Babies are quite a handful. They need a lot of things and require a lot of attention, or else things could go wrong. Babies requiring a lot of things are mainly because they are their fastest time of growth and development. Starting from 0- 10 months could be quite the adjustment period for a baby. Sleeping is one of the essential things a baby needs, and it is not just any sleep. It needs a properly timed sleep, which is most seen at night. Do you know what is more difficult than a baby sleeping at night? It is getting baby to learn how to get baby to nap in crib during day.
Giving your baby a day nap in their crib is not easy for both you and your baby. There is a difficulty in communicating what you want your child to do, and the same goes for your baby to you. However, there are ways how you could make this work, and you must keep in mind that by doing this, you would be able to establish your baby’s sleeping habits and will reflect more beneficially on their health. Adding to this, you would also be giving yourself a more efficient way of handling your child while not compromising their health.
How Does Naptime Work?
Getting baby to nap in the crib during the day is important for parents to keep their child in check and prime condition. Naps are a short period of sleep that is taken during the day to help assist a proper usual nighttime sleep period. It is a short break recommended to be 20-30 minutes for short-term alertness, but it could be longer depending on which makes them most active and comfortable for babies. Naps improve the alertness and mood of a baby without leaving them tired and interfering with their nighttime sleep. Naps are done in many ways and assisted with different methods and products for enhanced effectiveness. However, the sleep environment can greatly affect and impact the child’s ability to fall asleep.
You could adjust the hours you use for naptimes depending n which would make your child more inclined to, and it needs a lot of trial and error for it to work properly, especially when you are teaching a child where communication is an obvious obstacle.
How to Make My Baby Take Naptimes in the Crib During the Day
Nap training is a lot difficult than nocturnal sleeping because you are trying to simulate and condition your child to respond to daytime sleeping without any problems like those of the natural sleeping habit. There are tips for getting baby to nap in the crib. These tips must be followed diligently to best the best result.
The first tip is to establish a routine. It is important to let your child immerse into a routine that might get them into a sleeping habit. This is notably shorter than the routine used for a nighttime sleep like reading them a book, playing, etc. One routine could be composed of feeding, changing the diaper, letting a sound machine play, dimming the lights, putting the baby into a crib, and getting out the door. This specific routine specifically creates a repetitive approach that lets your child know what is happening and remembers what the routine calls for. It is also important to point out that the dimming of lights creates a temporary sleep time assignment because they are usually put to sleep during the night. Having a bright environment while putting them to sleep might create confusion.
The next tip is to consider all the wake times of your child. This will help in the proper scheduling of their sleep and manage their wake-up times more efficiently. By learning the length of their usual naps and the exact time of waking up, you could make certain adjustments that would deem the whole activity better and effective.
The third tip is to understand the crib hours. The crib hours are when you put your baby into a nap and begin counting for at least an hour. If they wake up after an hour or so, you will take them out to play for 30 minutes and put them back in the crib for an hour. If you cannot sleep within the hour, you could put them in the emergency nap procedure where you do any option. You must put them to sleep. These steps help condition your child about sleeping habits in the crib. Putting them in their crib will help them realize that it is time for them to nap without you coaxing them to sleep. This step could be an optional one.
The fourth tip would be to identify all sleep crutches of your child. This removes all the things that help them sleep, making them get into an easier transition of naptimes. Finally, the last tip would be to do extensive research on other methods you could use to integrate these tips. It is important so you could make the best steps to make naptimes easier.
It is important to remember that outside of these tips, there are no fixed methodologies and steps to follow. Time flows fast for babies, and sometimes changes could happen to their sleep patterns that may affect your established scheduling. Sleep progressions could cause this. When this happens, you must be vigilant about these changes and adjust your methods little by little. Watch out for your child’s sleeping cues because it is an important indicator of your child going into naptime.
Why Should I Make My Baby Take Naptimes in the Crib During the Day?
Babies need nap time for themselves because of different reasons. One of those reasons is that it helps them to grow healthy and properly develop. They are at a crucial age for development, and getting adequate rest will benefit the growth process. Another reason would be to help them better manage their moods. Babies tend to overexert themselves without any awareness of how tired they are. As parents, we need to observe them and coax them into sleeping when they look tired because sometimes, they will not even if they had to. One of the reasons for naptimes could also be for them to have the best mood and feel great when awake. Being active and playful is a good indicator of a child’s health, and getting properly timed naptimes could give them that extra boost.
Another reason that benefits the parents for getting baby to nap in the crib during the day is that it gives them the convenience of time and peace of mind knowing they could leave their child asleep alone to do other important things even for just a while. This would also be beneficial in the future because it will give the foundations for the children’s independence when they get bigger.
Conclusion
Learning how to get baby to nap in the crib during the day could be quite difficult, especially when you are trying to introduce it to your child. There would be some scuffles and rough times when you are just starting, but that is normal. Crying would also happen a lot when your baby does not want to sleep or be left in the crib. However, you must be persistent and continue with the process. If you find that some areas are not suitable, you could adjust it to fit your situation. After all, not everyone has the same fixing method that works. In the end, you for this to work in your favor you should promise yourself to see this whole thing through until it finally makes some progress. You owe yourself that and to your baby for better and much effective parenting. Get more tips on baby cribs.