Common Baby Sleep Training Mistakes Made By Parents
Does your baby tend to stay up during night ? Check if you are making these critical common mistakes during sleep training which could be impacting your baby’s sleep and solutions to improve upon them.
Most new parents struggle with getting their bundle of joy to bed and sleep through the night. This is extremely critical for moms because they cannot sleep unless baby goes to sleep making them feel tired throughout the day. In this article, we will discuss some common mistakes made by parents which can disturb the natural rhythm of your baby’s sleep cycle.
Common Mistakes Made by Parents While Sleep Training
1) Rocking Your baby to Sleep
A mistake that lot of parents make is to have their baby get used to sleeping while in the swing or on your shoulder while you walk. While this might seem like a good solution to get the baby sleeping quickly, it is a very bad idea in the long term because babies get used to motion very quickly and it will be difficult for you to get them away from this habit. As soon as possible, try to first get them away from this habit and sleep while you are stationary and after a few days gradually transition to crib.
2) Rushing to Pick up the Baby
Do you rush to the baby’s side every-time they cry and pick them up to soothe them ? If you do then you are not alone since most of the parents tend to make that mistake until someone more experienced cautions them against it. The truth is that baby gets used to someone rushing to their aid very quickly and tend to not go back to sleep on their own. You need to learn to condition the baby in such a way so that they can get back to sleep on their own.
Try waiting for atleast 5 minutes if the baby wakes up before going to them. Even if you do have to go, do not pick them up but slowly pat them till they go back to sleep. Gradually, try to increase that period from 5 to 10-15 mins. Slowly, the baby will get used to you not coming right away and learn to sleep independently and not cry everytime they will wake up.
3) Sleeping in the Stroller
Babies also tend to get used to sleeping while in motion. Many children around the world tend to find it difficult to sleep till the parent walks around with the baby either in stroller or on their shoulder. It is critical for the parent to make sure that they do not let baby fall into this very bad habit. Even if you are going out with the baby, don’t let them fall asleep in the stroller as much as possible.
4) Indefinite bed-time & Routine
Another common mistake made by new parents is to let their child sleep whenever they want even going to an extent of letting them sleep in late evening and staying up in the night time. This is one of the biggest mistake you can make as a parent because it can interfere with the baby’s natural rhythm. Set a strict bed time routine and always put the baby to sleep around the same time in the night so that you can also catch up on some sleep.
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