which develops into constant stress.

Restoring the baby’s correct sleep and wake patterns is a primary task that everyone can cope with. If the baby has a healthy and long sleep, then his mother will have time to rest, and his father will have time to sleep before work. Constant overwork will be replaced by a normal daily routine, which will return peace and confidence to parents. Here you need to use proven methods, use the advice of psychologists and experienced mothers.

In this article we will look at how to put a newborn to sleep in different ways. Both in the maternity hospital and in the first month of the baby’s stay at home, he should sleep up to 20 hours a day. If the child is restless and constantly cries, contact your local pediatrician or neurologist. Maybe the baby has tummy problems or increased intracranial pressure. If the child is healthy, then you should know how to properly put a newborn to sleep, how to arrange his sleeping place, and how to behave in a situation when the baby does not allow him to leave even for a second, requiring the constant presence of a loved one.

Establishing proper and healthy sleep requires a sequence of actions. A young mother must understand the baby’s psychology and, if necessary, find out the reason for the child’s restless behavior and choose the right tactics to solve the problem. After reading tips on how to quickly put a newborn to sleep, try testing them on your baby. One of them will definitely help, although sometimes a comprehensive approach is required.

The importance of evening rituals

The baby was in his mother’s belly for 9 months, so it’s difficult for him to get used to the huge (in his understanding) cold bed. He wants to constantly feel his mother, the touch of her hands, the beat of her heart and the warmth of her body. When a baby is left alone, he feels a natural fear of the unknown. Maybe he was abandoned and forgotten? The fear of loneliness develops into crying, which stops with the touch of the mother or in the arms.

Gradually you need to move away from this so that the baby learns to sleep differently. But be prepared for the fact that it will take some time to get used to. You need to act consistently and firmly. The main thing for a mother is strict adherence to routine moments. Then the child will become familiar with the ritual performed before bed, he will understand the sequence of his mother’s actions, remember them and will react more calmly when he goes to bed. Let's look at how to put a newborn baby to sleep in the maternity hospital and after the mother returns home.

How to put a baby to sleep?

I decided to combine knowledge from the BB feed and my own experience in order to systematize for myself the answers to the questions: Why doesn’t the child sleep? How to put a child to sleep? After all, we, young mothers, sometimes want to mind our own business while our baby sleeps peacefully.

So, children under 3 months are mysterious and unpredictable creatures. Basically, they have three states: sleep, wakefulness and screaming (yes, that same deafening scream that so unnerves everyone who is within the range of this sound). Moreover, the period of wakefulness sooner or later ends in screaming, and then adults try to put the baby to sleep as quickly as possible so that he finally shuts up. It is often simply impossible to understand why children cry. So let's start with the reasons:

Why do children cry?

They want to eat

– the most common reason, especially when lactation is not yet fully established or the IV formula is not suitable.

Tummy hurts

(colic, gas) - I don’t believe in nursing diets and I think it’s a coincidence that you ate something and he farted all night. He could fart not because of this, but because his intestines are growing and the digestive process is generally improving, and not at all from a handful of seeds or two slices of cucumber that you ate the next day. Your baby has been receiving nutrients in a different way for 9 months - through the umbilical cord, and it is stupid to demand from him the normal functioning of the digestive system, because he is just getting used to eating like an adult.

Wet or dirty diaper

- my son exceeded all my expectations in this - he screams in a special way and loudest when he feels a wet diaper or lies in poop (sorry for the details) - I would never have thought that boys could be such sissies. This may happen due to the fact that the brand of diapers does not suit your baby - it rubs, does not absorb well, the impregnation causes irritation or the size is not suitable - check - perhaps a larger diaper size will please you and your child more, since the absorbency is usually there are more of them. Try other brands and other sizes, even if it is very profitable for you to buy a certain type in the nearest store and also accumulate bonuses, or you already have a supply of “favorite diapers” of the second size at home and you use them, despite the fact that the child is already in It's time for the fourth.

They want to sleep

– it would seem absurd. Sleep if you want, but not all parents understand and let their child sleep. Perhaps he doesn’t need your selection of lullabies and nurseries, jumping on a fit ball and motion sickness worthy of astronaut training, he just needs you to leave him alone in a warm place.

They don't want to sleep

- also an option when the whole family takes turns rocking the baby to sleep, but he’s not even sleeping, he’s tired of being carried around. The child just needs to lie down with his back straight in his crib and look at the mobile. And this happened to us, more than once.

They want to get in your arms

— in newborns this is at the level of instinct. Those. these are not whims! The whims begin much later. Do not deny your children intimacy under the guise of education! If it asks you to come, take it. And patience for us

Please remember! You will never put a child to bed if he does not want to sleep. But there are a number of tricks that help put your baby to sleep:

Methods for putting babies to sleep:

Stroller

– Many children sleep while walking in a stroller. If this is not about your baby, experiment:

· * At the speed of movement (mine only falls asleep on supersonic ones, i.e. at the beginning of the walk I literally run with the stroller along the house until my son falls asleep)

· * Try raising the backrest, if the stroller has such an option, or laying out a mound with a blanket so that the child can look not only at the ceiling of the stroller, but also at you. This position also helps to release gas in the form of belching.

