Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Setting A Sleep Pattern For Kids/Sleeping On Their Own

It is essential for parents to set sleep patterns for the kids so as not to get sleep deprived and have a cranky kid at hand all the while.. or worse still a kid having cranky parents... a big no!!!

There are quite a few advises coming in but I loved the way this mom has summed it up all... see if helps.


My words could be harshand be lot more Q's than answers but try to take them in a positive way and try to read it twice or thrice before you come to a conclusion(some or most of the stuff I am typing here is an advise from a doc or a friend)

a. Do you feed him BF in a bottle? If not, please do that as you will have an idea on how much milk he is drinking in the first place so you will know if he is really hungry or not
b. What's his daily routine? I would suggest feeding him on schedule..try giving him bath in the evening atleast couple of hours before going to bed and read him books and stuff while he is in the crib. Let him sleep on his own in the crib how ever long it might be but don't pick him up when he is crying for no reason.Read books ,try playing toys whatever he likes to play with. If he is getting enough play and getting tired and taking naps in the afternoon he will also sleep at night.
c. If you are giving him formula or regular milk since he is 14months ,try giving him warm milk as that will give him a peaceful and restful sleep
d. This one is going to be really hard but if you want a solution to your sleep deprevation and put him on schedule try this and it will work as I have seen friends :
Put him in crib, read books,play etc ,dim the lights and let him cry (when you know he is not hungry or doesnt have any other health concerns etc) .If he doesn't have any tears that means he is just crying so you will come and hold him.If he has tears lift him,hug him and console him and make sure everything is OK and put him back in the crib. Never make him sleep next to you .If you think you can't be in the same room when he is crying move out, stay at distance where he doesnt watch you but you can watch him ,after a while he will stop crying thinking you won't come and will try to fall asleep. This is kind of hard being a mother who gave birth to watch them cry for long but if it doesn't happen now..it won't happen in the near future.
It frightens them if they sleep next to you and wake up in the so called crib and that's when they start crying.If they know where they slept if will be easy for them to understand that when they are in crib and it's time to sleep. I have american friends who did this and it works like wonder but mom has to be hard .I haven't tried this personally but if you want to have a best sleep pattern you have to be bold and hard on yourself.
Play some lullabies, sing if you can, make a routinue and slow music that will help too.

Courtesy:  JRani

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