The process starts with creating some routines that remind your baby that he needs to sleep soon. If you don't have such a routine before, start by creating one. Your baby's sleep routine may include breastfeeding/feeding, followed by a relaxing bath, putting on pajamas, darkening the room, and listening to soothing white noise. Doing all these steps consistently before each night's sleep will help your baby understand that it is time to sleep and comply with this routine.
You have completed the sleep routine, your baby started to feel relaxed and sleepy, and it is time to sleep. Now put your baby to bed when he/she is drowsy but not yet asleep. If your baby doesn't cry or whimper, leave his room.
Stop, Wait and Listen!
If your baby starts crying, "Stop, Wait and Listen!" Apply the method. Do not enter the room immediately. First, stop for a few minutes and listen to your baby; He really felt fear and loneliness, does he need you or will he tend to whine a little and stay silent. Give him some time to calm down on his own without intervening immediately.
Take the baby out of his bed. (Remove)
If your baby does not calm down on his own, enter the room and take him out of bed. Hug him until he calms down and make him feel that you are with him. This stage constitutes the “lift” part of the lay/lift method.
Lay the Baby Down in His Bed. (Lay down)
When your baby is calm and still awake, put him/her back to bed. This constitutes the "lay down" part of the method.
This process continues until your baby falls asleep completely. In other words, you put your baby to bed, if he cries and you feel that he needs you, you take him out of his bed, calm him down, and put him back in his bed. Do not intervene in minor whining. The lay-down method is a sleep method that takes time and requires patience, like any other method. As Tracy Hogg states, sometimes this lay down and lift up phase can take hours and is tiring, but eventually your baby learns to sleep on his own. Your baby's temperament and your patience are of great importance in the success of this method and how long it will take.
Laid Down. For which age range is the r Method Suitable?
This method can be applied from 4 months. The period between 4-8 months is considered to be the most effective. It can also be applied to slightly older babies.
The lay and lift cycle may be too stimulating for some babies. The possibility of it becoming a process that creates tension rather than reassuring them should not be ignored. At this point, you need to know your baby well and interpret the signals he gives correctly.
What is Sleep Training?
Sleep training helps the baby learn to fall asleep on his own and uninterrupted throughout the night. It is a process that helps you sleep. This is also a controversial topic, with many experts discussing the different sleep techniques/methods that exist. There is no single correct technique; there are various sleep methods that vary depending on each family and baby. You can choose the method that suits you and apply it under our expert guidance or by trying it yourself.
Some babies adapt to sleep training very easily and achieve success in a short time. Others have difficulty falling asleep or falling asleep on their own when they wake up and may need help for a longer period of time.
How to Prepare for Sleep Training?
A successful sleep. You can apply the following methods to create a routine and get maximum efficiency from sleep training:
Create a pre-sleep routine: You can start creating a routine when your baby is 6 weeks old. A bedtime routine may include a warm bath, massage, and reading session before putting your baby to bed. Additionally, listening to white noise before and during sleep will calm your baby and help him sleep more comfortably. You can benefit from white noise during all day and night sleeps.
Set a Consistent Sleeping Time: Experts recommend that babies be put to sleep around 7 - 8 o'clock in the evening, without waiting for them to get too tired.
A Predictable Sleep Time. Stick to a Daytime Schedule: Wake your baby up at the same time every morning, feed him, and try to put him to sleep at the same time for daytime naps. In this way, sticking to a flexible but consistent program will make your baby feel relaxed and safe.
Make Sure Your Baby Doesn't Have a Medical Problem That Affects His Sleep: Some underlying physical problems (such as infections, allergies, reflux) can affect sleep quality. It is necessary to rule out such problems, if any, before starting sleep training.
The E.A.S.Y routine, developed by nurse Tracy Hogg, an expert on child care and sleep problems, consists of sections, each letter corresponding to an action: Nutrition, activity, sleep and your sleep. your time.
What is E.A.S.Y?
It is a 2.5 - 3-hour repetitive routine that includes nutrition, sleep and activity. This method allows you to create your own time after your baby sleeps. Tracy Hogg defines the recipe for success as "establishing a systematic routine". Your baby should be a part of your life, if you start to become a part of his, chaos usually prevails at home, says Tracyy Hogg. Therefore, it is important for success that you create a safe, consistent environment and set a tempo that your baby can follow from the very beginning.