· * The pacifier is, of course, a controversial subject, but it often helps a child fall asleep in a stroller.

· * The noise of cars or a fountain is an auxiliary factor; in a quiet park you can sleep worse than in a park near a busy road.

White noise

– can be used at home. A hairdryer, radio wave or the sound of a washing machine can help you put your baby to sleep. It didn't work for me, but it's worth a try.

Bathing

– the colder the water, the faster the child gets tired of swimming in it, but it is better to lower the temperature gradually. Start with 37 and lower every day by half a degree. The duration of bathing is also of great importance - the longer, the better. An inflatable ring to help your back.

Diaper games

– while I was pregnant, I couldn’t understand why diapers were needed if there were diapers. Now understand:

· * You can swaddle your baby in a calico diaper at night so that he doesn’t wake himself up with his hands. He will, of course, eventually unravel, but it will help him fall asleep. Fighting a diaper is so interesting)))

· * During feeding, place the baby on the diaper so that the head lies on the diaper and hold everything together in your arms. When the baby falls asleep on the chest, put him in the crib in the same way as you held him, so that his head is sure to lie on the warm part of the diaper

· * If your baby is spitting up, ask someone at home to use an iron, hair dryer or heating pad to warm up the area in the crib where the baby will sleep while you are carrying him. Please do not use the iron with a baby in your arms! It is very dangerous.

· * Place the diaper on the pillow, on top of the baby, and lie down next to him and give him the breast; when he is full and falls asleep, you can transfer him with the diaper to the crib. Don’t leave it on the pillow – it might roll off and end up lying with your nose down! This can only be done if you are nearby and in control of the situation.

Dummy

– works if your baby likes to sleep on the chest. I carefully take the breast from him and give him a pacifier. I put him in his crib, and when he gets bored, he spits out the pacifier and goes back to sleep.

Contact with mom

- take it in your arms, rock it, sing and read songs, poems, fairy tales - a classic of the genre. Works with almost all babies if they are full and nothing else bothers them

Modern gadgets

— a chaise lounge with vibration, recording your voice on a voice recorder built into the toy. Read the details in the comments.

If you have your own ways of putting babies to sleep, share them in the comments! The article will be updated.

Motion sickness

Being in a hospital setting, the mother has few ways to calm the baby. Usually after feeding the baby falls asleep soundly and calms down. A young mother has the opportunity to lie next to her and admire her newborn. If he begins to cry, then the only method available to the mother in the maternity hospital is to take the child in her arms and walk with him around the ward or corridor of the room, slightly rocking him and whispering kind words. A young mother understands how to put a newborn to sleep and transfers her positive experience after returning home.

The baby remembers from the maternity hospital that he needs to cry - and his mother will take him in her arms. But every day the baby’s weight increases, and the mother becomes tired. It is becoming increasingly difficult for her to carry the child. Pain in the spine often begins, which can end disastrously for health. Therefore, you gradually need to get rid of the initial effective method and try another way to put a newborn baby to sleep without lifting weights.

How to put your child to sleep (if it seems like he will never sleep)

There is no universal method for putting children to sleep. And for some parents, the problem itself does not exist, because they teach their child to sleep independently. And so what if the child works hard until dawn, but he won’t grow up to be a mama’s boy! Mother of many children and psychologist Katerina Demina talks about the dangers of this approach and how to solve the child’s sleep problem.

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In my personal rating, the client request “How to put a child to sleep?” takes a strong first place. And sometimes we have to deal with this topic for several years in a row (not that this is all we talk about, but in each therapeutic session about five minutes are devoted to lamenting “God, I’m so tired of this daily battle!”). And I understand these emotions well: we never learned to put our youngest daughter to bed until she herself grew up and freed us from an impossible task.

So the first thing I can say is: the techniques don’t work. More precisely, they only work if you find yours by brute force. But there seems to be no universal way to quickly and effortlessly put children to sleep. But I can share my understanding of the process from the point of view of psychology, physiology and common sense. Not “my personal experience”, because, see above, here I was a complete fiasco. And now I understand why.

Why should a baby sleep next to his mother?

Night is a dark time. And scary. Saber-toothed tigers and bounty hunters lurk in the darkness. Therefore, we sleep in a cave, huddled closely together, every 45 minutes to an hour we wake up slightly, check if everyone is alive, if everything is in place. The breathing of a fellow tribesman, the beating of his heart, the feeling that you are not alone in the vast empty space are the most important signals for the entire body of the baby, the key to his survival in the first days and weeks of life. Therefore, the only right place for a newborn and a slightly older baby to sleep is not far from the mother, if not in the same bed, then at least at arm’s length. At least in one room.

