Before your first baby arrives, you will, no doubt, want to buy all the fluffy, adorable bedding, cot bumpers, and cute baby stuff available. But if you want your baby to sleep through the night from an early age, spending some time planning the nursery to encourage this is worth doing before your baby arrives.
If you already have the nursery finished, and have a baby who doesn’t sleep well, you’ll find the following tips useful. Some simple adjustments may help to resolve the sleeping problems you’re faced with.
Your baby needs a safe place to sleep. Although she will grow out of a crib or Moses basket very quickly, you will still find it’s a worthwhile buy. A newborn baby looks lost in a cot, and no doubt feels that way too. The security of the Moses basket will help her begin the journey towards learning to feel safe when its time to sleep.
When you’re ready to move your baby into the cot, simply place the Moses basket inside the cot for a few nights to familiarise your baby with her new surroundings. You can then start putting her straight into the cot.
Your baby’s cot or cot bed needs to be safe. Some cots have solid boards at the top and bottom which are not recommended. Choose a cot with bars that go all the way around so that air can circulate freely while your baby sleeps. Also, make sure there is a good distance between the base of the cot and the top of the rail. Remember you still have to put the mattress in there as well!
Choose a new, firm and clean mattress that fits well. A gap of more than 2.5cm between the side of the mattress and the cot is not safe.
You’ll need a lot less cot bedding than you think. Three or four fitted sheets for the Moses basket and the same again for the cot will be all you need. A baby blanket might be useful in the Moses basket but the safest and easiest option is a good quality sleeping bag.
Choose a fabric like bamboo which has natural anti-bacterial properties. Because of its smooth fibers and the lack of chemical additives (bamboo is bleached without using chlorine), bamboo is a perfect choice when choosing bedding for your baby.
A music player will help you use white noise or lullabies as part of your baby’s bedtime routine. These sounds will encourage your baby to relax and transition from awake to asleep.
Rhythmical sounds and white noise also help a baby to move between sleep cycles without fully waking. When in the womb, your baby was surrounded by sound so absolute silence is very disconcerting for her. Monotonous background noise helps babies to relax and feel safe.
Blackout blinds are worth investing in. For every baby who sleeps well in broad daylight, there will be another who doesn’t. The sleep hormone is actually stimulated by darkness so taking your baby to a dark room for her nap is likely to result in a good quality sleep. Your baby will sleep better at night if she naps well in the day. She’s also likely to sleep longer in the morning if the sunlight doesn’t wake her.
Investing in these basic items for your baby’s nursery will be a great starting point for you to begin to establish healthy sleeping habits for your baby.
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