How to get your baby to sleep in a Bassinet

The first few months of your baby’s life are entirely crucial. They set the pace for what is coming. You watch every action and reaction of your baby like a hawk and you ensure that the baby is happy. Getting your baby to sleep in a bassinet is an important milestone. Babies feel more comfortable and sheltered when they are held and will object to being put to sleep in an unfamiliar space.

Here are tips to get your baby to sleep in a bassinet:

Get a Comfortable Bassinet

To begin with, get a bassinet that conforms with safety protocols. If you’ve got an oval-shaped bassinet, it would require a special mattress. Also, ensure that:

• The mattress fits snugly into the bassinet. It shouldn’t wiggle and the mattress should be firm. The harder it is for you to make the bed, the safer it is for your baby.
• The plainer the safer; there should be no extra pillows, blankets or stuffed animals to minimize the risk of suffocating.
• Let your baby sleep on his back until he is twelve months old.
• You may also introduce your baby to a pacifier, but if he rejects it, do not insist.

Help your Baby Differentiate Between Day and Night

Your baby may get confused about day and night and so wouldn’t have a correct sleep routine. Keep the room bright and well lighted during the day and dimly lit at night. This will help the baby associate dim lighting with sleep time.

Don’t tire the baby out!

Some think the best way to get a baby to sleep without a fussing in the bassinet is to make him tired. This is a myth, it only serves to make the baby restless. Your goal is really to get your baby in a sleepy mood. You want the baby to be drowsy prior to sleep time and not overtired. Having a stable routine also helps to transition easily, doing the following may help:

• Feed the baby well before bedtime,
• Give the baby a warm bath,
• Give a massage to help ease him out,
• Sing a lullaby and rock the baby.

Ensure that the baby is fairly awake when you put him to sleep in the bassinet.

Be Predictable

Once you have a pattern or a routine, stick to it. Do not fluctuate your methods, it will make it hard for the baby to have an actual sleep pattern. It may also help to dim the lights when it is about bedtime. Get a nightlight that has lullabies. Walk around the room with the baby in your arm and do everything to set the mood for what is coming! When you have a workable routine, the baby will fall into it and would probably doze off as soon as you begin.

Swaddle the Baby

Swaddling involves wrapping your baby in a blanket to restrict the movement of the arms and legs and get the baby to settle down. Note that your baby just came out of the protective confines of the womb; warm, comforting and nourishing. Swaddling helps to replicate that feeling and dissolve any hostility the baby may have against being put in the bassinet. It also fulfills the following functions:

• It helps the baby feel secure,
• It reduces startle reflex
• It reduces anxiety

However, do not swaddle the baby during the day it would only make the baby confuse day and night. It’s better to only swaddle the baby at night to help the baby associate swaddling with sleep time.

Make sure the baby isn’t too hot or cold

Sometimes babies find it hard to settle down in the bassinet because the temperature isn’t to their liking. Check your baby’s forehead for signs of sweat, also check the baby for signs of cold and counter it properly.

Burp the baby Properly

When babies aren’t properly burped, it could considerably impede their readiness to fall asleep. Therefore, even if your baby dozes off while feeding, try to get the baby to wake up adequately for you to burp him.

Wean your baby from being rocked

When the baby is small, cute and precious you don’t care much when you have to hold him and rock him as he sleeps. That changes when the baby grows older and weighs more. To ensure that there is no blow out from your baby when you eventually discontinue it, wean the baby off rocking. It will help the baby realize that he doesn’t need to be rocked. Instead, you could try:

• Holding the baby and being still
• Talking to and cooing the baby to sleep
• Practice being quiet for a short while before bedtime to inform the child that things are about to get a lot quieter.

Keep the lights off

When the baby cries out during the night, it helps to keep him drowsy and a little under if you keep the lights dim or off. Try to keep the conditions of the room as same as possible to avoid startling the baby back to being awake.

Don’t allow your baby get accustomed to sleep props

A sleep prop is that one thing your baby believes he needs from you to fall asleep. It could be holding them, picking them up, or being rocked. Although these are all good and work well for the bonding experience, it hinders the baby from falling back into sleep when you’re not there.

Don’t always pick up the baby

Crying out is a method where a parent allows his baby to self soothe.  Some experts have argued back and forth on whether to the baby cry it out or not. It is really at your discretion to apply as it fits your own situation. However, you could substitute picking up the baby with touching the baby and singing him back to sleep. This will ease the baby’s dependence on being held to fall back to sleep and will help to assure your baby while you’re still there.

Getting your baby to sleep in the bassinet really needn’t be a stressful process. These steps aim to achieve that, to ensure that you and your baby get the required amount of sleep, get to have beautiful bonding moments and by extension be a happier family.