11 tips to Put Your Baby to Sleep in Just 40 Seconds

As the saying goes,"In January, they sleep; in February, they get fussy; in March, the baby won't sleep." When the baby is three months old, parents may have a headache because the baby is late to sleep. The baby needs more sleep in the growth and development stage, and sleeping helps to secrete growth hormone and promote the normal growth and development of the baby. This article will analyze the reasons why your baby has trouble falling asleep and provide tips on how to get your baby to sleep in just 40 seconds. Kaiya Baby believes that after mastering these methods, you can definitely help your baby fall asleep quickly.

Reasons why babies have trouble falling asleep quickly

• Physiological reason: The baby's body is constantly growing and developing, and physiological changes in the growth process will affect sleep. For example, a newborn's digestive system takes some time after birth to adjust to outside food. During this process, flatulence,  gastrointestinal discomfort, or exhaust problems may occur, which may make the baby feel uneasy and difficult to sleep.

• Environmental reason: The baby's sleep environment also has a great impact on whether it can fall asleep quickly. For example, loud noises, strong light, and too high or low temperatures can affect the quality of a baby's sleep, making it difficult for them to fall asleep.
• External stimuli: Exposure to external stimuli before falling asleep can make babies feel excited and alert, which causes them to have difficulty falling asleep. These stimuli include intense interactions, stimulating play and electronic use before bed. The blue light from electronic screens suppresses the production of melatonin, which can prevent babies from falling asleep quickly.

• Improper feeding: If you feed  baby too much before going to bed, baby's stomach may be full of food, resulting in stomach upset.Conversely, if your baby is too hungry before bed, they may feel sick from hunger pangs. Hunger can cause restlessness and crying, making it more difficult for your baby to fall asleep.

• Not changing diapers: The baby fails to change the diaper in time after defecating, and the hip is covered , which will cause discomfort to the baby, resulting in difficulty for the baby to fall asleep.
• Improper temperature: If the room temperature is too high, the baby may feel hot and difficult to sleep. Conversely, if the room is too cold, the baby may feel cold, which will also affect sleep. The baby's body temperature regulation ability is weak, so the room temperature is very important for their sleep.
• Disease: Your baby may have a cold, colic, or calcium deficiency.

Tips to put your baby to sleep in just 40 seconds

1. Play soothing music: Sleep music such as lullabies, peaceful tunes, slow rhythm is generally gentle and has a certain hypnotic effect. It is easy to make the baby quiet down, and quickly enter the state of sleep.

2. The tissue trick:The tissue trick takes advantage of the baby's rooting reflex. When something light brushes against a baby's cheek, it triggers them to turn their head and try to "root" for what's touching them.

• Get a soft tissue or piece of cloth. Gently stroke baby's cheek from the bridge of the nose to the ear.
• Baby will turn toward the stroke, wanting to nuzzle into it.
• Slowly pull the tissue away and down as you continuously stroke. Baby will follow it with their head.
• In a rhythmic, soothing motion, keep stroking cheek to ear and down toward the crib.
• Baby's eyes will grow heavy as the head motion rocks and relaxes them.
• Within 30-40 seconds of rhythmic stroking, baby will fall fast asleep!

3. Play white noise: Fetal hearing begins to form at about 15 weeks. The mother's heartbeat, breathing, gastrointestinal peristalsis, talking, and external sounds all make the baby have the initial cognition of "sound". After birth, if the environment is absolutely quiet, the baby may not be very used to it.

When the baby cannot fall asleep smoothly, the "white noise method" can be used to coax him to sleep. Put on a pregnancy lullaby, turn on the TV, turn on a fan, or a hair dryer, but don't blow on the baby... In short, the continuous white noise with small rhythm changes is also a hypnotic artifact for the baby.

4. Improve baby's sleeping environment: Before baby goes to sleep, dim the lights, create a quiet and warm sleeping environment for baby .

5. Push baby stroller: When the baby is four or five months old, before coaxing the baby to sleep, you can place the baby in the stroller to drink milk. More than 100 ml of milk, the baby usually has to suck on a few minutes. 

It is during these few minutes that you can get the baby to lie comfortably in the cart, keeping their limbs still, and soon the baby can fall asleep while drinking. Then you could gently cover the baby with a small quilt, which is perfect for them to nap during the day. Even if baby can not fall asleep quickly lying down, pushing the cart to walk back and forth a few times, it will gradually fall asleep.

6. Radish squat sleeping method: Hold the baby in your arms, then slowly squat down, and then slowly get up. If the baby is crying more strongly, then you can slightly speed up the speed. In general, when we use this method to squat three or five times, the baby's crying will slowly quiet down.

When the baby enters a quiet state, we can slow down the speed of squatting, and then slowly and gently pat the baby, which can better let the baby fall asleep. However, this method consumes relatively large physical strength so it is recommended to let dad try.

7. Quick walking soothing method: When the baby is crying more strongly, we can walk faster. When the baby slowly quieted down, our walking speed can be properly slowed down. When the baby involuntarily rests his head on our shoulder, this is when we are close to success. Maintain a normal walking speed, generally less than 1 minute, you can let the baby fall asleep quickly.

8. Gentle Patting Soothing Method: Holding the baby in your arms will make the baby feel very safe. Then gently pat the baby's back or bottom with the hollowed palm. Especially when feeding the baby, the effect of using this method to coax the baby to sleep is surprisingly good.

We need to gently pat the baby's back to stimulate and activate the baby's parasympathetic nervous system, reduce the heart rate and breathing rate, and help the baby quickly enter the sleep state.

9. Breastfeeding to Sleep Method: It is to make baby feel satisfied and comfortable by feeding, so as to help them fall asleep. Breast milk or formula contains an amino acid called tryptophan, which helps produce serotonin, a neurotransmitter that makes babies feel happy and calm.               

Therefore, when the baby is feeding, they usually feel relaxed and satisfied, which helps to promote the baby to fall asleep quickly. During the feeding process, you’ d better maintain a gentle voice and comfortable posture, avoid violent shaking or stimulation.

10.Cross-body hold: Baby is more comfortable in horizontal holding position. In this way, baby and mother's heart are closer, so baby can find the familiar and secure feeling as in the womb.

11.Cultivate independent sleeping habits: If you want your baby to better fall asleep , you should cultivate the baby's independent sleeping habits. Every day when baby falls asleep, give baby the same cues. For example, before going to bed, give the baby a bath, change into pajamas, dim the lights, put a little soft music, etc. 

By doing this, baby is aware that it is the time to fall asleep. Gradually over time, when the baby naturally develops such a habit, it will fall asleep quickly after doing fixed things at a fixed time.

Precautions when calming a baby to sleep

First, not put small quilts, pillows or dolls, toys next to the baby. These items may accidentally cover the baby's nose and mouth, and if not removed in time, may cause the baby to suffocate.

Second, don't shake babies too much when putting them to sleep. The baby's spine is not fully developed, and excessive shaking of the baby may cause neck damage and, in severe cases, brain nerves damage.

Conclusion

Remember—consistency and commitment are key. Stick with a method for at least a week to give your baby time to adjust. Infuse creativity into your routines. Record tricks that work best and share them with loved ones involved in caregiving.

With these rapid rest techniques, bedtime becomes less of a battleground and more of a sweet, snuggly time to unwind together. Soon, your home will be filled with well-rested smiles instead of overtired tears. So take a deep breath, be patient with yourself and your little one, and put these shortcuts to the sleep test tonight!