It is no secret that those who are expecting a child are preparing themselves not to get much sleep once their baby arrives. Newborn babies sleep very little, but with some practice you will be able to train your child to have restful night sleep allowing you and your partner some shut eye as well! Here are some newborn sleep tips that will help the whole home sleep tight.
1. Don’t make eye contact
When you make eye contact with your child, their heart rate speeds up, their blood pressure rises, and they become more alert. In order to create a soothing enviroment make plenty of eye contact during the day, so they know when to be awake and when it is time to go to sleep. This will help create a newborn sleeping schedule with minimal effort.
2. Make their room cooler
Many sleep studies acknowledge that humans sleep better when their bedroom is cooler. The same goes for your child, so make sure to keep the temperature of their bedroom a few degrees cooler than the rest of the house. Experts recommend to keep the room between 65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Use dimmer lights
Lights are one of the best ways to regulate an infant’s internal clock. Buy a few dimmer lights to install throughout your house, and once the sun goes down dim the lights even if the baby is not going to sleep. Using this method while keeping the lights on full brightness during the day is a great way to coax the baby into positive newborn sleep patterns.
4. Use noise
Babies, especially newborns, are used to noises as the noises they heard in the womb were twice as loud as a traditional vacuum cleaner. Buying a white noise machine to put next to their crib will help soothe them into a peaceful sleep.
5. Feed them more
Starting around dinner time, feed the child more often than during the day. For example if you are feeding your child ever three hours or so, change the feedings to about two hours. This way they will be full when they go to sleep leading them to sleep for longer stretches of time.
Follow these newborn sleep tips once your bundle of joy arrives and you will all be sleeping in no time!
