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The bond between a mother and child is special. Motherhood is a blessing, and being a new mom to a little one is the sweetest of all, a blessing. Every new day with your little one is a learning process. You evolve as a person and grow with your little one. As you enjoy this new phase of life, there are challenges that come with it. The bedtime routine of your baby and your own restful sleep during the initial period of post-delivery is the most challenging one. Did we hear someone asking us if there’s any – ‘Mother and child night time guide?’
While some are blessed with babies, who sleep and let their moms sleep, or are 9 pm to 9 am babies, most of the mothers complain of harrowing nights. Either the problem is of a cranky baby, wailing all night, or it is of a baby who believes that nighttime is playtime! Can we also share a bit of bad news? If you thought it’s only the initial days, then let us warn you, we have also heard quite a few mums rant, “my toddler waking up at night and not going back to sleep.”
So what can be done to ensure that the nighttime doesn’t prove otherwise for both the mother and the baby? Here is a list of things that can be kept in mind for a peaceful and restful night for both.
The ultimate mother and child night time guide – Revealed!
1. Keep your baby close
It is not advisable to make the baby sleep in another room away from the mother. The baby should be within the mother’s reach at night. The ideal would be a cot by the side of the mother’s bed so that the mother can reach out to the baby and respond to her needs immediately.
2. Respond to the baby’s need immediately
Learn to pick up early feeding cues. If the baby is waking up in the middle of the night to take the feed, then offer her the feed immediately, so that she can quietly go back to sleep, without much distress to both. Murmuring sounds, sucking fingers, or restlessness can be some signs of the baby waking up for a feed or maybe requiring a change of diaper.
3. Create the right night-time environment
It is important to make the baby understand the difference between nighttime sleep and daytime. You can help the baby by providing cues. Use a nightlight, soft music, and try talking in a soft voice.
4. Breastfeeding position
Getting up every 2-3 hours to feed the baby can be quite taxing for the mother. If you can come up with a comfortable position to feed the baby while lying down, then it is a boon, as the mother can continue to rest. But be sure that position shouldn’t harm the baby in any way while feeding.
5. Be organized if the baby is on bottle feed
It can be quite a task to get up in the middle of the night twice or thrice to prepare bottle feed for the baby. But the effort put into it can be minimized if you organize everything. Keep a sterilized bottle handy. Have a flask of water boiled to the required temperature nearby. You can even measure out the milk powder and keep it separate to avoid the midnight madness.
6. Settling a cranky baby
If your baby doesn’t settle even after a feed, then try the skin-to-skin contact. Either of the parents can do it. Putting the baby on to you and rocking gently helps the baby to calm down. If the father offers to do it, it works for both the parents. The mother can have some time for herself and the father gets to bond especially with the baby. But whoever does this must make sure to be fully awake and not doze off. Pay attention to where you are sitting, so that you do not doze off, as there are chances of the baby falling down.
7. Help from the partner
If the mother gets help from her partner, then her stress of the wakeful nights can be quite minimized. Help can be in many ways. Preparing bottle feed and passing on, helping with a glass of water, help in the change in the diaper or simply putting the baby to sleep without waking the mother at times can really work wonders for new moms.
