Personalizing Night Time Routine: One Of The Essentials For Your Children
Being a parent is by far one of the most challenging
, and often frightening, responsibilities that anyone can take on. There are no rules or instruction manuals to accompany these tiny bundles of joy. They're just a bit of mommy, a bit of daddy and a whole lot of their own personality, rolled into one kicking, screaming little baby.Many new parents-to-be are fooled into thinking that they know a bit about what they are letting themselves in for, but just as many are desperately ill-prepared. When you leave the hospital and the midwife stops visiting, many come down to earth with a bang. They find themselves left holding this new little child, who can only communicate through laughter or tears and often, if they are still crying after you have fed, winded, changed and nursed them, they won't be the only ones in tears.
It's a widely held belief that routine is one of the keys to a full night's sleep, and it's a belief borne out of experience from many parents. In the end though, it all comes down to understanding what your baby needs as part of the night time routine. For instance, it is going to take a hungrier baby longer to sleep all through the night than a baby who is satisfied with a feed every four hours. To find a routine that works with your baby's needs, you need to try and get the feeding times to work with the time you would like to put baby to bed. For example, if you want bedtime to be seven o'clock, baby must be changed and ready for bed before seven o'clock to give you time for the bedtime routine. You can then feed them, read them a bedtime book, and settle them down for the night in their pram or crib, making sure the room is ready before you take baby into it. A night light or wall light dimmed to the lowest setting will often prove invaluable.
Children will inevitably cry when you leave the room and this is only natural, but try not to give in too easily. If your baby is crying so much that you must go into the room, try your best to just fix the covers and stroke baby's hand or cheek to settle them. This way they don't get used to being overly nursed at night. Once baby is asleep try to make sure the house is quite a bit quieter than it would be during the day. When you go to bed, put the light off. When the child wakes up, after hopefully longer than just a few hours, keep the bedroom as dark as you possibly can. Use a hallway light or a light from another room that's just enough to allow you to see what you are doing while still letting child know that you're there and that it's not time to get up for a play. Feed and change baby's diaper only if it is dirty, then put baby straight back down to sleep again.
Not every child will take to this routine straight away, or even at all, but if you maintain the routine they will at least start to realize the difference between night and day which will, in the long term, help them to sleep longer.
by: Kevin Andersen How to Effectively Help Your Asthmatic Child Capturing The Teenage Demographic What To Look For When Purchasing Kids Picnic Tables Kids Personalized Music Enhances Acting Out In Kids How Music Increases Sociability Among Kids Is Your Child Ready To Go To Preschool? How To Plan Children's Time With Kids Music Classes Is Art And Music Education Essential For All Kids? Cloud Types For Kids Is My Child Support Too Much, Too Little, or Just Right? The Benefits Children Receive from Gardening Adult Step-Children Relationships and Brain Injuries Nanny in Miami - Easy Child Minder Screening Tool!