After spending nine warm months in mom's belly, finding sleep in a bed or crib is a whole different matter. Yet, sleep is crucial for their physical and mental development, as it is during sleep that they integrate all the learning of the day.
Even if he is tired, it is not enough to put your baby in his bed or crib for him to fall asleep. Particular importance must be given to the sleeping environment so that it is adapted and meets your little one's comfort and safety needs to help him have quality sleep. For this, at Ouatine & Cumulus, we offer advice that will help you improve your baby's sleeping environment.
Choosing the right bed for your baby 🛏️
The choice of bed in which your baby will spend his first nights will have a significant impact on his sleep quality and sense of security. It is important to choose a bed adapted to your child's size: if you place your newborn in a large bed, he may feel lost and not have restorative sleep. Prefer a bassinet or co-sleeper, which will meet his needs for security and proximity.
Initially, co-sleeping is the most suitable practice to offer restorative and soothing sleep to your newborn. This small crib, placed next to his parents' bed, will more easily develop his sleep rhythm. Then, it is advisable to choose a bed adapted to your baby's size and age. A crib with bars is generally recommended, provided that the spaces between the bars do not exceed 6 cm to prevent the baby from getting stuck.
How to sleep safely with your child?
Do not clutter the baby's bed 🧸
For several weeks, you have been preparing his room to offer him a special atmosphere. Perhaps you had filled his crib with plush toys, cushions, or blankets. If this gives some life to your child's crib while waiting for his arrival, you will have to remove them once your little one takes possession of the premises.
Indeed, once your baby is in his bed, it is important to ensure that no object or accessory can become dangerous for him. Babies have the reflex to pull things towards their face but do not have the strength and ability to push them away afterward, which can obstruct their airways.
Ensure an optimal temperature in the room 🌡️
A stable temperature, ideally located between 18° and 20° C, is to be preferred to ensure your baby's good sleep. An overheated and poorly ventilated room increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, but not only that, since a too high temperature in the room will tend to irritate your baby and delay his falling asleep. Conversely, a too cold room will force him to draw on his reserves to maintain his body temperature.
To check that your baby is doing well, you can rely on the temperature of his neck, his face, or his chest. By gently placing a hand on one of these areas, you can deduce his state. Dry and warm means everything is fine, clammy means he is too hot.
Do not rely on his hands or feet, as babies' blood circulation is immature, it prioritizes vital organs (brain, heart, and lungs). Dress your baby in pajamas or suitable clothing, neither too tight nor too loose, preferring cotton which has the characteristic of being a breathable material. Avoid outfits with an elastic band at the baby's belly. If it is too tight, it can cause discomfort for the baby.
What criteria to consider for quality sleep?
Finally, remember to ventilate your child's room for at least 15 minutes a day. This allows oxygen to be renewed and CO2 to be evacuated. This habit should be kept, even in winter, because in addition to being good for health, it is also ideal for your home, by reducing humidity.
Create a subdued and calm atmosphere 💤
Newborns are unable to tell the difference between day and night; it's one of the many lessons they'll have to learn. To help them, when nap time comes, don't put them to bed in the dark, but rather in a subdued atmosphere. By clearly differentiating between nap and night sleep, you are indicating to your child that these are two different sleeps and thus encouraging their circadian rhythm. This rhythm is a kind of internal clock that follows everyone's biological rhythm over a 24-hour cycle.
To create a subdued atmosphere, you can simply close the bedroom curtains, which will soften the natural light. Avoid having your baby too close to screens that emit blue light and disrupt the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone.
Finally, calm is essential to create an adequate sleeping environment. Moving away from sources of distraction, whether it's the phone or a family meal in progress, will give your baby time to calm down, soothe himself, and feel secure. White noise consists of sounds with identical frequency and amplitude, creating a monotonous rhythm. It reminds the baby of the sounds he heard in utero, which has the effect of soothing him and helping him fall asleep more quickly.
Control your baby's position during sleep 👶
Once your baby is asleep, how do you ensure he maintains a good sleeping position? By placing him inside a pod, an ideally designed sleeping solution to support them in the flexion position so appreciated by babies. Placed on their back, with their feet and head touching the ends of the pod, babies find themselves in an environment where they feel safe, soothed as if in their mother's womb. The reversible hood allows the baby to rest safely once asleep.
It is important to observe that your baby has good freedom of movement in his sleep and that he does not always sleep in the same position, which could, in the long run, lead to skull deformities, called plagiocephaly.
It is therefore necessary to vary the positions, but how to do this since babies must sleep exclusively on their backs? In their pod, or simply installed in their bassinet, babies are attracted to light. Do not hesitate to move the bed or bassinet so that the light source comes from different places, which will encourage your baby to vary his head positions.
>> Discover our size 1 pods (for the first few weeks)
>> Discover our size 2 pods (up to 6 months)
Improving your baby's sleeping environment will only benefit your little one's development. Do you have any advice to share? We hope this article has helped you. Feel free to visit our blog to discover more and join us on Facebook and Instagram!
