Teaching a good night sleep habit

The first three Months..after the arrival of the baby.

The first three month were the most tough & crucial for me as a new mother.It was a like chaos in my life...sleepless nights...tiring days....making N nos of mistakes in handling the baby.Its very much true practical experience is the best learning class.

My entire house was a jungle of things lying all around.Sometimes I felt very helpless.But I was trying to put the best effort to learn things.My first aim was to inculcuate a habit in my baby to sleep at nights.Beacuse I knew if I start getting a proper sleep at night I can start settling things during day time.

For the first three & a half months I exclusively kept my baby on my feeds.So it was tough because my baby use to wake up 2 times at night for feeds.Many a times he started playing at mid nights.But I made it sure that I do not encourage him to play.I kept him on my lap & made him sleep.Many nights I spent hours in making the baby sleep & the baby use to take a nap
for half an hour & and some times this process use to get repeated many times during the night.

I didnt give up....& finally at 4 months my baby started taking a continous sleep for the whole nights that was around 8-9 hours at a stretch.

Some tips which I would like to share here are :

1)Keep the baby awake in evening.So that he gets tired by night.
2)If baby gets mid night,feed him & make him sleep again do not play with him.
3)Make the baby sleep at the same time daily.Also wake him up at the same time everyday in morning.This will help in regularzing his routine.
4)Sometimes you can even give a good massage before taking him to bed.That will relax & soothe the baby.
5)Make sure you give a proper feed to the baby finally taking him to bed.
6)If you are breastfeeding, caffeine can create a vicious circle,you drink coffee (or tea or cola) to give you a hit, baby gets a boost of stimulant through your milk – and becomes restless.
7)Tiny tummies need frequent refills, but soon your baby will start sleeping at least one longer stretch between feeds. If baby sleeps more than four hours between feeds during the day, it is reasonable to GENTLY unwrap him and offer a feed, then he might save his longer sleep for night – time. However, be patient if he is not ready to alter his pattern.
8)Teach baby the difference between night and day by keeping the lights low and attending to him quietly during night feeds. Save play and chatter for daytime.
9)Choose a well-lit area for your baby's naps. This will help encourage shorter naps, which in turn may help your little one sleep better at night.
10)Feed your baby in a darkened room at night if he or she wakes up hungry. Let him know that night is for sleeping.