All parents would love if they could get their babies to sleep at night. Sleeping is probably one of their best pastimes during the beginning months of their life.
During the Johnson & Johnson’s Bedtime Discoveries event in Manila Peninsula, Ms. Christine Bersola-Babao, Dr. Luis Rivera and the rest of Johnson’s team shared the importance of a regular bedtime routine to babies.
Sleep in babies FAQs:
- A lengthy light sleep stage lasting 20 minutes or more
- A shorter sleep cycle lasting 50 to 60 minutes -> vulnerable period for nightwaking around every hour or less
- Babies don’t sleep as deeply as adults do.
- Not only do babies take longer to go to sleep and have more vulnerable periods for nightwaking.
- They have twice as much active, or light, sleep as adults.
Sleeping is essential since it helps in the development of the baby and function of:
- Growth
- Immune System
- Learning & Memory
- Health of Cardiovascular System
- Hormonal Function – Insulin resistance
- Body Metabolism
During good baby sleep:
- Release of essential hormones for muscle growth and recovery
- Growth Hormones are released during sleep
– Helps to burn fat and convert it to muscle
– Helps body strengthen ligaments and tendons
– Enhances protein synthesis
Why sleep is necessary for children’s optimal functioning:
- Poor sleepers have significant performance impairment
- High risk of mood and behavioral disorders and poorer academic performance
- Affects every aspect of a child’s physical emotional cognitive and social development
Johnson made a clinical evaluation of baby’s sleep with use of a before bed routine and the Johnson’s Baby Bedtime Range. 58 mothers and their babies participated in this 3 week study. And satisfied with Johnson’s sleep study, 85% of the participants belived that baby’s sleep was imporved and 85% continued with the Routine.
The Johnson’s Sleep Study results:
37% reduction in sleep onset latency
49% decrease in duration of night waking
23% increase in longest continuous sleep period
59% decrease in maternal fatigue
37% reduction in awakening
55% reduction in tension/anxiety
To find out how you can get your baby to fall asleep during the night the time, consider a few of the 3 Step Before-Bed Routine:
Bath
Set the tone of your bedtime routine with a nice warm bath or even a simple ´punas´ with JOHNSON´S® Baby Bedtime Bath. The warmth of the water, coupled with your gentle, lathering touch will soothe baby, while giving you a moment of light play. Once you´ve established this as a regular nighttime routine, the bath will signal your baby that she´s on her way to bed.
Enjoy the moment… your baby definitely will!
Massage
Turn up some relaxing music and get baby in the mood for a soothing massage. Lay her down on a comfortable flat surface. Spread JOHNSON´S® Baby Bedtime Baby Lotion on your palms then stroke her with a gentle, downward motion. You can vary your motions by tracing letters of endearments like “I Love You” on her belly.
This will not only get your baby ready for sleep, infant massage or Touch Therapy also has clinically proven benefits and has been shown to contribute to healthy weight gain, improve babies´ simmunitys and calm then when they are irritable.
Also available to use with JOHNSON´S® Baby Oil.
Quiet Activities
Now is the time for some quiet moments with your baby. You may apply JOHNSON´S® Baby Powder before you begin quiet time. This is the perfect moment for you and your baby to share your most intimate moments while you hush her to sleep.
Read your baby a bedtime story and let rhyme and rhythm hush her to sleep. You can also spend this quiet time talking softly to your baby, or singing a lullaby. Your voice, familiar to her from birth, will cradle her into dreamland.
Additional tips:
- Create a routine by doing the same things in the same order every night. Creating a pattern will help your baby recognize a pre-sleep routine.
- Make sure the lights are low and dim. You want your baby to recognize that when it’s dark, it’s time to sleep.
- Your baby should learn that once in bed, no matter how pleasant the bedtime routine has been, that it’s time to sleep. Allow some time for fussing.
The list of baby sleeping tips could go on and on. What works for one baby might not produce results with another. However, calm, loving persistence and repetition will be the basic building blocks for developing your newborn’s regular sleeping patterns that will relax her and let both of you start sleeping like a baby.
Learn more about baby’s sleep by visiting http://www.babycenter.com.ph/bedtime.
Thanks Nuffnang Philippines and Johnson & Johnson Philippines
4 Comments
Nice blog! 🙂
wow sis! kakainggit naman…hehehe
The blog was absolutely fantastic! Lots of nice information and creativity, both of which we all need!
Uy, nice post sis! Hope to read more about baby post here 🙂