How To Sleep Well As A Family During The Baby’s First 6 Months
The first 6 months of a baby’s life can be incredibly overwhelming, especially when it comes to sleep. Some babies have reflux or colic, while other parents have amazing little sleepers, but they don’t know it because another mother told them that their baby slept through the night at 2 months of age, and that is rare. Getting a good night’s sleep as a family seems difficult at this stage.
If you have a baby under 6 months, then do not miss these tips, because they will be good for you and the whole family. Some nights may be harder than others, but enjoy every day and night with your little one, because it is a wonderful time that passes too quickly.
How to sleep well as a family?
You are the one who best knows your baby to sleep
While it can be tempting to hear what others are saying about how to put your baby to sleep or how long to sleep, try to trust your own instincts.
The more you worry about “not doing the right thing” because you are reading articles about baby sleep or listening to other moms in a Facebook group, the further you are moving away from the time you have with your baby.
Do what works for your family and trust you to know your baby better than any outside authority. You are spending most of your time with your little one and each one is different. When it comes to sleeping arrangements, many families develop and exhibit very fluid notions of where their baby “should” sleep.
Parents with less rigid ideas about how and where their little ones should sleep are generally much happier. Also, they are much less likely to be disappointed when their children cannot perform the way they are supposed to – that is, sleep through the night.
Do not worry about what you should and should not do to sleep well as a family
It’s really important not to get caught up in too many thoughts about what to do and what not to do for the first few months. Especially during the first three months, you just need to feed him, change him and put him back to sleep.
There are no bad ways to sleep
There are no negative ways for your baby to fall asleep: breastfeed, use the pacifier, sleep all in the same bed … Everything is valid if the family sleeps well and there is real rest. Let your little one fall asleep however he wants, whether it’s rocking or singing to him.
The term “negative sleep association” frustrates because even adults have associations for going to sleep: using white noise, reading a book, or having a specific set of preferred sheets. There is nothing negative about needing something to help you relax for a good family sleep.
If your child loves sleeping with you during the day and it doesn’t work anymore because you have things you’d like to do, try letting him sleep with you and work on the transfer. Wait until he is sound asleep and try putting him on the foot of the crib first and slowly trimming him. This will eliminate the feeling of falling that can sometimes wake them up.
Waking up and not wanting to sleep at night is normal
Newborns have two sleep states: active sleep (which is similar to REM sleep in adults) and peaceful sleep (similar to non-REM sleep).
In this sense, active sleep plays a necessary role in the prevention of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Fortunately, babies spend more time in active sleep from 2 to 6 a.m., so during this time they are much more likely to wake up if they are hungry, cold, damp, or startled from not breathing.
Their sleep cycles are actually shorter than those of adults (they last only 50-60 minutes), therefore they may experience partial arousal every hour or so. There is a biological reason for wakefulness: survival. In order for children to grow up, they need to eat and therefore need to wake up to eat.
If a child is too hot or too cold, he wakes up to let the mother know. Anything that forces your little one to sleep deeply too soon is dangerous. Active sleep has other benefits, too. It is believed to be a smart dream because the brain is not resting. It increases blood flow to the brain and is believed to be responsible for faster brain growth.