I am categorically against the newfangled American method of “training a child to sleep independently,” when a child is taught to fall asleep alone from the first weeks of life

Too often I see the consequences of such training. Mothers complain that during the day the child does not leave their side, sometimes literally: he clings to his legs, tries to climb on his head, on his shoulders, and putting him to bed at night is accompanied by wild screams, threats and sobs. Although all you had to do was let the baby fall asleep, hearing your voice, your breathing, your movements around the house.

Photo: iStockphoto/HAndrii

How not to put your baby to bed

But it turns out that in modern urban culture, evening and late evening are not a time of peace and relaxation, but of the most intense activity: dad comes home from work, older children from their classes, frantic checking of lessons begins, getting ready for tomorrow, explosions from the TV, phone calls and sudden insights: “We were told to bring black cardboard and a piece of raspberry plasticine!” You won’t relax here, needless to say.

All a very irritated and stressed-out mom wants is for at least someone to be taken off her worry list. For example, a baby

Since until about one and a half years old, mother and baby represent an almost inseparable whole, the mother’s stress and anxiety at the end of the day is transmitted to the baby in its pure form, in one piece. If the child is the first, then the (young) father can add fuel to the fire: he is also tired, working all day, and wants that when he comes (crawled, dragged a mammoth on his shoulder, overcame all obstacles - underline as necessary) home, attention and His wife's care belonged to him rightfully and undividedly. And the wife, who spent the whole day serving her Lord and Master in diapers, wants someone to take this burden off her and let her at least go to the toilet like a human being. Everyone is angry, there is a second layer of guilt, everyone wants the unpleasant situation to be resolved as quickly and as quickly as possible.

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Therefore, the mother performs the nightly ritual a little in a hurry, the palms move a little faster, laying the child down, the tone of the voice is a little higher and more intense, humming a lullaby, there is a little more irritation in the procedure of kissing the heels and forehead. Sleep now! Well, how much can you?! You're well-fed, clean, dry, here's your favorite mobile phone, here's a night light, here's a teddy bear and a blanket, WHAT else do you need?

The child just needs his mother to be with him 100% of the time.

She didn’t get distracted by an incomprehensible second person, so that her parents wouldn’t accidentally create competitors for him, and ideally, so that this music would last forever. Am I asking too much?

Photo: iStockphoto/monkeybusinessimages

Many mothers are surprised to notice that when dad, for example, is on a business trip, or older children are at camp, bedtime ceases to be hard labor, but becomes a truly enjoyable experience. Or that one family member does it deftly and unnoticed, while someone else cannot cope with the simplest task at all (here is a meaningful chuckle and an expressively raised eyebrow). It’s as if the baby feels who is completely surrendering to the process, and who is skimping and trying to get away as quickly as possible.

What is the child’s neurological status and how does it affect sleep?

The opposite situation also happens: the baby does not fall asleep because the mother does not want to leave him and join her husband in the marital bedroom. Or there is no husband at all, but there are only sad thoughts about an unfulfilled fate, about how to live further and where to get money. Then the crying of a waking baby distracts the mother, giving her a legal reason not to leave the nursery, to sleep with the child, and not with her husband. If you now recognize yourself in this picture, then try to plan a visit to a psychotherapist or at least a family psychologist as soon as the situation allows.

Using a child as a buffer between spouses is the last thing

But the most important thing that all the authors of “magic” methods forget to say is that falling asleep is almost 100% dependent on the neurological status of the child. A hypotonic person, relaxed, like good yeast dough, falls asleep simply because he is tired, he does not need any additional tricks, all these touching photos of children sleeping in a plate, upside down, hanging half off the sofa - these are photos of children with low muscle tone! My eldest daughter, at the age of four weeks, said “henna” twice, she had to be put in a sleeping bag, and at the same time her eyes were “fastened” with a zipper, she could leave the house for at least three hours - she slept. And my son and youngest daughter were born with quite severe hypertension. They could scream for a long time, rolled up, they vomited like a fountain, they slept in the “poorly differentiated ball” position, and for the first six months my daughter slept only in her arms and only in an upright position. And only while you're walking.

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So if your baby prefers to sleep on his stomach, never rolls up, does not spit up, cries little and not too loudly, loves close hugs and swaddling - most likely he has normal or reduced muscle tone, you are in luck, congratulations. If there are problems with sleep, they can be identified and corrected behaviorally, with a routine, by choosing a posture, or by moving the bedtime back and forth.

If you have a bundle of nerves in your hands, living mercury, sleeps little or it seems to you that he does not sleep at all, he began to hold his head straight from birth, he needs everything, everywhere, responds to any noise, does not cry, but sobs, does not purr, but screams - look for help, look for competent doctors, osteopaths work wonders, and the masseuse is now the main person in your life. Medicines practically do not help, because they do not eliminate the main cause of tension, and it needs to be established. Most often these are microdislocations in the cervical spine, this is corrected manually and very quickly, the main thing is that the specialist is a good one.

