|
Sleeping Baby
Once the baby is born,
your baby will spend the better part of the day
sleeping. Sleeping is an essential and important
activity for your baby. Growth hormones work
most effectively when the baby is asleep.
Initially for the first few months, your baby
will continue with their own sleep pattern,
sleeping as and when they like. As they grow
older they will slowly learn to adjust their
sleep pattern to your daily routine. When they
are about three months old your baby will
normally, sleep for 10 hours at night on the
whole, even if he or she wakes up in between.
Your baby's daytime sleep can often be divided
into two sessions - morning and afternoon.
Everybody has his or her opinion when it comes
to care and upbringing of a baby, therefore
sleep is no different. Even the simple task of
deciding the length of a baby's nap, or how to
put your baby to sleep has become complicated,
because of the number of opinions you will get.
As a result of the emotional involvement in
caring for your baby every small aspect becomes
an issue. Most mothers are more than happy to
make adjustments and will schedule their
sleeping pattern to fit their baby's sleep
pattern. This ensures that mother and baby sleep
together which is ideal. Sleeping together
ensure strong emotional bonding between the
mother and her baby. Studies have shown that
babies who sleep with their mother receive more
touching, breastfeeding and protection.
If you feel that your baby should have a sleep
pattern that is convenient for everyone at home
and that does not interfere with your sleep
pattern, you will have to make the baby learn a
sleep pattern. One of the most common ways to
make a baby sleep, is to use music, either sing
to the baby or play some soothing music and
before you know the baby is fast asleep. This is
a method that has been tried and tested over the
years and this wisdom has been passed on from
generation to generation, though the type of
music used may vary.
Some parents choose a particular song for each
child and sing this special song day after day
at the baby's bedtime. They begin this when the
baby is a few days old. After some time the baby
gets conditioned and will sleep easily once you
start singing the song. If you don't want your
baby to get used to the habit of being rocked to
sleep you can try using a musical toy. Wind-up
this toy and it will play music for a few
minutes. Use this toy every time you want to
make your baby sleep. Place it close to his or
her cot. After sometime he or she will get
accustomed to falling asleep to the sound of the
musical toy. This method will help your baby
sleep comfortably even if you are away from
home.
Today CDs are created with specific music, which
help very young babies fall asleep. While
selecting music, they use music with the same
beats per minute as the heartbeat of the mother,
which the baby hears while in the womb. This has
a soothing effect on the young baby, helps him
relax and fall asleep comfortably. You can
choose whatever method suits you or try all of
them and decide which one works best for your
baby.
|
