Why is it important to be able to fall asleep on your own?
Children's whims, refusal to go to bed and crying at night seem like inevitable inconveniences of infancy that you just have to endure. After all, sooner or later the baby must begin to fall asleep on his own.
Knowing When to Sleep Train Your Babyon your own, you will pass this stage easilyPhoto: Getty Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Many children have difficulty falling asleep even at the age of five, and some already have problems with insomnia by adolescence. Lack of normal sleep affects the health of their nervous system, their academic performance at school and their general well-being. There is one reason - children do not know how to fall asleep. More precisely, their parents did not teach them this. How to teach a child to fall asleep on their own and at what age is it easiest to do? Much depends on the individual characteristics of the child: calm children begin to go to bed on their own earlier than hyperdynamic and overly emotional ones. But you need to focus on the natural sleep and wakefulness cycles that are typical for babies. Up to 3-4 months, an infant lives on a three-hour cycle, his day consists of short periods of wakefulness and the same short time of sleep. But at 6 months, the child already begins to switch to a normal "sunny" cycle - sleep more at night and be more active during the day. At this time, the baby's night sleep is already 7-8 hours. And this age is just the most convenient to teach him to fall asleep
How to teach a child to fall asleep himself
It is not that difficult to cope with this task, but you will need patience and persistence. And you also need to follow simple rules.
How to teach a child to fall asleep on his own? You need to act consistentlyPhoto: Getty
- Observe the regime and send the child to the crib always at the same time.
- The process of laying down should be made enjoyablefor the child a ritual. A quiet, short game, a gentle conversation or a kind fairy tale, bathing, putting to bed and wishing good night - these daily repeated actions will set the baby up for rest.
- The child should fall asleep in the same place where he will besleep all night - in his crib. If he fell asleep, for example, in a stroller, and then was transferred to a bed, then at night he may be afraid of a new place and start crying.
- You can't scold a child, yell at him ortalk in an irritated tone, no matter how tired you are - the time before bed should not be associated with negative emotions. And if the baby is capricious, it is better to talk to him affectionately and, having calmed him down, leave him alone.
- A child should have a permanent set of things that he associates with sleep: his own crib, blanket, pacifier, favorite "sleeping" toy.
The main condition for successfully accustoming a child toto fall asleep on your own - this is a positive attitude. And here you should make every effort, gently telling the child how good it is to sleep, how big he will grow in his sleep, what a nice crib and a gentle blanket he has, and the plush bunny is already waiting for the baby. It may take a lot of time to teach the child to fall asleep on his own, but the mother, being persistent, should in no case change the gentle tone, then the baby will be calm and will soon get used to sleeping on his own.
