Would you like to help your baby fall asleep but you can't? He doesn't fall asleep so easily? If so, you probably need help. Through this article, we will explain to you why baby struggles with sleep and how to help him improve his sleep.
Baby fights against sleep because of various factors including his cortisol hormone level which is too high as well as his circadian cycles which are not yet well defined.
So we'll first look at why infant sleep is important, why some struggle with sleep, and finally how to help them sleep when they struggle.
Why is infant sleep important?
As you might expect, infant sleep is essential for as many things as possible. Sleep will allow them, among other things, to improve the concentration of the little one, the development of the brain and his emotions.
Overall and logically, sleep is essential for brain and physical development.
Why do babies struggle with sleep?
Now that we know why a baby's sleep is so important, it's legitimate to ask why a baby has a very restless sleep ?
Often this kind of impression is a combination of several factors. Indeed, fatigue, contrary to what we think, keeps baby's dodo away while sleep attracts it. As a result, we easily find ourselves in a vicious circle such that the more the baby is tired, the less he manages to fall asleep, which will make him even more tired. Knowing in addition that the baby's circadian cycle, that is to say the fact that we live during the day and sleep at night, is not directly assimilated in a baby, in particular because of the immaturity of his brain, which doesn't make it easier to sleep either.
For the child to be able to fall asleep without any problem, his level of cortisol, which is a hormone, must be sufficiently low. As a result, when the baby does not want to fall asleep, it is mainly because this hormone, which is an awakening hormone, is present at too high a level.
How to help a baby who struggles with sleep?
Helping a baby who struggles with sleep comes down to helping them fall asleep easily of their own free will. We will therefore describe in the following paragraphs different tips to achieve this.
Use a baby canopy
As we said before, it is above all essential to do everything to ensure that your baby's sleep environment is the best possible so that he falls asleep without any worries.
For this, offering him a real bubble with a canopy for a baby bed can soothe him but also protect him from insects, drafts and light rays that can disturb him. It therefore turns out to be a perfect accessory to try to preserve the quality of baby's sleep as much as possible.
Use baby noise canceling headphones
Sometimes certain noises can disturb baby or even wake him up after many minutes of struggling to get him to sleep. To avoid this kind of inconvenience, the use of specialized noise-canceling headphones for babies can prove to be a good solution.
All you have to do is put the headphones on baby's ears to immerse him in complete silence, which will calm him down and allow him to fall asleep more easily!
Soothe your baby with tummy hugs
By massaging your little one's belly, you will relax him and perhaps allow him to eliminate a gas that bothers him to then facilitate his sleep.
The massage is very simple to perform, it is sufficient without forcing to simply apply very light pressure on the stomach in a circular manner to release the gases.
Create a Baby Sleep Routine
To make it easier for baby to fall asleep, it is possible to set up repetitive events every day to ensure that he always falls asleep at the same times in a monotonous way. By putting this in place, your baby will fall asleep more easily and mechanically always at the same times and will no longer or much less struggle to fall asleep.
In setting up this type of routine, it will also be necessary to think carefully about not making him do activities that will excite him or make him play before the sleep phases. The idea is to do everything so that he is calm when going to bed.
From now on, you have all the keys in hand to try to help baby as much as possible to no longer fight against sleep. By applying all of our advice normally, you should be able to make his sleep easier and even make him more restorative.
