After two entries with tips to follow and recommendations to avoid We finish with the third and last one in which we will talk about what to do once our children are already asleep.
Once he sleeps
If you have fallen asleep in our arms or if we want to change it (the ideal thing is to move it the minimum necessary) it is advisable to do it when you are deeply asleep. This requires a little patience, as babies and children do not reach that state until after 15-20 minutes.
If we do it before, in a hurry, the baby will wake up and we will have to start over (with how desperate it can be).
Many times, even waiting until deep sleep arrives, they wake up immediately by leaving them in the crib or bed. It is usually related to temperature change, so it is recommended to sleep babies with a lullaby or blanket and then leave them where we want with it on. Other babies, on the other hand, seem to have a radar that, despite doing it with great care, despite maintaining a pleasant temperature with the cooing or blanket and despite sleeping deeply, they wake up long before being alone than accompanied.
AdvertisingThese are babies with a very developed and very acute survival instinct that need the contact, smell and warmth of their mother (or father) to fall asleep and stay asleep. In these cases, the colecho (sleeping in the same bed as the baby) or having a crib attached to the parents' bed is a highly recommended option.
Wake up
Once we have helped our children to fall asleep, we must know what is best to do when they wake up at night. For a long time (too much) we have been told by parents that after six months of age, when children wake up at night, we must leave them without taking care of more and more time so that they themselves fall asleep again.
The truth is that it is advisable to go as soon as possible. Babies are unable to calm down and achieve a state of well-being for themselves and that is why many have a hard time falling asleep again. When babies who cry end up falling asleep they do so with a state of agitation and elevated stress that is not suitable for them.
Going immediately we get them to sleep earlier (the longer we take longer they will cry and the more it will cost to calm them down). In this way we help them to calm down and go back to sleep until, little by little, they learn to calm down and the awakenings that come from the natural evolution of sleep, caused by the changes of phases (those produced by hunger must be resolved, logically, by feeding to the baby), they resolve them themselves over time, without the need for crying, waiting, fears or anxieties.
Catch it or not catch it
It is also said that in case he wakes up we should comfort our baby but without taking it, talking to him to reassure him.
It may be that with some children it works, however if a baby asks for contact, affection and security to reconcile the dream, the words of a mother before her crying are usually of little help.
Holding a crying baby in your arms, even at night, should never be a ban, as it is probably what you need and request. The first thing we should think about is that he wants food and is the first thing we will offer him (especially if he is a baby. If we talk about older children, the awakenings may be due to changes in sleep phases).
Children who use a pacifier can calm down by sucking it, although we must bear in mind that in some awakening they may need food.
Those who breastfeed have an advantage: if they wake up from hunger they will suck as much as they want and if they wake up for another reason, they will suck a little to fall asleep again right away.
The important thing after all is that babies and children sleep with the lowest level of stress possible, in a placid way and that the nights are calm and restful sleep, without tears or avoidable fears that can lengthen in time and have short and long term consequences.
Hopefully with all these tips offered will be so. If instead the children's dream remains the same as always, despite following these recommendations, it remains only to get into the car of patience, because over time the awakenings are being solved.
