This routine has been implemented by me with my two children and has been a total success. All children are totally different, but all children can adopt the habit of sleeping through the night without any problem 🙂 Being a mompreneur is challenging especially if you are a full-time mom, if this is the case, the time during the day is too limited to develop your tasks as an entrepreneur, we will have tips on how to get free time in the day as well but for now let’s focus on the night, from my own experience I can say and firmly believe that a habit can be built since the baby is just a few months old, even weeks old, it is a matter of being consistent, of reasoning before putting your heart into it and of understanding that everything That we do, we do it for the good of our children and our own.
Why do I say this? Because if your baby or your child is one of those who are still awake at 10.00 pm and wants to play, and asks for things and does not want to sleep, it is not beneficial for you or your child, why? Simple, the child needs to sleep several hours to be able to develop better, you as a mother need to rest to have strength, think clearly, and live the day with courage, with desire, with vitality, being a mother is not synonymous with living tired, exhausted, bored, depressed and out of all that, feeling guilty for not having the vitality it takes to be a super mom. Being a mom in essence means having the opportunity to educate a human being that you love with all your soul and from whom you can learn thousands of things because children are the best teachers. So, to have vitality I leave you this super important information that will completely change your tired nights and give you free hours to rest and to start developing your projects without interruptions while your children are peacefully resting.
1. The daytime routine goes hand in hand with the nighttime routine: What does this mean? It is very important that your children begin to understand the difference between day and night, baby or toddlers. During the day it is important that they take their respective naps but it is important that there is no absolute silence, your child must be exposed to normal noise, that is, that you speak in a normal tone, that there is background music, television In the background, they must learn to take their naps in the day with noise and also with light, do not leave the room completely dark, it is important that they see the light and recognize that it is daytime, this is very important since at night they will understand the difference.
2. Start an early routine, that is, dinner, go for a bath. (This, if in your culture bathing at night is ok). If not, simply give them dinner and take them to brush their teeth, pyjamas and take them to bed, it is important that at the beginning of the routine you: turn off the television, the music, any electronic device with noise and you can put on soft music to sleep if it is your preference and you lower the lights, in this way your child will understand that the routine to go to sleep has begun. My advice is to start the 5.30 pm routine starting from dinner.
3. If your baby is less than one year old, it is important that his bottle or breast milk meal is after he has bathed and is ready to go to bed, in this way he will lie down warm and full.
4. You can offer your baby to read a story or tell a short story so they feel accompanied and after this, you literally tell them, it’s time to sleep, good night and you leave the room.
5. Have a lot of patience and willpower: Your child will probably start crying to ask for your company to be able to fall asleep, if you create the habit that you are with him until he falls asleep it will be more and more difficult later, therefore you should let him cry and you must understand that your son is fine, he already had dinner, he had a bath, and he is tired, he simply wants to have you close but he must learn to sleep without you in this way he will rest the hours he needs for his growth and you will have free time to fill you with energy, rest and start your projects.
6. How much should I let him cry: the idea is not that you let him cry all night alone, no. Ideally, your child feels that you are with him but that he must learn to sleep alone, how to do this? applying the technique of the time.
I explain how to implement it:
Once your child is lying down, you should leave the room, make sure he does not yet have the ability to get out of the crib, make sure he is safe, and if you have a monitor to see him much better, if he starts crying, set the timer for 5 minutes. If he has not stopped crying after the first 5 minutes, you go into the room to comfort him, DO NOT CARRY him, you just go talk to him, calm him down, let him sit close to you, tell him, son, it’s time to sleep, you stay with him for 1 or 2 minutes. and you go out of the room again. If when leaving the room he starts crying again, set the timer for 10 minutes, if after 10 minutes he continues crying, you go back into the room to comfort him, just as the first time you tell him, son, it is time to sleep, you calm him down, you keep the 1 or 2 minutes WITHOUT TAKING THEM OUT OF THE CRADLE and you go out of the room again. If when you leave the room you see that he starts crying again, set the timer for 15 minutes … and so on you continue doing the exercise until he falls asleep, and believe me at some point he will fall asleep.
Important: ask yourself, is my son okay? be honest and reasonable with yourself. Yes, he already ate, he already passed gas and his diaper is clean, my son is fine. Only a mother knows if something out of the ordinary happens to her son, if you feel that he has something other than wanting to be with you please check well and monitor that he is well. If you know and rationally understand that he is fine. My first advice, immediately leaves the room and set the timer PLEASE try to distract yourself with something, with a series, talk to your partner, call a friend, cook something, but don’t watch him cry because you will make it 3 times harder for you, your son is fine, he is not suffering, he is learning. Ask your partner for emotional support because you will surely need it.
You must do this routine every night without fail, in the constancy is the success of any new habit and believe me, this works and any baby or child gets used to sleeping all night, you must be calm and do the mental work so that you have the strength of the necessary will and the perseverance necessary for your night routine to be a success. Once this is implemented, I can guarantee your child will be asleep by 7:00 pm, you will have much more free time and you will feel more comfortable, calmer, and much better with yourself and your role as a mom.