How to create a good baby’s bedroom sleep environment?

 Infants’ sleep problems always can be caused by inappropriate sleep environments.

  Babies need a special sleep environment. Some mothers will follow the traditional newborn care habits and place their babies in a quiet, dark bedroom for long periods of time. This environment will cause distress to the baby's sleep, baby fighting sleep. Once your baby gets restless baby sleep, it can affect his growth and development.

  So how do you create a good baby’s bedroom sleep environment? Please kindly read on. You will find the answer below.

1. Sound

  Many families are afraid of waking up their babies, and always are careful to avoid making any noise after the baby falls asleep. Is this good for the newborn's sleep? Actually, no. For newborns, they are already used to hearing all kinds of sounds when they are in the mother's womb. Suddenly being in a particularly quiet environment will make them feel uneasy, uncomfortable. If you find that your baby sleeps better outdoors, then maybe you need to adjust the sound environment at home. Parents can use white noise that can help simulate a “home” environment for their babies.

2. Light

  Many parents, in order to help their babies can sleep during the day, always keep the dark. In fact, the daytime indoor darkness is not conducive to the formation of the baby's circadian biological clock. It even will be prone to the phenomenon of day and night reversal. Some sensitive newborns may not be able to adapt to the strong light during the day. In the first four weeks of life, you can appropriately dim the indoor light during the day to ease your baby’s discomfort. However, people still need to help their babies adapt to the natural daytime light as soon as possible so that the biological clock of day and night can be formed at the same time.

  After the baby wakes up during the day, appropriate outdoor activities also are beneficial to the formation of the biological clock.

  You can turn all room lights off and only leave a small night light to create the difference between day and night. The night lights can not be too bright. Because too bright lights will stimulate your baby’s retina. And the too dark environment will make your baby feel panic.

3. Temperature

  Parents should set a suitable room temperature for their babies. It can not be too hot or too cold. On the one hand, being too hot can cause your baby to overheat. On the other hand, too cold will make your baby catch a cold. Both of them will make your baby feel uncomfortable and can not get a restful sleep.

4. Airflow

  Because the respiratory function and cardiopulmonary development of babies are immature, if the air in their bedrooms is not fluid and low in oxygen at night, babies will not have a restful sleep. Especially during the rainy season, prolonged rains will lead to low air pressure and poor airflow. I suggest parents open windows to increase airflow more frequently.

5. Sleep sacks

  The broad definition of the sleep environment contains what a baby wears during sleep. How to help newborn sleep at night? For both newborns and toddlers, a sleep sack is necessary for good sleep. Firstly, sleep sacks can give babies a cozy, snug feeling. Babies can get enough sense of security. Secondly, some newborns’ sleep sacks are versatile that have an ergonomic design with an anti-startle reaction. This design can help decrease the risk of SIDS to keep your baby safe.

  There is a newborn sleep sack from Kaiya Baby that is highly recommended - Organic Newborn Sleep Sacks With Mesh Cotton.

  This is an ideal swaddling sleep sack that is made of 100% organic cotton. Newborns are easy have a more restful sleep by wearing it at night.

6. Safety

  It is important to keep the sleep environment safe at all times. Do not stack any items in the crib, and make sure not let things wrap around or weigh down the baby. Do not smoke or place any toxic substances in the bedroom. As a caregiver, setting the baby crib next to your bed is good for you to wake up during the night at any time and take care of your baby.

• How to keep the crib clean and empty?

  An organized crib is a big factor in your baby's sleep security. After all, babies spend most of their time sleeping. So I recommend that the perimeter of the crib should be free of hazards. And parents need to clear the space to avoid any danger. Use some soothing dolls to surround the crib to provide your baby with protection and security.

7. Establish a good sleep ritual

  The baby needs security during sleep. It can be established by a sense of ritual. There are some ways that can help your baby to transit emotions between play and sleep and make your baby move from the excitement of play into a stable sleep pattern. I will recommend you do some quiet activities with your baby, such as lullabies, bedtime stories, a nice bath, etc. These pre-bedtime activities can not only increase the parent-child relationship but also ensure your baby has a more restful sleep.

8. Regular sleep schedule

  If your baby doesn't have a regular routine, he will not feel safe and will cry. And in the beginning, babies always can not distinguish the difference between day and night when they are born. It will reduce a baby's sleep drive at night and affect the quality of sleep both for the baby and parents. Therefore, another tip for the security of baby's sleep is to adopt a regular sleep routine. When does a baby eat? When does a baby play? When does a baby sleep? When the baby is three or four months old, his concept of the day and night will be developed. And his physiological and psychological habits also can be quickly adapted to the sleep schedule through a regular routine.

9. Help your baby sleep in a safe, comfortable sleeping position

  The safety of your baby's sleeping environment is also related to the sleeping position. It is recommended that babies sleep on their backs. Sleeping on the back has many benefits. On the one hand, it can help relax the baby’s muscles, and make him not feel pressured. On the other hand, it also can avoid abnormal breathing. The recommended way to keep your baby sleeping on his back is to swaddle your baby's body completely. (For more information on swaddling, please kindly check How to swaddle a baby?) It not only recreates a sense of maternal security but also prevents your baby’s little hands from scratching his own face. Besides, it also avoids the startle reflex, which can cause the baby to wake up in the middle of the night and cry.

  Can babies sleep on their stomach? Sleeping on the stomach and sleeping on the side are not recommended. Because sleeping on the stomach is related to SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), especially for babies who can't turn over by themselves yet.

  Can babies sleep on their side? Sleeping on the side is also dangerous. Because you don’t know when the baby will fall down and become sleeping on his back.

10. baby’s bedroom needs to beprepared with meticulous care design

  Some parents hope to paint some brighter colors in their babies’ bedrooms to stimulate the visual development of infants and toddlers. If the colors of the wall in your baby’s bedroom are too high, it may have a sense of pressure. The colors of the wall are recommended to use neutral colors, such as beige, pink, light blue and light green, etc.,

11. Use a baby monitor

  Parents should pay more attention to their babies. They can also use baby monitors and other tools to help themselves. The current baby monitors have many different functions. Parents can hear the sound of crying on the monitor. Or the monitor can display the night screen. Parents can see the baby's every move clearly even in the dark night, which is very convenient. But the baby monitors only provide assistance when the baby need it. Parents still need to give timely reassurance to their babies. Especially the voices and hugs of the mother and father both can give the baby a full sense of security.

12. Better not sleep in the same bed with parents

  After the baby is born, it is recommended that the mother breastfeed her baby by herself as much as possible. For the convenience of breastfeeding, many mothers will sleep in the same bed with their babies. But some puericulturists pointed out that if the baby and the caregiver sleep in the same bed, the risk of accidents will be higher. So considering the safety, parents and babies are recommended to sleep in the same room but on a different bed.