Please note: some of these tips are intended for parents over 6 months of age. Before this age, infants of course need to cuddle, to feel your presence and to react quickly to their crying!
Give baby the right marks: darkness and silence to sleep well
To help baby distinguish between day and night and to structure his sleep phases, use daylight and noise.
At night, we shut the shutters or the curtains well so that it gets dark. We can put a night light on, even if a baby doesn't need it, he doesn't have night terrors or nightmares during his first year! During the day, during the nap (s), you can draw the curtains a bit but always let the daylight pass so that it does not confuse them with the real night.
Side noise, at night, silence or whispers are required, so that we can allow conversations or activities "normal" during the day, even if baby is sleeping, next to him in his room .
Baby sleep: reunite siblings in the same room
When a little brother or a little sister is born, you wonder if it's really a good idea to have them share the same room, because they don't necessarily have the same rhythm. However, it is a real source of calm for babies to have a brother or sister by their side, whose breath they can hear and feel. In addition, generally, the eldest is not even woken up at night by the little one's crying.
As for the day's naps, can you ask the elder to have a quiet time in the living room, like a "big one" or take the opportunity to do an activity with him?
Keep a log of baby nights
What if you kept a small notebook of your infant's habits? You can note the times of his feedings or bottles (handy when you are tired or alternating with your darling in addition), his rest times, the times when he cried … Thanks to this compiled information, you can find -be reasons for crying or waking up at night (a bath schedule to be changed, a hug to reassure rather than a feeding …)
Let him cry… a little
When baby wakes up at night, force yourself to wait a minute (yes, it's long!) Before getting up. Why ? Because it could very well be that baby is trying to sleep and that he can find it alone (that's the goal), without you. If you appear in the room to cuddle him as soon as he emits the slightest alert, you do not help him, because you create a situation of insecurity: since he is crying and you are running, there is was cause for concern! So we take our time and if the crying shortens the time we get to the bedroom, we even take a break in the corridor … and we analyze the situation.
If the method does not work, that baby gets carried away or that his cries do not cease, we return slowly to the room, maintaining a "nocturnal" environment (in the dark and without noise). We whisper, we explain to him that everyone sleeps in the house, we calm him down and cuddle him by putting a hand on his stomach… if possible without getting him out of his bed. If you start to take it systematically in your arms, and go for a hundred paces to rock it all over the house, it will take a liking to it and is likely to call you back the following night to repeat this delicious experience!
Give him a bottle, yes … but a bottle of water!
At night, same fight on the bottle side: from 6 months, baby must be able to stop feeding during the whole night, so we avoid succumbing to the milk bottle in the middle of the night to calm him down. We can offer him some water or his pacifier. If he eats out of habit at night, not out of hunger, it should be resolved quickly.
Hand on stomach to help him fall asleep
Asleep or awake, you can test the hand on your stomach method. You are in contact (without support) of his breathing, he feels your warmth and your hand on him. This is reassuring. Staying in this position for a few minutes is sometimes enough to calm baby down and put him back to sleep quickly, without getting him out of his bed.
Talk to him to reassure him
We often underestimate the capacities of little ones to understand us, because they are not able to make themselves understood by themselves. However, long before they can speak, they understand us perfectly! So do not hesitate, every night at bedtime, to explain gently, with your words (always the same) that you have to sleep long, that you rest at night to be in shape the next day and that we have confidence in our ability to stay quietly sleeping, for example. Make this short conversation your ritual of the moment, to which you will add a few sweet words of course!
Teach baby to sleep alone
Falling asleep alone is a challenge for babies. To help him, it is easy to offer him the comfort of welcoming arms or a good bottle of hot milk … The problem is that without this, he will not be able to sleep again or go back to sleep alone if he wakes up. Putting your baby to sleep in bed (and not your own), with a specific ritual, is the best thing to do, if possible soon after birth. Each evening, at a fixed time, prepare him for bedtime by talking to him, by making similar gestures, in short by establishing your own rituals (pampering, kisses, stories, cuddly toy …). The order of the routine has a very reassuring side for him. It must therefore be done well (without haste or stress), but must not last 30 minutes either! Once you have the feeling of accomplishment, you quietly leave the room … even if he cries!
Massage baby to help him relax
After the bath, in a well-heated bathroom, offer him a moment of relaxation by talking or singing while performing a gentle baby massage. You can also institute a small massage ritual at bedtime: massage it in a circular pattern between the eyebrows with your index and middle fingers together. Guaranteed relaxation effect … and who knows easier falling asleep for the restless.
Adopt a malignant night light for the morning
When the child grows up, we can install a night light in their bedroom, like the clever Philips Buddy lamp, to avoid waking up at 6 am on weekends … How does it work? Parents indicate on the lamp what time it is and the desired wake-up time (realistic!). At bedtime and during the night, the lamp displays a moon, a sign that you must sleep. When the wake-up time has passed, the moon turns into the sun, indicating to the impatient little one that he has the right to call mom or dad!
To go further: 20 tips for baby to sleep through M.Solaro (First editions). A low-priced mini-guide (6.95 euros) packed with mom stuff.
Read also :
⋙ Clock routines: the little ritual that helps children go to bed
⋙ Why you shouldn't make baby sleep in his car seat
⋙ Sleep: up to what age can a baby sleep in his parents' room?