Responsibility is undeviatingly associated to parents. Although becoming a parent is one of the most fabulous feelings in the world, this enormous happiness comes with a concern that demands your undivided concern. Most couples, especially parents with a first-born, find difficulty in handling their baby. The best solution is taking help of your relatives, friends or even consulting a child specialist. And let`s not forget that internet has also become an effective media from where you can extract quality information on several issues. You can simply Google the best “child care” or “how to get a baby to sleep safely” and so on to get results delivered beneath your fingertips. This blog serves to do the same.
Tips to Provide a Safe Environment for Baby-sleep
Because a newborn baby is wholly dependent upon the parents and is acquainted with napping for a longer period of time, it is the parents` responsibility to arrange the safest environment for their baby. Given below are some helpful tips that might come in handy if you’re concerned about offering your baby a beneficial sleeping environment –
Factor 1 – MAKING THE BED
- The best sleeping area you can arrange for your infant is a crib. Select a crib that is spacious so that your baby can move around freely in her sleep and there’s leftover space for placing her favorite toys during playtime. Make sure the bedding you place on the crib is soft yet firm. It is highly recommended that you refrain from using old, broken or modified cribs.
- Make sure you do not place the crib near windows with curtain cords because it increases the chances of accidental strangling if the cord somehow gets within the reach of the playful baby. Never place a blanket on your baby. It might cover her during frantic hand movements and suffocate her.
Factor 2 – SELECTING A LOCATION
- As much as you want your baby to have her own room until she comes of an age, the safest room where the crib should be in your room. Make your baby sleep in the same room but not in the same bed. This way, you will always be within instant reach in case of any unforeseen circumstances. Also, studies show that children who sleep beside their mothers grow up to have a higher self-esteem and combat anxiety more competently.
- To ensure your baby faces no disruption while she sleeps, sees to it that every part of the crib is assembled in order. Every time you put her to sleep, ensure that the crib area is free of toys, sharp objects or noisy substances that might obstruct his/her peaceful sleep.
Factor 3 – UNDERSTANDING THE PSYCHOLOGY
- When it’s time for bed, which is almost five or six times a day, avoid looking at your baby right in the eye. Direct eye contacts with you will excite her and disrupt her state of drowsiness and she will be ready to play, putting all your efforts to put her to sleep in vain. Hug her to your chest and sway her gently looking the other way, humming softly, creating a lazy environment.
- The favorite trick adopted by mothers worldwide is to dream-feed their babies. While your baby is napping, slip in a bottle and let her suckle in her sleep. This will keep her full in advance and prolong her sleeping session, and you will not be interrupted by hungry cries anymore.
- Train your baby to relate darkness with sleep-time. Every time you put her to sleep, dim the lights & draw the curtains. Doing it regularly will help your baby associate dimness to her sleep time, and she will get accustomed to it, making less fuss by the passage of time. After a month, she might even sleep without your assistance!
Factor 4 – DETERMINING THE POSITION
- Parents should be extremely careful in adopting the correct way to position the baby while sleeping. Always place your baby with his/her back resting on the sleeping surface. The infant’s spine can offer him/her full support that way.
- To prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and suffocation, use a firm sleeping surface for your baby. It is highly recommended to make your baby sleep on their back with no pillows or thick blankets. Just arrange a comfortable mattress and a pillow that is two-finger thick and adequately soft yet firm.
With the help of a consistent routine establishment & tiny little tricks, you will be able to give your baby the perfect sleep environment you had been planning to ever since she was born. Help her sleep more and grow faster!