If putting your baby to sleep is a serious problem for you, your steps should be as follows.

Consultation with a neurologist, osteopath, massage therapist.
If they have done everything, but the problem remains, come to an appointment with a child psychologist, a specialist in children (this is important, play therapy or analysis will not help you here, a psychophysiological approach is needed).
Throw away the TV. At least remove it from where the child spends most of his time: living room, nursery, kitchen. Do you still have rooms left? That's where you put it. Or - to the trash heap.

Falling asleep after feeding

Sucking is a labor-intensive process that tires the baby. Usually after eating he gets tired and immediately falls asleep. A mother’s difficulty arises when the child tenaciously grabs the breast and does not let go. Here, under no circumstances should you pull the nipple, so as not to get a painful injury or crack. There is a proven method that our grandmothers used. You need to close the baby's nostrils with two fingers, blocking the air supply. When the baby opens his mouth to take a breath, you need to quickly remove the nipple and free yourself. During the period after feeding, the baby sleeps soundly and can be safely put into bed.

In the first six months of life, a newborn may wake up 1 or 2 times at night. Many mothers try to wean him from night feedings and deliberately do not breastfeed, allegedly thereby accustoming the baby to new rules. But the baby may simply be hungry. Believe me, the best way to put a newborn to sleep at night is to feed him well.

However, this can only be done when the baby is developing normally and night feeding does not lead to excess weight. Overfeeding can also lead to stomach pain and crying at night. After 6 months, the child should calmly tolerate night sleep without additional feeding.

Evening swimming

Nowadays, many mothers are too lazy to bathe their children every day, but this is a very important process for the baby. It's not just about hygiene and cleanliness of the body. If you don’t know how to quickly put a newborn baby to sleep, then use this useful advice - bathe him before bed. It is important to note that water procedures are best done with decoctions of soothing herbs. These are chamomile and string, motherwort and lemon balm, valerian root or birch leaves. You can brew the drug separately or make a mixture.

For a soothing bath, the herb must be infused for 10 minutes. To do this, pour 1 tbsp into a bowl. spoon of dry crushed herbs and pour a liter of boiling water. Cover the potion with a lid. After the medicinal mixture has infused, be sure to strain it through a filter or fine sieve (you can fold the gauze into 4 layers). Then pour the resulting tincture into a full bath. The color of the water should be light brown. The baby’s nervous system is affected not only through inhalation of herbal vapors, but also through the skin.

Before bathing, you can do a relaxing body massage with light stroking movements of your palms. After water procedures, it is recommended to wrap the baby warmly and feed him tightly. Evening bathing, massage and feeding is an excellent complex that will answer the question of how to put a newborn baby to sleep so that he sleeps soundly all night.

Methods for placing a baby

Most of the ways to lay a newborn down come from our grandmothers. Therefore, gratefully accept the advice of the older generation, and decide for yourself whether to use it or not to put it into practice. Pediatricians did not add anything new to the list, but they questioned some existing euthanasia methods.

So, let's begin.

