There are different categories of sleep-related problems: some children do not fall asleep easily; others fall asleep easily but then wake up; and then there are those who neither fall asleep easily nor sleep as long as necessary.

In this article, we give some practical advice on how to deal with the problem of nocturnal awakenings, but we recommend contacting our midwives and pediatricians to actually understand what the basic problem is.

During the day, let your child relax.

Make sure that he is not overstimulated during the day. Infants and children who have difficulty calming down at night should be calmed during the day. This is even more important for those restless children who have difficulty adapting to extrauterine life.

Choose a time to go to bed.

Bedtime rituals set the stage and convey the message that sleep will come soon. Children must learn that the bed is for sleeping and not for fighting or playing. So try to go to bed on a regular basis. Strict patterns usually don’t help parents, but sometimes they help sleep.

Accompany the child to bed.

Few children fall asleep alone. The transition from waking to deep sleep does not always happen easily. During the REM phase, the parent must remain next to their child because it is precisely in that phase that he could wake up. If you wait for the baby to fall completely asleep in your arms or attach him to the breast before putting him down, you help him drift off to sleep.

Schedule an evening bath.

A warm bath before bed and a relaxing massage will easily calm your baby.

Hand contact

Some children will become agitated immediately after being put to bed. In this case, the mother (or father) can place her hand on the baby’s back or head, or one hand on her back and one on her head. The warmth of a safe hand can help your baby fall asleep. Furthermore, patting the baby’s bottom in a rhythmic way can give the finishing touch to the nightly ritual. Then gradually remove your hands so as not to scare the child.

Conclusion

As the child grows, bedtime “rituals” help more and more, especially starting from the first year of age, because the child needs to learn good habits. You can start by putting on his pajamas, brushing his teeth, then reading a story, a lullaby, or a massage (for example, to his back), and then holding his hand or stroking his head! It is challenging for the parent, but it is worth it, and little by little he will learn because falling asleep is not an “automatic” event!