In the EASY routine, the baby's needs are at the forefront, this routine does not adhere to a strict schedule. He is flexible, does not find it appropriate to follow a program as if it were made with a schedule, but wants to be systematic. What is expected of you is to know your baby well and determine a pace that he can follow. You need to understand the baby's needs and correctly identify their different cries. The way to do this is to know your baby well and understand his signs correctly. Even though you may have difficulty at first, it is a process that you can achieve over time as you get to know your baby and listen to him/her.
Let's look at the details of this routine one by one;
E (Eat) – Nutrition
What your baby wants Whether you breastfeed or bottle feed him, nutrition is his primary need. Feed your baby until he is full; 25 to 40 min. A normally developing baby can wait 2.5 - 3 hours for the next feeding.
Make sure your baby is fully fed before going to sleep at night. For example, a feeding between 5-7 pm can be followed by another feeding meal between 6-8 pm. You can give the last feeding around 10 o'clock while your baby is napping.
A (Activity) u and their actions other than nutrition. Until 3 months of age, your baby will be humming on the changing table or in his bed, or watching the environment in the stroller, except for sleeping and feeding. Even though it may not seem like it to us, all of these are considered activities for babies.
Do not put your baby to sleep immediately after feeding or do not let him fall asleep at the breast. Because soon the baby becomes dependent on it to sleep. Tracy Hogg recommends that nutrition is usually followed by an activity. This can be an average of 45 minutes of activity. In the evening, you can take a nice bath, then put on your pajamas and slowly move on to the next stage. Of course, changing diapers, dressing and a relaxing baby massage are included in all these activities. For a good sleep, be careful not to expose your baby to too much stimulation during the activity phases.
S (Sleep) – Sleep
After the activity phase, reduce the amount of light in the baby's room and listen to a calming sound such as white noise. open. In this way, the baby moves into the sleep phase in his own bed. Pre-sleep routines are very important. You need to apply it consistently, especially before night sleep, so that your baby understands that it is night and that he will go to sleep. (Bath, massage, dressing, listening to a soothing voice, etc. – stages of preparation for sleep)
Y (Your time) – Your time
When your baby sleeps, give yourself 1 hour or more. remains. When your baby starts to play independently or daytime sleeps get longer, this period will also be longer for you. Remember, it may take at least a few weeks for you to set aside time for yourself until you establish this routine, do not rush in this process.
Is E.A.S.Y a Difficult Method to Implement?
3 You can start applying the EASY routine from the age of 1 month. However, Tracy Hogg argues that there is no need to wait until the baby is 3 months old to implement this routine. Because she believes that the earlier it happens (for example, by the 4th week), some problems such as eating and sleeping can be minimized. Although some parents are horrified when they hear the word routine, Hogg says EASY is flexible and a system where parents can plan their lives, it is never a rigid timetable. expresses. Understanding the baby's language is at the forefront.
How successful EASY will be depends directly on the baby and its parents. One of the most important factors that makes the job easier is that parents believe in this system and want to implement it, and that they correctly understand the signals given by their babies. For example, if your baby starts to cry during the activity phase after feeding, it is probably not because he is hungry but because he is tired and ready for the next stage.
In addition to the parents, the baby's temperament also gives an idea about which system to apply and for how long. The babies in these two groups, defined by Hogg as Angel and Book babies, are, as expected, moderate, docile and easy to understand babies. They can easily adapt to the routine. However, coy, cranky and active babies always demand more attention, and it is relatively difficult but not impossible to get them into a routine. This is partly determined by your approach, lifestyle and patience.
One of the methods that will help your baby sleep is to provide him with a sleeping companion that he can hug and sleep with. Sleeping buddy is your baby's first friend other than you. It is a great helper that will support you and your baby in establishing a sleep pattern and ensuring independent sleep.
A sleeping companion can be a soft teddy bear, a baby, or another safe object that your baby loves. What you need to be careful about is to put sleeping companions in your baby's bed after the 6th month, which the baby can hug and sleep with.
World-famous pediatrician Harvey Karp recommends using a sleeping companion for a healthy sleep. The purpose of a sleep companion is to make the baby feel safe, to remind the baby of bedtime as a part of the sleep routine, and to enable the baby to sleep on his own in his bed.
Some families are skeptical of sleep companions or sleep aids, thinking that they will create habits. However, Dr. As Karp stated, sleeping companions actually play a major role in increasing babies' self-confidence and sense of security. A sleeping companion is a great comforter for many babies in situations of stress.
Also, smell the sleeping companion.
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