3 Ways To Prepare For Sleep Training Your Baby
While some babies seem to come into the world sleeping like professionals, others tend to have a very hard time falling asleep or staying asleep on their own. But in order for you as parents to get the sleep that you need, it’s important that both you and your baby are able to sleep enough hours on their own during the night. To achieve this, many parents wind up having to sleep train their babies.
Regardless of what sleep training technique you choose to employ, there are a few things you should do in preparation for beginning sleep training that will help make the entire process easier on everyone. To show you exactly what you can do to get ready for this time, here are three ways to prepare for sleep training your baby.
Start A Bedtime Routine
One of the best things you can do as you get ready to sleep train your baby is to introduce a bedtime routine that you’ll follow each time you’re putting your baby to sleep.
According to Crayola Beauty Packaging and Parents.com, creating about a 15-minute routine where you soothe your baby and prepare them for sleep can help to signal your baby that it’s time to start calming down and getting tired. As part of your routine, you can do things like take a warm bath, do a massage with baby lotion, put on warm pajamas to wear while in their air-conditioned room, read a bedtime story, sing a lullaby, and more.
Come Up With A Plan
Because the process of sleep training can sometimes be hard on both you and your baby, it’s wise to have a plan in place that you commit to following even if things get a little more challenging than you had hoped for.
When you’re coming up with your plan, Emily DeJeu, a contributor to BabySleepSite.com, recommends that you spend some time researching what sleep training method you want to use and how you’ll implement it with your baby. Determine how long you’ll try certain actions before you move onto something else so that you don’t allow your emotions to completely take over during this time.
Help Them Fall Asleep Earlier
One reason many babies have a hard time falling asleep as night is because they’re too tired after a long day of stimulation. To combat this, Sleep.org advises that you may want to start getting your baby ready for bed earlier than you have done previously.
To do this successfully, you may want to put your baby to bed about 15 minutes earlier each night until you get to the time you want them to be going to bed. Generally, anytime around 6:30 or 7:00 pm is a good time for small babies to be going to bed when they’re being sleep trained.
If you’re getting ready to sleep train your baby, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you prepare for this new adventure.