If you are looking for home remedies for baby sleep, we totally empathise with you. And we understand how frustrating it can be to be exhausted, tired and then having to soothe a baby who is not willing to sleep at all.
With this, we want to welcome you to parenthood and introduce you to one of its most difficult tasks- to make newborn baby sleep at night. During the one year after your baby is born, it is an imperative to adjust your body clock in accordance to your baby’s sleeping patterns. And you also need to ensure that both your baby and you do not get sleep deprived.
Why Does My Baby Not Sleep Through The Night?
Your baby who is new to this world outside the womb is still trying to grasp the environment around him/her. The first few months babies wake up very frequently because they feel hungry again and again. This is because their tiny stomachs can only hold a little milk at a given time.
A newborn baby will not be able to imbibe a regular sleeping routine at least for the first six months of his/her life. Gradually, the baby’s feeding habits change and sleep training becomes a very important task for parents. From 8th month onwards, your child can sleep for 6 hours at a stretch, giving you some better sleep.
If your child is giving you trouble sleeping, you can even make use of certain tried and tested Indian home remedies for baby sleep which have had miraculous results for several parents.
Before we move on to tricks to get baby to sleep, it is very essential for you to understand what triggers disturbed sleep or less sleep in any newborn’s life. Your baby might be ill and a cold, teething or gastric issue might be causing night time disruptions in the sleeping schedule of the baby.
Apart from that, your baby might be feeling hungry or might have felt your absence around him/her. Other causes of disturbed sleep could be the need for a diaper change; uncomfortable nightwear; environmental disturbances and background sounds.
Related Reading: 9 Tips To Keep Baby Warm At Night In Winters
8 Indian Home Remedies For Baby Sleep
Instead of getting overwhelmed and stressing out when you are unable to make a baby sleep fast at night, you must take a step back to understand your baby’s sleeping habits and accordingly implement any of the following 8 Indian home remedies for baby sleep that we have listed down for you.
1. Create a strict sleeping schedule for the baby
Just as you have created a habit for yourself to sleep at a particular time, the same habit has to be inculcated within your baby. If you follow a certain routine and make your baby sleep at particular time daily, then with time your baby will automatically start feeling drowsy and sleep at that hour of the day. You can follow some daily rituals that make the baby understand that it’s sleep time.
Many Indian parents follow the routine of massage-bath-feed before bed. After a few days, the baby tends to adjust to the ritual and awaits the same.
For older toddlers, bath time followed by story time is a good way too.
Keeping a child on schedule has always been successful, but it has to be structured and consistent. The lesser you deviate away from the routines, the lesser your baby will fuss about sleep.
2. A heavenly warm bath before bedtime
Babies work hard every day. Their days are filled with too many new things, too many discoveries and too much physical activities. Like adults, even the babies undergo a long, playful yet tiring day so even they need their relaxation and beauty sleep.
But most of the times the babies are so energetic that despite being tired they do not sleep on time. So if you have to put a hyper baby to sleep, a warm bath should definitely do the trick because it induces sleep while cooling down the baby’s body and giving it the much needed push to rest.
If chamomile or lavender oil is available at your home, then you can add it to the warm water to further soothe your baby’s body and prepare him/her for a peaceful slumber. Remember, essential oils must be used after consultation with your pediatrician.
Related Reading: 13 Baby Hygiene Tips – From Head To Toe
3. A soothing massage for the baby
A baby’s day should end with a soothing and relaxing body massage using warm mustard oil, coconut oil, almond oil or any other well-known baby massage oil. Massages being one of the best natural sleep remedies for baby as they ease the aches and pains of the body. Baby massages also help to reduce gas and colic symptoms in the baby. Both these conditions can make your baby extremely fussy.
Normally, a full body massage before bedtime is enough to put a baby to sleep. However, if you are short of time instead of massaging full body, just rubbing the foot gently during the bedtime or the temple of your baby would be enough to put him/her to sleep happily and calmly.
4. Swaddling, rocking and lullabies for infants
For newborn babies, the techniques of swaddling, rocking and singing lullabies have been used since centuries to make them sleep. All these three methods target one goal- to calm the senses of the baby and make them feel sleepy.