Motion sickness. One of the most widely used methods. You can rock the baby in your arms, in a cradle, stroller, or crib with a pendulum. Neurologists say that motion sickness has a beneficial effect on the infant vestibular system and brain development. After all, rocking is familiar to a newborn from being in his mother’s belly. Claims about the difficulty of weaning a baby from motion sickness are quite dubious. You will stop putting your baby to sleep in a cradle or stroller when he starts sitting, for his own safety. After all, then it can easily fall out of the device. Mom’s back is not made of iron, which means that once the baby reaches a certain number of kilograms, the motion sickness on the arms will stop. The main thing is the attitude. The child feels his mother well. If mom doubts, she won’t be able to unlearn.
Pacifier. Dentists talk about malocclusion in children using this accessory. Of course, there is no need to leave the pacifier for the entire sleep period. Wait until the baby is fast asleep and take the pacifier. Sometimes after falling asleep the pacifier falls out of the mouth on its own. Parents just need to pick it up so that when it turns over, the baby does not wake up, lying on the nipple.
Mom's breast or bottle with formula. It’s great when the baby falls asleep immediately after feeding. Don't worry if your newborn goes to bed with a full stomach. Their ventricle is tiny, and their nutrition is adapted. Milk or formula is perfectly digested during sleep. But don't use your breast as a pacifier. The baby must understand that the breast is not a toy, but food. It is correct to give a bottle to a child strictly on an hourly basis. If the baby does not fall asleep after feeding, do not overfeed him by adding another portion of the mixture. Tummy problems will take you further away from sleep.
Co-sleeping. It is believed that it is more comfortable for a baby to fall asleep with its mother, feeling her warmth and smell. It is not always so. Some babies, smelling the smell of milk, begin to ask for food, and sleep turns into continuous hanging on the chest. Also, the child may get scared when the mother changes her body position. If co-sleeping suits you and mom doesn't feel any discomfort, great. Take care of the baby's safety - no down pillows near him so that he does not suffocate, and it is better to use a separate blanket. However, the question remains, how to put a child to sleep during the day? Unfortunately, mom has a lot of other worries, and she won’t always be able to sleep with the baby during the daytime. Not every mother is comfortable with co-sleeping. If your newborn sleeps well next to you, but you are uncomfortable, move the baby to the crib. A mother's fear of harming her baby while sleeping sometimes turns into a phobia, interfering with her rest. In this case, it is better to refuse co-sleeping.
Lullaby. A song sung in mom's favorite voice will calm the baby, helping to lull him to sleep. But sometimes new sounds, on the contrary, wake up the baby, putting him in a playful mood. He may even try to sing along, cooing and waving his arms. The picture is charming and touching, but at night this way of spending time is not always appropriate. Sometimes parents play songs on the record player for the little one. It's surprising that some kids fall asleep to the most unpredictable music. Leaving the baby to dad, mom can hear “Rammstein” or “Nirvana” upon arrival, the songs of which the desperate dad played for the baby. Mom is terrified, but her child is fast asleep.
White noise. For 9 months, the fetus was in an aquatic environment, hearing the beating of the mother’s heart, the sound of blood circulating in the vessels of the placenta. After birth, the world may seem too quiet to your baby. The noise of a vacuum cleaner, washing machine, and rushing water have a calming effect for the baby. By turning on the hairdryer, you can put your baby to sleep in 5 minutes. Of course, you shouldn't blow hot air on your baby. Turn on the hair dryer at a sufficient distance from the crib and do not forget to turn the nozzle to the side.
Free swaddling. Controversial method, but works with some newborns. Now swaddling is being abandoned everywhere, fighting for the freedom of babies. However, not all babies agree. Reflexive jumping up during sleep wakes up the baby. If your baby often moves his arms when he sleeps and this bothers him, try swaddling him.
Mobile. Bright colored toys that move in a circle are suitable for children 2-3 months old. For newborns, plain, pale figures are preferable. Remember that mobiles have different effects on babies - they calm some and excite others. Therefore, leave this option for daytime naps.
Walk. Fresh air, thanks to the abundance of oxygen, has a soporific effect on the baby. Walking in a stroller is an ideal way for infants to nap during the day. Of course, this method is not available at night, but regular exposure to fresh air has a beneficial effect on the child’s nervous system, thereby facilitating peaceful sleep even within the walls of the house.

Mom's breast is the best sleeping pill for the baby.

Over time, you will find a way to help your baby fall asleep faster.

Cozy nest

We have already mentioned that for a newborn baby, a crib is a huge, cold space, in the vastness of which he feels uncomfortable. Before putting your baby to bed, take care of his sleeping area. All parents act differently in this case. Some people make a real cozy nest out of a blanket or blanket, significantly narrowing the free space. The child feels support from all sides, and this calms him down and warms him.

Other mothers place bolsters made from terry towels or blankets on either side of the baby. They also give a feeling of security. A baby who has fallen asleep in his mother's arms while feeding is carefully transferred to the bed and immediately feels the coldness of the diaper and blanket, which can immediately wake him up and make him cry.

Caring parents are thinking about how to put their newborn to sleep at night. The diaper on which the baby will lie can be heated with an iron or a plastic bottle with warm water can be placed in the bed. It is recommended to leave a bag of heated salt under the baby blanket for a while. When you put your baby to bed, be sure to remove the “hot water bottle” so as not to burn the baby’s delicate skin.

Every new mother dreams that her baby will sleep soundly and sweetly from birth, but in practice sometimes a completely different picture turns out. The baby takes a long time to get to bed, often wakes up at night, and even sleeps for 20 minutes during the day. This situation greatly affects the general mood in the family. Parents have no idea how much effort it will cost them to teach their baby to sleep. Even before your baby is born, you should consult with a sleep specialist and develop an action plan to improve your newborn's sleep.

Despite the fact that there are many methods for putting a baby to sleep at 2 months, every mother should choose for her baby exactly the method that suits her baby. At the very beginning of the journey, parents are just studying the baby, getting to know him and observing how he reacts to certain actions. By the baby's reaction you can understand how sensitive he is and what temperament he has. Let's look at several ways to help put a 2-month-old baby to sleep quickly and without tears.

How long does a 2 month old baby need to rest?

In the second month of life, the child acquires new skills: he is able to see objects further than 30 centimeters, physically the baby is already actively trying to hold his head up. During this period he still needs a lot of sleep. On average, a child sleeps 15-17 hours a day, and takes about 5-8 hours of daytime sleep. This means every 1-1:30 hours

awake, the baby is ready to sleep. It turns out that there are about 4-5 daily naps. At night, the baby can sleep for 10-12 hours, including feedings. But do not forget that these figures are approximate and each baby will have his own daily and nightly norm of sleep and wakefulness.

