Can you make your baby sleep?
You cannot make your baby sleep but you can certainly
provide the setting. In the early months, it is crucial
to establish nighttime sleep routine and to teach your
baby the difference between daytime and nighttime sleep.
During nighttime and conversely daytime feedings, the
whole milieu has to change: talk in hushed tones and
generally keep the noise level down, feed your baby
under dimmed lights while in the day, allow louder noises,
feed in full daylight and talk and behave in a normal
mode.
When you put your baby in her crib at a scheduled time
and she chooses not to sleep, you are still providing
the opportunity for rest and teaching her on what to
expect next, which is to sleep. This time alone in the
crib is valuable in that it gives your little one a
chance to learn how to entertain herself as well as
some alone time.
This will come useful during occasions when she will
be left to her own devices and this alone time will
teach your child the important skill of managing herself
without getting bored. Furthermore at this stage, the
crib is a safe place to leave your little one on her
own. Experts point to the possibility of babies who
have been given some alone time in safe surroundings
to grow up without TV for entertainment since they are
used to spending time playing with their toys or reading
on their own.
|