A lot of parents also use the time tested remedy of feeding the baby, but experts recommend that feeding should be done only till the baby feels drowsy, and not asleep.
The key is to tell the baby that this is the time to sleep and rest, and so all external stimuli should be strictly controlled. Also, swaddling should only be used during the initial one or two months- as it does pose the serious risk of SIDS.
5. Sleeping ambience is the key
When a baby is born, she does not know day from night. Parents have to inculcate the sense that day time is for play and night time is for sleeping. Some people even play white noise when a baby naps during the day.
The surrounding environment when you are putting your baby to sleep has to be calming and non-stimulating. When the baby is napping during the day, you can leave the curtains like that. But to make newborn baby sleep at night, you should dim the lights of the room and maintain comfortable temperature of the room.
White noise in the night can also be used to make a baby feel secure and safe.
Apart from that, request your family members to keep the TV volume and other noises to a minimum level so as to not disturb your baby.
The most important tip to put a baby to sleep would be to avoid playing with him or her during night time. Follow bedtime rituals, but to instill the sense that it is night and we need to sleep, avoid going loud on play.
6. Important diet considerations for baby sleep
Sometimes the cause behind disturbed sleep of the baby is the diet consumed by him/her. Since you will be breastfeeding your newborn, your diet also has to be considered. Whatever you eat also gets passed on to the baby in traces and can affect his behavior.
Breastfeeding mothers are recommended to avoid caffeine, sugar, spicy and dairy products as these could keep your baby awake.
Related Reading: Foods To Avoid During Breastfeeding
Even during the day, make sure your baby is well fed so that there is no requirement for night time feeding. Avoid filling the baby’s stomach with too much food during dinner time to make a baby sleep fast and naturally.
7. Making your baby comfortable- A top priority
In order to do this, you need to switch the daytime clothes of your baby with nightwear that is comfortable, cozy and airy. Along with that, you have to ensure that the crib is tidy and clean for your baby to feel relaxed. The blanket or the sheets you use for your baby must be of light colors to give a soothing sensation to your baby.
You can even introduce your baby to comforting objects like soft toys and blankets which make your baby feel safe but after consultations with your pediatrician. Pacifiers can be utilized for self-soothing purposes but make sure your baby does not get dependent on it.
8. Observe your baby’s sleeping signs
Last but not the least in this list of Indian home remedies for baby sleep is the observation (for at least a few weeks) of your baby’s sleeping signs. If you do not learn these signs, then you will miss out the opportunity to make your baby sleep fast when he/she is actually ready to doze off.
Some babies cry a lot when they want to sleep; some of them rub their eyes or pull their ears and so on. As a parent, you would know best as to when your baby wants to sleep and take a rest, so pay close attention.
Why must you follow these Indian home remedies for baby sleep?
Your baby sleeping for ample of hours is just as essential as maintaining baby hygiene and feeding your baby on time. In that context, the tricks to get a baby to sleep which are shared in this article have stood the test of time and made the whole new parenthood experience smooth and comfortable for many parents out there. You can either put to use one or a combination of these remedies to ensure that your baby sleeps through the night.
Do not make the assumption that this phase of disturbed or less sleep will always last forever and do not get overwhelmed by guilt when you are unable to put your baby to sleep. With time, practice and correct utilization of the Indian home remedies for baby sleep, you will be able to make sure that your baby sleeps in a relaxed manner and wakes up next morning afresh and happy.
For proper application of these home remedies for baby sleep, we want you to keep certain things in mind: Your newborn will tend to sleep all throughout the day during the first few months; your baby might be confused between day time and night time; overnight your newborn will feel hungry in the first few months and night time feeding habit will wear off with time; and your baby might be a very light sleeper along with being restless.
Therefore, with the above overview of newborn sleeping habits and patterns, you will be better equipped to make your baby sleep fast and soundly through the night with the natural remedies for baby sleep. We want you to happily accept the sleep deprivation you will face due to new parenthood, but also tackle it effectively when things go out of hand because remember sleep is as essential as oxygen to the baby and also to you. All the best! Happy Parenting!