At 2 months, the baby sleeps more at night and less during the day. This is due to the fact that the hormone melatonin, which is responsible for sleep, begins to be produced in children closer to 4 months. Until this time, sleep during the day will likely be short, frequent and intermittent, which in itself will affect the quality of the night. In the evening, the baby is helped to fall asleep by the pressure of the night and the general fatigue that accumulates throughout the day. But even here a problem may arise due to external and internal factors, the child may resist sleep for hours, cry and require constant support from the mother.

To make sure your baby is put to sleep quickly and calmly, it is enough to follow a few principles:

Air temperature and humidity . It is important to keep an eye on these two factors. If in the bedroom where the baby sleeps the air temperature is between 18-22°C and the relative humidity is not less than 50%, this will help prevent tantrums before going to bed, premature rising and frequent awakenings at night. Download the “COMFORT AND SLEEP” CHECKLIST for free and check all the external factors that can affect your baby’s sleep.
Pajamas . The clothes in which the baby sleeps should be made of natural materials. During sleep, the baby needs to feel comfortable, the child’s movements should not be hampered by anything.
Ritual . Mom and dad should come up with a bedtime ritual that the whole family will enjoy. A ritual is a sequence of certain actions that are performed before putting the baby to sleep. It should take place in a pleasant and calm environment, all actions in the ritual are aimed at relaxing the baby. It is important to follow the sequence of actions every day and before every sleep. As the baby grows up, the ritual can be changed; it can become longer in duration.
Rhythm of the day . One of the components of good sleep for a child at any age. Spend more time outside, especially during the daytime. Make sure that your baby is active while he is awake, and slow down the baby closer to bedtime. Avoid over-excitement and overexcitement. Regulate your load throughout the day. Don't skip daytime naps. Make every day more predictable for your baby.
Signs of fatigue . Many mothers confuse signs of fatigue with signs of overstimulation. When a child is overexcited, he gets a second wind, he becomes nervous and may rub his eyes intensely. Parents need to look for signs of fatigue in their baby. Some children yawn, rub their eyes, freeze, others lose interest in their favorite activity or may lay their heads down. If you notice something similar in your child, then you can safely start putting him to bed.

If you have difficulty getting into bed and you can’t understand what signs of fatigue your baby is showing, go to Tatyana Kremneva’s Instagram page. Come on air and ask questions.

Tatyana also has several courses that help not only improve the baby’s sleep, but also help the mother fill herself with resources.

Several ways to put a 2 month old baby to sleep:

Swaddling . A convenient method that most mothers use. When the baby's movements are constrained by the diaper, it is easier for him to fall asleep. Swaddling reminds the baby of those feelings when he was in the womb. Another advantage of the diaper is the fact that the baby will not have to handle himself while sleeping. It is recommended to swaddle babies until the baby begins to roll over onto his stomach in his sleep.
Motion sickness . Another popular way to lay newborns. It is not necessary to rock the baby too much. Rhythmic rocking will help your child fall asleep. You can simply walk with the child in your arms and this will calm him down and he will fall asleep. If you rock your baby intensively and this is the only way he can fall asleep, then over time you can reduce the amplitude of the rocking until it completely disappears.
Shifting . Often, when the baby has already fallen asleep, the problem arises of moving him to the crib. When the parents try to move the baby, he wakes up and the bedtime begins again. To prevent this from happening, use a diaper. Place it between your hands and your baby. When it's time to move the baby to the crib, place it with a diaper. In this case, there will be no sudden temperature change, and the child will continue to sleep, but in his own crib.
Feeding _ Feed your baby before you put him to bed. If you are breastfeeding, then give your baby as much time to eat as he wants; if feeding with a bottle, then let the baby eat as much as he wants. Many babies, especially at the age of 2 months, fall asleep sweetly and calmly during feeding.
Co-sleeping . It is important to determine before the baby is born exactly where he will sleep. If parents choose to sleep together, it is important to follow a few rules. Safety first! The baby should sleep on the side where the mother sleeps; nothing should cover his head while he sleeps. The child should not have access to the edge of the bed. If all these rules are followed, you can safely put your baby in your bed. Remember that when co-sleeping, you will most likely have to sleep with your baby for all naps.

Don’t worry that if you start swaddling or rocking your baby, he will develop a habit and then he will not be able to fall asleep without it. Babies under 4 months need to be calmed and put to sleep by any means. The most important thing is the mother’s condition, and if at a certain period the baby needs to be put to bed using one of the above methods, just do it. Especially if you know that after this the baby will quickly fall asleep and you yourself will be able to rest.

Author: Tatyana Kremneva.

Co-sleeping

Any baby will be happy to fall asleep in its mother's arms, but this method of falling asleep has many disadvantages. Firstly, sleeping next to your baby will be anxious and restless. Both mom and dad will worry about accidentally hitting the child in his sleep with his hand, crushing him by turning his body, or dropping him from the bed onto the floor. As a result, no one except the baby will get enough sleep. The father will go to work tired, and the equally exhausted mother will become nervous and frayed.

