Sleep Help: Teaching Your Baby To Self-Soothe

Establish A Bedtime Routine

You don’t need to do some elaborate bedtime routine every night, but even babies thrive off structure and patterns. Something as simple as reading a book or singing a song before setting them down in their crib helps cue their brain to prepare for sleep.

Ensure They Have An Optimum Sleep Environment

Their room should be dim and free from electronic glares, if not completely dark. If you need a night light to help navigate their space, using a red light is the least disruptive to their sleep. Use white noise to block out surrounding sounds.

Set Regular Sleep Times

Like the bedtime routine, having a set window for sleep helps teach your little one’s body and brain that it’s sleep time. Consistency matters. Your baby is more likely to sleep well if they’re going to sleep at the same bedtimes and naptimes each day.

Avoid Feeding To Sleep

If your little one falls asleep while drinking either from a bottle or breast, they cannot learn how to self-soothe. If this habitually happens, consider moving the feed to an earlier part of your bedtime routine or starting the entire ritual earlier to help prevent this from happening.

Introduce A Security Object When Safe

You should always follow the ABCs of safe sleep: put your baby to sleep Alone on their Back, in their Crib. However, there is a certain age when sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) risk drops off, and you can start to use pillows, blankets, and cuddly toys in your little one’s bed.

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