When a new baby is born, the sleep of the whole family can be disturbed. However, these issues are often not resolved by the time a child reaches their first birthday. If you’re not spending quality time with your baby and sleeping, see what you can do to help your baby develop healthy sleep habits.

Develop a bedtime routine

A regular routine should start soon after your child returns home from the hospital. However, if you don’t start early, it’s not too late to learn how babies sleep. Routine is part of how babies sleep, but if you’re not sure what to be part of your bedtime, here are a few things to keep in mind.

• Start your baby’s bathing and sleeping routine by putting him in his pajamas.
• Dim the lights and turn the TV on or off at a very low volume. Make sure the area is calm and quiet.
• Read a story, sing a song, kiss and say goodnight.

If you follow this routine regularly, your child will soon realize that it means bedtime is approaching. Do this every night and it will help your child calm himself if he wakes up in the night. Eventually your child will realize how babies sleep and how they are able to fall asleep on their own.

Sleep is a valuable skill for your child. It can help you feel so refreshed when you wake up in the morning that you will spend hours trying to get your baby to sleep after a long day. Plus, if your baby can settle down when waking up at night, she won’t have to get up as many times throughout the night.

Baby and sleep, the easy way

If you are not sure how to get babies to sleep on their own, follow these steps.

1. Sit near your baby’s bed and hold his hand or pat his back until he falls asleep. This may take some time at first and you may need to repeat this step a few nights and over nights.
2. Next, move your seat, but stay close to your child. Stay here until your child falls asleep.
3. Every night after that, move your seat a little further away. Eventually you will be in the hallway, but make sure your child can still see you easily.
4. Then, stay on the other side of the door but you can talk to your child. If she cried, talked or sang to her.
5. In the end, your baby can sleep without you.

Keep your baby and sleep problems

Lack of sleep can drive anyone crazy, and parents of newborns are no exception. Save your sanity by remembering these things:

• Having a new baby can be stressful, but moms also need to take care of themselves. If you can, take a nap when your baby sleeps, eat healthy food and drink plenty of water.
• If your child seems more needy than a friend’s child, don’t be discouraged. Children are individuals, and everyone is different.
• Ask your partner for help. If you’re breastfeeding, your partner can help by flipping over and bringing the baby to you, so you should help out in those early days. As your baby gets older, try swapping out nights with your partner so you get a good night’s sleep twice a week. When it’s your turn to sleep, consider using earplugs and if the baby is crying, resist the temptation to ring him.
• If you’re working on your shape, make sure you’re eating enough and getting enough rest to make up for the extra work you’re doing in the gym.
• Don’t feel bad if you can’t remember things. Keep a list of things you need from the store and don’t worry if you need to jot things down to remember. Your memory will eventually come back, especially when you start getting enough rest.