In the early days, babies will be asleep more than they are awake. Getting enough sleep is essential for their development, it is the time when they can process their new experiences and skills that they are learning and wake feeling ready to learn some more.
1. When should sleep training?
It is recommended to begin sleeping training when your baby is about three to four months old. At this age, babies are typically old enough to learn to self soothe, and may no longer require night feedings.
Most babies from birth to the age of two will sleep more than they are awake. Babies sleep from 16 to 18 hours a day but are often interrupted by waking up to feed, mainly because their stomachs are small, so they don’t eat much food, every 2-3 hours they need to be fed and fell asleep.
For a full-term, healthy baby, sleeping more than 3 hours at a time is not something to worry about to wake your baby up. On the contrary, if the baby wakes up often, it is only a temporary stage because from 3 months of age, the baby’s stomach has grown and can contain more food, which means that the baby’s sleep will also be longer.
Because the baby’s stomach is still small, it can’t hold much food, every 2-3 hours the baby needs to be fed and falls asleep again.
2. How babies are considered self-settle?
Children are considered to have achieved independent sleep when they exhibit the following factors:
- Baby can sleep continuously from 6-8 hours throughout the night
- Can go back to sleep on their own after waking up in the middle of the night without parental support.
- By the time babies reach 6 months of age, up to 60% of babies can sleep independently
- Studies show that there are a few things parents can do to help their children develop independent sleep habits when they’re ready.
3. Reasons why babies cry at bedtime
Babies are very sensitive and often fussy at bedtime. Understanding the common causes for this will help parents find ways to help their babies get through it and get a better night’s sleep. Common causes include:
- Independence: a sign of independence is developing when babies cry and do not want to go to sleep. Parents need to soothe by giving babies choices such as teddy bears, sleeping dolls, customizing their preferences and giving them the opportunity to prove their “importance”.
- Fear: Some babies have a fear of the dark, so at night they often wake up and crying in the middle of the night. At this time, hugging and patting will create a sense of security for the baby, gradually making the baby feel warm and safe and the fear of the dark disappears.
- Fatigue: Too much or not enough sleep during the day will make your child tired, hyperactive at night, maybe your baby needs more exercise during the day to have a better night’s sleep.
- Babies with health problems: Common problems are teething, hunger or thirst, babies are about to be sick or allergies/insect stings. Parents need to check all these causes to make sure their babies to have a better sleep.
4. How to self-settle your baby
Once you get to know your 3- 4 month-baby’s sleeping pattern, you can start to teach them:
- The difference between night and day.
- Put baby in the bed when they are still drowsy but awake
- Set up the pattern: feeding, play, sleep t.
4.1 Emphasizing the difference between night and day
Babies start to have their longest sleep at night. Here are some things you can do to help your baby get used to the idea that night is different from day and that night is a good time to sleep: During the night, keep the room dark or dimly lit and quiet.
- At night, respond to your baby’s cries quickly and settle or feed baby as soon as you can. Give night-time feeds in the bedroom.
- This helps to keep these feeds brief and make them different from daytime feeds.
- At night try to be soothing and quiet when you’re with your baby.
Keep play for daytime.
4.2 Putting babies to bed drowsy but awake
From 3-4 months of age Putting babies to bed drowsy but awake can help them settle at the start of the night. It can also make it easier for babies to settle back to sleep when they wake in the night. When babies fall asleep in their cots instead of being rocked or fed to sleep, they learn to associate falling asleep with being in bed. This can help them learn to settle for sleep in their own beds. But if your baby starts crying at bedtime or when they wake in the night, it’s important to comfort your baby and help them settle.
4.3 Starting routine: eat, play, sleep
When things are going well, do things in the same order every day: feed-play-sleep. Such a consistent cycle helps babies program their sleep
In addition, some wrong habits also make it difficult for children to sleep at night
Some parents do not evaluate the importance of daytime nap properly: some parents prevent their children from sleeping during the day because they want their children to sleep more at night, but this is not effective because it will make children tired and difficult to fall asleep.
Night feeding: From 6 months onwards, most children do not need a night meal to supplement nutrition, but there are still children who need this meal. If parents feel comfortable with night feeding beyond 6 months, they can still continue to breastfeed their baby at night to maintain breast milk supply.