Why Baby Sleep training?
Why a Sleep routine?
A common myth about baby bed time routines is that they prevent you from attending to your baby’s needs. In fact, a properly constructed routine merely sets regular periods of time for sleep and to stimulate, relax and nurture your baby.
Babies love to know what’s coming next, it reassures them and helps them become independent, confident and relaxed, which ultimately has a positive effect on their personality.
It seems that many people believe that it is impossible or unwise to put a newborn baby into a routine during the first few weeks, but from over twenty years of personal experience I have found that overall, this is simply not the case. In fact, I have discovered that babies who have been put into a sympathetic routine by structuring the right feeding and sleeping patterns from the start develop into well-adjusted, happy children. You also constantly hear from many well-intended advisors that your baby’s unpredictable and inconsistent feeding and sleeping patterns are normal and that things will get better and in time, your baby will settle. The truth is by neglecting this issue from the beginning, many bad habits may develop and if your baby has not been guided in the right way this may cause further complications by creating long-term sleeping and feeding problems.
Why Sleep routine?
One of the greatest gifts you can give your baby is to teach him to fall asleep by himself.
And one of the main purposes of a routine is to give your baby a sense of structure, babies are creatures of habit and learn by example and association; establishing the right sleeping associations from the start will allow your baby to become a self-soother. Fortunately, babies are very adaptable and resilient and will quickly and happily adjust. Food does not equal love and an unsettled baby is not always a hungry baby, establishing a routine will teach you to recognize your baby’s different types of crying and attend to his needs with confidence.
The benefits for the parents are also tremendous; the usual stress and turmoil associated with a new baby is greatly reduced, bringing harmony and confidence to the home. Parents become positive and feel in control and relaxed, creating a comfortable reassuring atmosphere, which is passed onto the baby. It is not simply a case of ignoring your baby and allowing him to scream and cry until exhaustion but establishing proper sleep and feeding patterns and developing a routine to suit your baby. Your baby should not be compared to others; each baby is an individual and will respond in different ways. Even though the essence of my formulas is the same, it may be necessary to make adjustments to suit each particular baby and in many cases the parent’s lifestyle in order to achieve the best results.
Establishing a bed time routine
The sooner you establish a bedtime routine, the better. Your baby will be more relaxed if he knows what is coming next and right from the start will come to appreciate the consistency and predictability. Although babies have no sense of time, they do recognize the sequence of events from early on, therefore, it’s essential to establish a bedtime ritual. Something I call the 3 Bs BATH – BOTTLE/BREAST- BED
The bed time routine should start with a nice warm bath, then the baby should be taken to his room (or wherever he sleeps at night) and given a massage to help him relax . Finally, dim the lights in the room to create a calm atmosphere, then, either breast feed or give your baby a bottle, swaddle or put your baby in a sleeping bag drowsy but not asleep, give him a cuddle and kiss him goodnight. This will help your baby make the link between her bedtime routine and falling asleep.
Which method?
Controlled crying
This method is often seen as controversial. People often think the controlled crying method involves leaving the baby to cry until they fall asleep, but I can reassure you this is not the case.
It is called CONTROLLED crying for a reason. The idea is to let the baby cry for a short period of time to allow your baby to learn to sooth himself before going to him offering comfort and reassurance. By gradually extending the time between each visit you are giving your baby a chance to settle himself back to sleep without your help.
Some people are also worried that leaving your baby to cry may negatively affect him emotionally. Be reassured that many recent studies have shown that letting your baby cry for a short period of time will not do him any harm.
