10 GENTLE SLEEP TIPS FOR PARENTS OF BABIES (0- 6 MONTHS)

The first 6 months are essential for establishing and promoting well-rounded sleep experience and association with sleep. These tips can help shape your baby's sleep habits for the future. Shaping their sleep for the next 6 months will be a challenge. These tips are 'gentle' because they are based on nurturing support that prioritize connect and responsiveness.

Here are 10 Gentle Sleep Tips for You:

1. DAILY EXPOSURE TO SUNLIGHT.

Exposure to the daylight will regulate the circadian rhythm, building their sleep hormones improving sleep and providing sensory experience.

2. PATTERN DEVELOPMENT.

Taking note of their sleep and wake times is beneficial to ensure that you meet them half way when their bodies are calling for rest.

3. NATURAL CUES.

Observe their signs of sleepiness and how they respond when need sleep. This will help you establish when they are feeling discomfort and how to deal with it.

4. SLEEP HYGIENE.

Create an environment that they can associate sleep with to ease into their sleep. Things like lights and temperature are a huge key to sleeping well.

5. FEEDING ROUTINES.

A fully tummy provides comfort and security which helps addresses discomfort and hunger.

6. NAP TIMES.

You can allocate times for the baby to nap during the day ensuring they don't replace night's sleep. The recommended nap times are 2-3 naps a day that can have 3-4 hour wake time between the naps.

7. SENSORY SLEEP CUES.

Using sensory activities at this early stage can help babies have sleep triggers that can improve their sleep. It can be swaddling, shushing or any sounds that they can associate with sleeping.

8. BEDTIME ROUTINES:

Having a "predictable" routine for night and naps will help build consistency for the sleeping times and how they respond to it.

9. ENCOURAGE SELF-SOOTHING.

Allowing your baby to slowly settle back to sleep will build independency at the early stage of shaping their sleep.

10. CONSISTENCY WILL BUILD HABITS.

This early stage of building your baby's sleep is crucial for the habits they will have as they grow older. Establishing good habits like sleep hygiene is going to help them develop and become healthy babies!

Implementing these tips can help you shape better habits and a healthy relationship between you and your baby. The journey of establishing and shaping your babies sleep will be hard but worth it.

REMINDER:

Having a community where you can express how you have approaching and experiencing parenting is important.

Otti offer the 'Better Sleep Community' where you can connect with parents and have support during you path of parenting.

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Sending Sleepy Dust,

Otti