teach your baby to self settle to sleep - Guide your baby's internal clock by keeping to a bedtime and a predictable nighttime schedule. This will help his body "learn" to get sleepy at the same time every night and to associate certain routines with sleep. A bath before bedtime is a particularly effective component to add to your routine because the warm water tends to relax babies and make them slightly drowsy.
Pay attention to your baby's sleep signals and use them to your advantage, both at night and during the day. Tired babies often become fussy very suddenly or move around as though they can't get comfortable. When you see these signs, minimize stimulation, bring your baby to his room and put him down for sleep.
teach your baby to self settle to sleep
Conduct bedtime business in the room in which you want your baby to settle down to sleep. Read stories in a rocking chair in the nursery as opposed to your bedroom or living room, change your baby into her sleeper in her room and have your last snuggles in front of her crib. In order to learn to self-soothe, a baby needs to be comfortable with the surroundings and understand that this is where she needs to sleep for the night.
Put your baby in his crib while he's still awake. Though it may be tempting to hold on tight until he's asleep, lay him down and tiptoe out of the room, in doing so you're inadvertently thwarting his attempts to self settle. You can slowly withdraw your own soothing techniques as he gets more comfortable on his own. You may need to rub his back for a few nights, but you can gradually move to sitting near the crib, then just in the room until you've gotten to the point where you can stand outside his door as he falls asleep.
Avoid excessive conversation or other stimuli at bedtime and during middle-of-the-night feedings. This will not only help your baby learn that it's not playtime, but also teach her to get used to the wake-sleep cycle that we all go through during the night. Once your baby learns that when she wakes in the night she will be put back to sleep, she will gradually adjust to drifting back to sleep on her own.
For many parents a large part of the bedtime routine is devoted to getting their baby comforted and settled enough to sleep by herself. However, it's important to teach your baby how to self settle, or self-soothe as it's sometimes known, or she will learn to rely on you to help her fall asleep. In most cases, self-settling is naturally acquired skill, but there are a few ways to move the process along. - by eHow
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