In addition, the presence of a baby between spouses will introduce distance in intimate life, which will also subsequently affect their coexistence. Resentments will appear, conflicts will grow like a snowball, and in the end everything will end in a breakup or betrayal.

If you are thinking about how to put a newborn baby to sleep at night, then it is advisable not to choose co-sleeping as a method of calming down. As a last resort, you can move the crib closer to the parents' place so that the mother can reach out and stroke the baby, give him a pacifier or adjust the blanket, without getting out of bed.

Author's methods

Many world authors have devoted their works to the issue of falling asleep quickly without tears and hysterics. There are many different ways. We invite you to take a closer look at them.

Nathan Dylo method

This method involves calming the baby by touching his body. It was developed by the father of the newborn baby, Nathan Dylo. Experts explain this phenomenon by saying that with the help of such light touches the baby calms himself down. You can see how the technique works in this video.

Elizabeth Pantley Method

Mother of four children, Elizabeth, has developed her own method. The woman believes that for a good sleep the child needs a gentle regime. The first thing parents need to do is understand whether something is bothering their baby. Next, it is important to follow these recommendations:

A good and high-calorie dinner. A baby should not sleep hungry.
Compliance with the evening ritual - swimming, reading a fairy tale, watching a cartoon, walking outside, etc.
Early falling asleep. The younger the child, the earlier he should fall asleep, that is, no later than 8-9 pm.
Mandatory daytime nap.
Parents should experiment with placement positions, in a stroller, on their arms, in a rocking chair, or in a car seat.

It is important to understand that this technique does not work instantly. Mom and Dad should be patient. Within a few days, the first results will definitely be visible.

Estiville method

This technique involves quickly putting children to sleep by observing certain rituals. Each family may have its own rituals, depending on the daily routine and individual preferences. At the same time, such activities as, for example, reading fairy tales, singing a lullaby, bathing, massage, evening walk, should be daily and systematic. For example, you can start a tradition of putting toys to bed, after which the little one should go to bed. This will help develop a reflex in the child and will greatly facilitate the daily procedure of laying down.

After completing the ritual, the baby should be put in the crib and leave the room. At first, you can leave the baby for a minute, and gradually increase this time. Even if the baby starts to cry, you should not pick him up. Just be there. Once the crying is over, leave the room again. This should be repeated until your child falls asleep. This method will later help the little one fall asleep easier in the nursery and kindergarten.

You should also try to help choose a position for the baby in which he will be most comfortable. Some people like to sleep on their sides, some on their backs, and some like to sleep on their stomachs.

Calm surroundings

All children are different. Some people can sleep well with the TV or music on and not pay attention to their neighbors' renovations, while others wake up from every creaking sound. If your baby belongs to the second type of children, then before putting your newborn baby to sleep during the day or evening, create a quiet and calm atmosphere.

Turn off the TV and music, warn the rest of the family about the upcoming bedtime procedure, close the thick curtains during the day, and turn on a weak night light in the evening. You can sit next to the baby’s crib and hold his hand, stroke his head, gradually moving further and further away.

Before going to bed, be sure to ventilate the room half an hour before putting the baby into bed. This must be done even in winter without a child in the room. Lowering the ambient temperature will help you fall asleep faster.

Features of sleep at an early age

In the first months of life, the baby sleeps on average 14-17 hours a day. Ideally, approximately 10 hours of this time should occur at night. But this does not always happen - a newborn is not yet ready to sleep according to a clear schedule, and at this age children often confuse day and night. The rhythmic production of melatonin, when it increases in the evening, begins to be produced after 2 months of life. But the amount of hormone produced is lower than in adults. The time you fall asleep is influenced by the duration of each daytime nap and the time you wake up in the morning. I talk in detail about the first month of a newborn’s life in the article.

At about 1 month, the baby will establish a more or less understandable routine. But you still need to understand that small children’s sleep is superficial and the child wakes up quickly. Try to create an appropriate environment at each time of day: during the day, provide sufficient lighting to the room, speak in a cheerful, cheerful voice, sing nursery rhymes; in the evening, on the contrary, turn on dim lighting, speak in a low voice. If the baby sleeps for more than 2-2.5 hours during the day, try to create conditions for awakening - turn on bright lights, communicate in a full voice, do not try to do everything quietly.

Next we’ll talk about how to put your baby to sleep.

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Soothing sounds

Everyone knows about the calming effect of a lullaby on children. It is pronounced monotonously and quietly. Nowadays, many ways have been invented to lull a baby to sleep, freeing the mother from singing. Some use the rustling sounds of flowing water and purchase a small indoor fountain. When the baby is put to bed, he is placed next to the crib and turned on while he falls asleep.

Many toy manufacturers have thought through the question of how to properly put a newborn baby to sleep. Toys with a double effect on the baby’s nervous system have appeared on sale. They work like a night light, showering the ceiling and walls of the room with glowing stars. There is a built-in receiver in the middle that plays a gentle lullaby. The volume is set manually.

