Baby Sleep Problems: The Ultimate Guide For New Parents

Baby sleep problems are common for those of you who’ve recently had a baby. You might feel handling your cuddly little one is challenging. It might be very difficult for you to make him or her feed or eat. You might find it quite a challenge to stop him or her from crying. Additionally, you might find it more difficult to put your baby to sleep. Yes! After all, sleeping is an important aspect of a baby’s life in his or her early years.  Studies have shown your baby’s relation between sleep and cognition. In fact, there is a positive association between your baby’s sleep and the development of memory, language, and overall cognitive development. 

Reasons For Your Baby’s Sleep Problems

To highlight some of the causes of lack of sleep in your baby, as parents, you should know that your newborn is trying to adjust to life outside the womb. Therefore, it might take up to 11 weeks for your little one to develop a proper 24-hour sleep-wake cycle. Moreover, if your little one is breastfeeding, he or she is expected to wake up after every 1 to 3 hours. Sometimes even more frequently. In fact, in the first 6 months of your baby’s life, your focus should be entirely on your little one’s sleep pattern. In fact, your baby’s sleep pattern is expected to change with time, till such time that your baby falls into a routine.

Therefore, till the time your little one enters into a proper sleep pattern, as parents, you need to identify the common sleep problems in your baby. Here are some common sleep problems in your baby with solutions.

Your Baby Has Developed a Feeding Association With His or Her Sleep

This is most common after the first few months of your baby’s life. Your little one tends to fall asleep only after you feed him or her.

Solutions For Having This Problem

If you can move your child’s feeding time far away from bedtime, your cuddly little will not tend to fall asleep during or after his or her last feed is over. Make this a habit for your little one so that your baby doesn’t sleep after feeding.

Your Baby Can Sleep Only If You Rock Him or Her

This happens because your little one has an association with movement in his or her mind. You’ll notice your cuddly little one feels that a gentle rock in your arm or the cradle, will help fall asleep quicker.

Solutions For This Sleeping Issue Especially at Night

Allow your little one to go to sleep with minimal or no rocking at all. You can alternately hold your baby in your arms without a single movement.

Your Baby Can Sleep Only in Your Warm Embrace

This is a common reason as to why your baby can’t sleep. Your little one will sleep if you hold him or her closely.

Solutions to Your Baby Sleep Problems

Teach him or her to sleep otherwise. Make the little one sleep without holding him or her close. You can also ask your partner and some of your other family members to hold him until he falls asleep.

Your Baby Can Sleep Only Next to You

You will notice this more after your little one grows up a little. Your little one would refuse to sleep anywhere else except sleeping beside you.

Solutions For Co-sleeping With the Baby

Co-sleeping with your baby is common. Therefore, it is best to make him or her practice how to sleep away from you, without letting your little one cry too much.

Your Baby Constantly Keeps Awake During the Night

You’ll notice your little one will go off to sleep immediately after you put him or her to sleep. But you also observe your baby will wake up a lot of times at night.

Solutions to Your Baby’s Sleeping Issues at Night

In this case, try to adjust his or her feed schedules, otherwise you have to put him or her to sleep using other sleep associations, like rocking or breastfeeding, which might not impact positively upon your baby’s sleep pattern.

Your Baby Wakes Up Earlier Than You

If you notice your little one takes the bed early, or late or sleeps a lot during the daytime, your little one will feel overtired. Consequently, he or she will wake earlier in the morning – maybe earlier than you.

Solutions to Why Your Baby is Not Sleeping Early in the Morning

Try to change your little one’s bedtimes and sleep schedule. In this way, your little one will not wake up early.

However, if you think you’re unable to understand why your baby is not sleeping during the day or at night, you can definitely use the above-mentioned solutions or visit the child specialist immediately.

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