How Do I Get My Child To Sleep Through the Night?
Sleeping for the whole night is considered a milestone in a child’s life. Some children have no difficulty in falling asleep – they stay asleep easily and they do not protest when they are put to bed. Others tend to give a more difficult time to parents, which is why personality and temperament are two things that every parent should watch in their child so that they can come up with a way to get them to sleep.
Your baby’s sleep pattern will change when he or she gets older. As an infant, your child will sleep for about 16-20 hours each day, and the longest span of time he or she will stay asleep is 4-5 hours. When your baby reaches three months old, there will be a greater chance that he or she will sleep for 6-8 hours at night. When the child reaches six months old, you can expect to have a more peaceful night – there is a very low chance that your baby will wake up at night to feed.
Different theories abound about getting a child to sleep. There are two main ways that experts advocate: one is through soothing methods, including nursing, feeding, singing lullabies, or rocking a baby to sleep. Some experts also recommend co-sleeping, or putting your baby to sleep on the bed beside you. This will form an attachment between your baby and you.
The second is to let the child sleep on his or her own through self-soothing techniques. Your baby will be put to bed awake so that he or she can learn on his own how to get to sleep. Some argue that this will break the bonding and the attachment process, but on the other hand, your baby will learn to be more independent and you don’t have to spend so much time getting him or her to sleep.
No matter what method you choose to use, remember that there is a greater chance that your baby will sleep if all of his or her needs are met. That is, the air should be cool and humidified. Lights should be turned out. Your baby should have been fed and burped, and he or she should already be wearing a dry diaper. You can also choose to have white noise in the background to help soothe your baby.
