Resettle a Baby After One Sleep Cycle - Swaddle your baby to help her sleep better. A 2002 study in the journal "Pediatrics" found that babies who are swaddled and put to sleep on their backs startle less, are less likely to arouse during quiet sleep and fall back to sleep more easily when aroused during active sleep.
Play a CD of "white noise" in your baby's bedroom. White noise mimics the sounds a baby listened to in the womb and muffles outside noises that can disturb a sleeping baby. Pediatrician Harvey Karp recommends playing white noise "as loud as a shower" to calm babies and help them stay asleep.
Resettle a Baby After One Sleep Cycle
Create a "sleep-friendly" bedroom for your baby. Since babies arouse more easily than adults, limit stimuli that can awaken your baby at the end of a sleep cycle. Darken the room with shades, fix the door if it squeaks and keep noisy pets away from his bedroom. Keep the room at a comfortable temperature and humidity, usually about 70 degrees and 50 percent relative humidity.
Give your baby five minutes to resettle before checking on her. Running in to check on your baby too quickly can interfere with her sleep. Babies often cry between sleep cycles, sometimes just because they need to sleep more. If left to herself, your baby may simply fall back to sleep without your needing to do anything.
Catch your baby before he awakens completely and help him stay asleep through the light sleep phase at the end of his sleep cycle. Lay both of your hands firmly on your baby's body. Pat his back or bottom rhythmically. When your baby has passed into the next sleep cycle, remove your hands slowly and one at a time, so you don't disturb him.
A baby's sleep pattern differs markedly from an adult's. Babies spend 50 percent of their sleep time in "active," or REM sleep, the sleep stage associated with dreaming. Adults only spend 20 percent of time asleep in this stage, according to ParentingScience.com. Babies also have short sleep cycles that only last 50 to 60 minutes in their first nine months, whereas adult sleep cycles last 90 to 100 minutes. Because people arouse more easily in active sleep and at the end of a sleep cycle, babies tend to be light sleepers who awaken easily -- often after just one sleep cycle. Getting a baby to resettle can be challenging, but certain techniques can help a baby who stirs at the end of a sleep cycle fall back to sleep. - by eHow
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