Teaching Your Infant to Sleep Through the Night

New parents usually struggle with sleep issues; especially when it comes to newborn babies. It is a fact that most newborns do not sleep through the night right away. They wake up for nightly feedings and a lot of times their bodies have not distinguished between night and day. It is important to start early (in infancy) and get your child on a schedule. It will be difficult at first but if you start the process when they are young then it will be much easier when they get older.

Establish a Schedule

Just getting your baby on some type of a schedule is the first big step to creating good sleeping habits. Infants need to have a consistent eating schedule. If your baby wakes up every 4 hours for a feeding this is good. You can plan your schedule around the baby's eating times. When the infant gets older the feedings will be farther apart. As early as possible try to get your infant to sleep less during the day and more at night. Of course it is hard to control the sleep patterns of a newborn, but try to help them distinguish between sleep time and just being sleepy. Parents need to be alert and read the signs (body language), if the infant is just a little sleepy you can try playing with them during the day to keep them awake and alert. If the baby needs sleep they will fall asleep on their own. Of course newborn babies need their rest and usually they sleep about 16 hours a day. If you can schedule the majority of their sleep time at night then you will probably be a happier parent.

Sleep Time for Toddlers