A baby who seems to be waking up may, if left alone, go back to sleep very rapidly.
How to keep your light sleeper from waking up all the way
- Don’t rush in the moment you think your baby has awakened.
As mentioned above, children often wake up, but that doesn't mean they intend to wake up "completely" every few minutes. Upon partial awakening, children often wake up, sigh or vocalize. If you avoid stimulating them during these times, they can return to bed alone.
- Tank up the baby before you go to sleep.
Whether you are breastfeeding or nursing, try to give your baby a very large meal before he goes to bed. This will help your baby sleep longer.
- If you feed your baby formula, try to find one that includes DHA.
DHA is a fatty acid found in fish oil and other foods. It is important for brain development and may also play a role in shaping sleep.
DHA is found in breast milk, so it is likely that increasing the mother's DHA intake may improve the infant's sleep patterns. If you use artificial nutrition, it seems like a good idea to get baby foods that contain DHA.
When trying to cope with your newborn's sleep patterns, don't forget to take care of yourself. Here are some tips to help you with that.
1. Appreciate the power of a 30-minute nap
When you grow into a huge sleep debt, you may think that 30 minutes of sleep will have little effect on your health.
But recent research confirms that all naps are not the same. When you’re sleep deprived, the brain compensates by rendering naps more restorative than usual.
In one study, volunteers who were allowed to sleep for only 2 hours at night showed typical variations in the chemistry of stress hormones and immune factors. But after only 30 30-minute shots, these irregularities were completely normalized
2. Don’t assume that it’s pointless to lie down if you don’t fall asleep. You might pass into a state of drowsy, semi-conscious sleep — and reap some benefits.
Are you too wired to "sleep while the baby is asleep"? If so, keep in mind that peaceful relaxation is better than nothing. In fact, if you're lying with your eyes closed, you may not realize it.
In many laboratory studies, subjects awakened from the first phase of sleep often refused to sleep altogether. The scales, which are simply sleeping in Phase 1, may not help you improve response times, but you will likely feel less tired. And if you manage to slip into the second phase of sleep - even for just 3 minutes - your sleep can have recovery effects.
3. Don’t play the blame game.
Restoring the situation will make it harder for you to fall asleep when you have the opportunity. And they're also wrong: Maybe you're doing everything you can to get more sleep and get stuck with a baby who sleeps less than average.
4. Don’t assume that breastfeeding will make you more sleepless than formula feeding.
One study reported that parents of breastfed babies have an average sleep time of 40-45 minutes longer than parents of formula-fed babies.
5. If you are breastfeeding, you are likely to get more sleep if you keep your baby nearby.
The World Health Organization recommends that children share a bedroom with their parents, and that breastfeeding does not interfere with each other. A recent study found that breastfeeding women sleep more when they sleep with their baby. In fact, mothers who slept and breastfed together more than mothers who fed their children from a bottle.
6. If your baby is asleep, don’t worry about changing diapers.
If your baby can't sleep because he needs a diaper change, he'll let you know. And some urine probably won't wake her up anyway. In a recent experiment, researchers injected water into the diapers of sleeping babies to see if it woke them up. Not that
7. Get sunlight, avoid artificial lighting at night.
Make sure that you and your child are exposed to bright light during the day. Do not leave the lights off - or at least dimmed - after sunset.
As mentioned above, natural lighting helps to affect the sleep patterns of newborns. However, it helps to prevent your own circadian rhythms from flowing, which is important if you want to avoid insomnia and be a source of daily advice for the newborn.
8. Let a friend or family member watch your baby while you take a nap, even if this means your breastfed baby will take some meals from a bottle.
Nursing mothers often do not encourage nursing mothers for the first 3-4 weeks of breastfeeding. She fears that complementary feeds will reduce milk production and jeopardize long-term breastfeeding success.
Lack of sleep exposes parents to a greater risk of postpartum disease and depression, which is harmful to parents and children.
9. Trust your instincts, get help when you feel stressed
If something happens to you or the child, talk to your doctor. And remember that your mental health is paramount.Addressing sleep deprivation is very stressful, especially if it's your baby postpartum depression and asking for help from others.
10. Remember that things will get better
Children have special sleep patterns and special needs. But things start to improve about 12 weeks after giving birth.