Forty Winks: Sleep Training for Babies
Sleep training is very important for your child. Oftentimes you will have to wait until your child is at least five months old before you can begin sleep training. Many parents have the mistaken notion that sleeping is not a skill, and thus does not require training. However, it is important to sleep train your baby so that their sleeping pattern matches your own.
More often parents fall asleep as soon as their head hits the pillow, but their child stays awake. Be sure to sleep train your baby so that you both get the sleep you need and de-stress yourself as much as possible.
This is the best way to properly raise your child without constantly shouting at them, and help them develop a routine they can adhere to for years to come.
Purchase a Baby Lounger
One of the easiest ways to promote a healthy sleeping pattern in your child is with a baby lounger. Baby loungers, according to the professionals of https://sleepauthorities.com/dockatot-review/, can aid your child in sleeping and help to create a healthy and ordinary routine. Baby loungers swing back and forth and help to cultivate healthy sleep in your baby and help them to get enough rest so that they do not wake up at all hours of the night and scream at you.
What is Sleep Training?
Sleep training has received a bad reputation over the years. There are many methods incorporated by parents’ sleep training that are very questionable, such as the ‘Cry-it-Out’ method, or the Ferber technique, that some parents thoroughly dislike. However, sleep training is much more than that, and there are so many different potential sleep training methods that can be suited for your child and your family to make everybody sleep better and stay healthy.
Sleep training is subjective to your specific family and your family’s needs so one routine that works for some may not for others. Sleep training is not the ‘Cry-it-Out’ method unless you want it to be. It is not denying your baby food if they are hungry at night, nor neglecting your baby at all, nor is it finding a schedule best suited to you, rather it is for everybody as a whole.
When is the Best Time to Start?
Many people offer different opinions on when is the best time to start sleep training, but the expert consensus is between five months and six. The question is, are you ready for sleep training? It can become very stressful and while, of course, your baby needs to be ready, so do you, as it can be very time-consuming and it can be very difficult at the same time.
Be sure to make sure you are completely ready and aware of all of the things necessary for you to start sleep training your baby and eradicate anything that could potentially disrupt your practice such as a holiday or a trip to see family or even a work trip where you will have to swap duties with your partner. Once you have decided it is time for sleep training, you should consult your pediatrician and find out whether your baby is ready or not.
You must consult your pediatrician to establish whether or not your child has any health problems that could prove any sleep training harmful. Your child should be in the best of health before you start sleep training to avoid any potential mishaps or to unnecessarily stress your child out.
How Do I Know If My Child Needs It?
It is very common for parents to wonder if their child needs sleep training. Many children will not, although a few will, and you need to establish whether your child falls into the former category or the latter. If your child is constantly sullen, tired, and grumpy, then the chances are your child is not sleeping properly and could benefit from a spot of sleep training. Be sure to check your child out thoroughly and make sure they are tired and that there are not any more sinister problems afoot that may have gone unnoticed.
Many times, lethargy and fatigue are the warning beacons of more serious problems. This is why, as aforementioned, you should consult your clinical physician or pediatrician for the aforesaid symptoms to rule out anything more harmful or sinister that could be taking place. Often it is just simple tiredness, but there is no harm in checking.
Be sure to consult a professional on the methods of which you sleep train as many have been labeled by government bodies as pseudoscience and may, actually do more harm than good.
