Playing the sleep game
There are many baby games on teaching babies to sleep, I will list some games for you, but beforehand, I’d like to firstly present you some tips.
1) Set up a regular bedtime for your baby and stick to it. Look for signs your baby is winding down and ready to nod off, for many baby’s as early as 7 or 8 PM.
2) Set up a bedtime ritual. Routine is very important for a child’s sense of security. Make the routine brief , no more than 30 minutes, so it’s clear that bedtime is coming. You might feed your baby, then read a story, sing a song or massage her. Familiar sights, smells, and sounds also help to signal sleep, so play the same bedtime music, sing a same song. You might put your baby’s favorite stuffed toy in the crib so baby associates it with sleep.
3) Teach baby to nod off by himself. By six weeks, try not to let baby fall asleep while you’re feeding him or her. Otherwise he or she might not learn how to fall asleep. The method is to put him in his crib while he’s drowsy but still awake.
4) When you do feed baby during the night, keep the lights dim, talk little, lower your voice, be as boring as possible. It’s a good way to prevent you from becoming your baby’s 4 AM playmate.
What if baby doesn’t want to play the sleep game?
There are many books about on this subject and they also show many different theories. I collected a few points that may help:
1) Babies rarely sleep through the night before three months, and then, through the night usually means from midnight to 6a.m.
2) Start observing what baby is waking up for. Is baby hungry or does he just want to see you?
3) If baby is 6 months to a year old and still not sleeping thought the night, you should consider to train your baby. you may worry about letting baby cry will leave him or her kind of feeling of being abandoned. But most child-development specialists believe that letting a baby cry so he can learn to fall asleep on his own is healthier in the long run.
There are three steps for you as suggestion:
1）Decide on a strategy. How long will you let the baby cry, how to reassure your baby while he or she is crying.
2) Start off slowly: Follow the usual bedtime routine; if your baby protests when you put her in her crib, then let her cry for the decided amount of time. After the time is up go and calm her without picking her up, then leave the room again. Each time stay away for a little longer.
3) You don’t have to follow this pattern whenever your baby wakes up during the night for it to succeed. Simply doing it each night at bedtime can establish the correct pattern.
Rock-a-baby games — one of newborn babies favorite baby games
Suitable for aged 0 and up babies
Sing lullabies to baby that will soothe both of you. If you don’t know any, you may consider to buy a lullaby tape and memorize a few. Rock together, holding baby close as you sing softly. Here is one for you:
Sleep, baby, sleep
Sleep, baby, sleep, thy father guards the sheep.
Thy mother shakes the dreamland tree, and from it fall
Sweet dreams for thee.
Sleep, baby, sleep.
Smile, baby, smile, thy mother guards awhile.
Thy father tends the dreamland tree,
and shakes a new sweet dream of thee.
Smile, baby, smile.
Together time — baby and you — this is one of the family matters baby games
Suitable for aged 0 and up babies
Pick one hour each night or 2 hours a week (try as much as you can) about the time baby goes to bed, and you should make a rule for these specific hours. No phone calls, no visitors, no works during that hour. That way you can peacefully place baby to bed without being interrupted or distracted. Once your baby is in bed, you will hopefully be left with some time together. This action is a constant reminder that family matters.