Of course, a wonderful sleep aid for a baby is the cooing voice of the mother. It doesn’t matter what exactly you say, the main thing is the intonation of your voice. You can tell your husband in a low voice about your day or describe a dress you bought in a store to a friend. The very presence of the mother in the room and the sound of her voice are important to the child. Some people cheat and record it on one of the gadgets, and then turn it on for the baby before bed.

Causes of poor sleep

It is not always possible to put a baby to sleep quickly. If your baby fell asleep well, but is being capricious today, pay attention to his health. Perhaps the baby is sick or is teething. The baby’s behavior is also influenced by the geomagnetic environment—meteor dependence in children is higher than in adults.

If a child has trouble falling asleep, it is necessary to look for the cause of this condition.

Remember if you have changed the detergent for washing baby clothes. The baby may be allergic to the components of the detergent, or he does not like the new smell. Ventilate the children's room more often and do wet cleaning: an allergic reaction can be caused by dust mites that live and breed in dust. For preventative purposes, wash the soft sides of the crib, blanket and pillow, if any, once a month.

Infants' sleep is influenced by the psychological situation in the family. Be less nervous, don’t swear and don’t get angry. Irritability due to lack of sleep negatively affects the nervous system, you start to get angry, the baby reacts to your condition and refuses to sleep, you don’t get enough sleep... And so on in a circle.

Put a baby to sleep in 40 seconds? Such methods exist, but you haven’t found them yet. But dad Nathan Dailo found it. He put the capricious one, who was impossible to put to bed quickly, to sleep using a simple paper napkin. Having opened the napkin, dad gently touched the baby’s face several times. And, lo and behold! The baby fell asleep in less than a minute! Try it, maybe this method will work for you too.

High quality diaper

If you choose an effective way to quickly put your newborn baby to sleep at night, do not forget about a high-quality and reliable diaper. This ingenious invention will help not only the baby but also the parents get through the night peacefully, so don’t skimp and choose a product that won’t leak and cause discomfort to the baby.

Disposable diapers contain a special gel-forming material that absorbs moisture from the surface of the baby's body. Its ability to absorb 50 times the weight of the powder in urine amazes everyone. The sides are equipped with elastic bands that do not allow liquid to leak out, and convenient Velcro helps securely fix the product on the child’s body, despite turns and movements during sleep.

The delicate inner layer is made of cellulose, so it does not irritate the baby’s skin at all, eliminating the appearance of diaper dermatitis and other skin problems. With a high-quality diaper, your baby's sleep will be long and restful.

Compliance with regulations

If you're unsure how to put a newborn to sleep, consider your daily routine. Maybe it's all about your lack of organization. If you perform the same procedures every day before going to bed, the baby will get used to their sequence and will know for sure: if he is given a massage, then water procedures will soon follow. After bathing, mom will definitely feed him and put him to bed.

Regimes must be observed at all times. This will teach the child a proper daily routine from early childhood and will save him from many problems in the future, including difficulty falling asleep. All procedures must not only be consistent, but also take place at the same time, without holidays or weekends. At first it is not easy to completely rebuild your life and subject it to strict rules, but it is much better and easier than hearing the constant cries of a baby and not sleeping at night. Organize your life correctly - and you won’t have to think about how to put a newborn to sleep. He will fall asleep on his own according to a certain time.

In the article we looked at the main ways to put babies to sleep in the first months of their life. This is the most important and difficult period in families where long-awaited babies have recently appeared. Therefore, follow the useful advice of experienced parents - and your life will flow much faster as usual. This will strengthen the baby’s health and the relationship between spouses. After all, raising a child is quite hard, but also very joyful work!

Why does my child sleep poorly?

Typically, parents rock their child to sleep when he has trouble falling asleep or often wakes up in the middle of the night. Causes of poor sleep in children:

improper daily routine and insufficient physical activity;
violation of the temperature regime in the room, low or high humidity;
unventilated or noisy room;
a lot of light falls on the child’s bed through the window;
the baby sleeps too much during the day;
insomnia, which is characterized by difficulty falling asleep and insufficient sleep duration. This disorder affects 1% to 6% of children. Insomnia in young children occurs due to the fact that parents cannot put the child to bed and wake up at the same time;
breathing problems during sleep, such as snoring or sudden short-term cessation of breathing. These disorders occur in 27% of children;
restless legs syndrome, in which a child jerks his legs involuntarily during sleep, which is why he does not get enough sleep at night and feels drowsy during the day;
autism spectrum disorders, in which children produce less of the sleep hormone melatonin than healthy children;
pathological conditions or diseases, for example, intoxication due to infections.

Babies also have trouble sleeping due to nightmares. Children's night terrors most often arise as a result of family conflicts, excessive impressionability and increased anxiety, for example, when during the day the baby asked to be held several times, but the mother did not pay attention to this. If you find that your child is systematically sleeping poorly, consult a neurologist or child psychiatrist.