If you once struggled to find the time to sleep train your baby, now that most of us work from home, it’s the best time to do it.
At the moment, nothing feels normal thanks to the devastating effect of coronavirus. With the pandemic that’s sweeping the globe, it’s a stressful time for everyone.
The anxiety sky-rockets if you happen to be a new parent.
But wait, there’s a silver lining to it.
While you might have a difficult time juggling between work and family life, this stay-at-home period is perfect to start sleep training your little one.
So, without any further ado, let’s find out why stay-at-home parents can leverage this time as the perfect opportunity to sleep train their babies.
Limited social obligations
With no important activities to attend, no travel, and no going out to eat, it is easier than ever to ensure that your baby stays on schedule.
There will be lesser chances of over-stimulating your baby, better and longer naps, and not to mention the ability to go to bed on time. It’s a win-win in terms of sleep training.
To know more about how to sleep train your baby, look at one of our posts on what sleep training is.
No more bumpy car naps
A published study states that daytime napping is imperative for early memory development. This has come as a boon as your baby can now enjoy a peaceful and uninterrupted catnap. Being at home, you no longer have to run errands while looking after the baby at the same time.
This minimizes the car naps your baby takes because all sleep training with a baby is attempted at home. With sleep-conducive ambiance at home, the nap quality of the baby improves. And this significantly helps to sleep train your baby. It’s a blessing in disguise!
Schedule better sleep training
As mentioned earlier, with fewer social obligations, you have all the time in the world to focus on your baby. The stay-at-home parent has a higher success rate of sleep training a baby than others because of limited distractions.
What’s even better, you can very conveniently manage wake windows properly. This ensures that the baby is not either overtired or undertired during the sleep training process. With effective implementation of sleep training, you can be assured that the post-pandemic landscape will be easy on you with less crying and an easier bedtime routine.
Perfect time for trials
Now it’s also the ideal time to experiment with various bedtime routines and see which one works the best for your baby.
Most bedtime routines take a week or a couple to show any results. If you find that a certain method is not making your baby drift off to sleep, you have enough time to try other variants. This way, you will come to know more about your little one and sleep-train him, which contributes to his well-being.
Pro Tip: You can even try different kinds of soothing music, dimming the room’s light at a varying intensity to soothe your baby drift off to dreamland.
Adieu distractions, hello sleep training!
Now we know why sleep training your baby during the pandemic might be a good idea. It’s time for us to explore some of the tried-and-tested sleep training practices:
- Bedtime routine
You will be surprised to see the benefits a bedtime routine can have on your little one. Having a well-planned and relaxing schedule before dozing off not only eases the baby’s transition to sleep but also helps calm down his nerves.
You can start with a gentle massage so he gets drowsy. You can then gently put him on the crib and let him drift off to sleep. These sleep-time cues signal the baby that it is now time to enjoy the full-blown slumber.
- White noise
Parents consider white noise to be a knight in shining armor that contributes to sleep training.
White noise and sound machines are of great help as they block any external noise, such as dogs barking or loud neighbors. It’s a win-win for both baby and you!
- Sleep-conducive atmosphere
It’s difficult to sleep in an environment where there is a lot of background noise and bright light, especially for babies as they have very delicate sleep. If you are sleep training your little one, you must make sure to create a cozy zone for the baby to easily fall asleep.
Dimming the lights cues the baby to sleep, and so does getting blackout curtains. You can play calming music in the background to help sleep come naturally to your baby. Also, after putting your baby to sleep, try to reduce noise to a bare minimum.
To know more about your baby’s sleep, look at one of our posts on safe sleep for infants.
The bottom line
Now you are all set to make the most of the pandemic and improve your baby’s sleeping routine. It may take some time for sleep training to yield results, but remember, patience is always a virtue.
Happy sleep-training! ☺