Avoid Common Mistakes of Sleep Training to Cope with Sleep Regression
Many parents may not be aware of the issue of sleep regression in six-month-old babies. Due to this, they feel flustered and tired while navigating this phase with their infants. Sleep regression refers to a temporary period where your kid can have frequent wake-ups at nighttime.
When it occurs, you can panic because your little one is agitated or crying uncontrollably. But it is only a matter of a few weeks before things improve. As a parent, you can think your kid has forgotten to sleep while his focus is on something else. Of course, this sudden change can be bewildering. That’s why it is necessary to explore it from every angle for better handling.
Some babies fail to fall asleep because of their growth and development after half a year. Overstimulation and physical changes can keep them awake. You can prevent or reduce the effects of this by sleep training them. Although the ideal age for this can be four months, you can still begin this when they turn six months.
Training involves creating a specific routine, environment, and habit. There are many dos of this, which you would instinctively know or learn about from various sources. But do you know there are many don’ts as well of this process? Typically, people pay attention only to the dos and ignore the other part. As a result, they struggle with reinforcing the desired outcomes.
You can avoid this situation by knowing what not to do when training your little one for a night of uninterrupted, sound sleep. Here is a quick view of this to give you some hints.
Wrong time for sleep training
Although 6 month sleep regression doesn’t occur to every kid, you can prepare for this utilizing a 4 to 6 months window. A four- to six-month-old infant usually falls asleep by itself. The best time to introduce a bedtime routine for them can be when they turn 6. But you can start implementing things from four-month onward.
Before this, you can follow their behavior and let them sleep when they want. Another thing is don’t start teaching them how to potty or walk when they turn six months old. These milestones can overstimulate them and disturb their sleep.
Uncertain bedtime
Irregular bedtimes can cause poor sleep in kids. They need enjoyable and predictable bedtime rituals to acclimatize. Timing can be an essential part of this process. But it should not take more than thirty minutes. If you let your kid sleep during the evening, she may not feel exhausted at her bedtime and refuse to go back to sleep.
Disturbances in the bedroom environment
You can put your little one to sleep in a room that receives lots of street noise. In such an apartment, trying to set up a bedtime routine can be a challenge. It would be better to find another peaceful corner to train your bundle of joy for smooth sleeping.
Then, some kids prefer lights in the room. Even though it may not be suitable to keep lights on, you can choose the dimmer options. Or shift the light from the direct sight of the kid to eliminate the chances of distraction.
Nighttime feeding
A six or nine-month-old baby doesn’t require calories at night. Still, some parents feed them several times when they are asleep. If you do the same thing, please abstain from this as it is necessary for both you and your little one’s sound sleep.
Extinction bursts
A child wakes up several times at night and refuses to go back to sleep without a pacifier. As a parent, you can be desperate to change this unpleasant habit. Initially, you noticed some progress, but again your baby started waking up even more. Kids do this hoping their parents will go back to the old routine.
However, the extinction burst isn’t going to last longer. You can feel tempted to fulfill the demand of your infant, but it can only increase your troubles. However, if you remain persistent, getting on to the other side can be easy.
Every kid and situation can have different needs, but this phase usually shows up within the first week of the change of habit and lingers for 3 to 5 days. Keep this factor in mind before giving in to their wishes.
Every six-month-old doesn’t face the challenge of sleep regression. But you cannot predict this unless your baby starts displaying such signs, which include waking up at night too often, crying and refusing to sleep, etc.
That’s why it can be safe to use the period from four months to six months to train them to sleep. Six months can be the most appropriate time to expose them to bedtime rituals as they start picking new things faster from this age. Still, it is better to begin this when they are only four months old. Familiarity will ease them into this habit.
