Why Should You Sleep Train Your Baby During Covid-19?

If you once struggled to find the time to sleep train your baby, now that most of us work from home, it’s the best time to do it.

At present, nothing feels normal thanks to the devastating effect of coronavirus and its infectious disease COVID-19. With the pandemic that’s sweeping the globe, it’s a stressful time for everyone.

The anxiety sky-rockets if you happen to be a new parent.

But wait, there’s a silver lining to it.

While you might have a difficult time juggling between ‘work from home’ and family life, this homebound period is perfect to start sleep training your little one.

So, without any further ado, let’s find out why stay-at-home parents can leverage this time as the perfect opportunity to sleep train their babies successfully.

Limited social obligations

With no important activities to attend, no travel, no going out to eat, or no sibling’s schedule directly affecting your little one, it is easier than ever to ensure that your baby stays on schedule.

Also, this means young children will be able to stay close to their primary caregiver. As a result, there will be lesser chances of over stimulating your baby, better and longer naps, and not to mention the ability to go to bed on time. It’s a win-win in terms of sleep training.

To know more about how to sleep train your baby, look at one of our posts on what sleep training is.

No more bumpy car naps

A published study states that daytime napping is imperative for early memory development. This has come as a boon as your baby can now enjoy a peaceful and uninterrupted catnap. Being homebound, you no longer have to run errands while looking after the baby at the same time.

This minimizes the car naps your baby takes because all sleep training with a baby is attempted at home. With sleep-conducive ambiance at home, the nap quality of the baby improves. And this significantly helps to sleep train your baby. It’s a blessing in disguise!

Schedule better sleep training

As mentioned earlier, with fewer social obligations, you have all the time in the world to focus on your baby. The stay-at-home parent has a higher success rate of sleep training a baby than others because of limited distractions.

What’s even better, you can very conveniently manage wake windows properly. This ensures that the baby is not either overtired or undertired during the sleep training process. With effective implementation of sleep training, you can be assured that the post-pandemic landscape will be easy on you with less crying and an easier bedtime routine.

Frequent babywearing

The coronavirus’ proliferation is worsening, and no one can predict how long it is before life bounces back to normalcy. This has given an edge to the new parent to enjoy additional time together playing and cuddling.

Also, there is a seemingly endless list of benefits like reduced frequency of crying and fussing. And the best part is you can do this whilst doing come of the household chores. Moreover, studies state that wearing baby close helps regulate the little one’s heartbeat, temperature, and breathing patterns

Pro tip: The baby sleeps better and faster this way than when you are rocking the crib for hours.

Perfect time for trials

The parents can consider the pandemic hours as a boon. This time can be perfectly utilized to sleep train your little one. It’s also an ideal timing to experiment with various bedtime routines and see which one works the best for your baby.

Most bedtime routine takes a week or a couple to show the result. If you find that a certain method is not making your baby drift off to sleep, you have enough time to try other variants. This way, you will come to know more about your little one and sleep-train him, which contributes to his well-being.

Pro tip: You can even try different kinds of soothing music, dimming the room’s light at a varying intensity to soothe your baby drift off to the dreamland.

Adieu distractions, hello sleep training!

Now we know why sleep training your baby during the pandemic might be a good idea. It’s time for us to explore some of the tried-and-tested sleep training practices:

• Bedtime routine

You will be surprised to see the result a bedtime routine can have on your little one. Having a well-planned and relaxing schedule before dozing off not only eases the baby’s transition to sleep but also helps you calm down your nerves.

You can start with the application of lotion on your baby and gently rub on his back so he gets drowsy. You can then gently put him on the crib and let him drift off to the dreamland. These sleep-time cues signal the baby that it is now time to enjoy the full-blown slumber.

• White noise

Parents consider white noise to be a knight in shining armor that contributes to sleep training. The purpose of using this innovation is not only to familiarize the baby with sleep 0'clock.

White noise and sound machines are of great help as it doesn’t allow the baby to hear the noise created when doing some household chores. It’s a win-win for both baby and you!

Pro tip: A pair of sound-proof earplugs also comes to your rescue, so you don’t get awakened by the baby’s gentle grunts.

• Sleep-conducive atmosphere

It’s difficult to sleep in an environment where there is a lot of background noise and bright light. This gets more particular for babies as they have very delicate sleep. If you are sleep training your little one, you must make sure to create a cozy zone for the baby to easily fall asleep.

Dimming the lights cues the baby to sleep, and so does getting blackout curtains. You can also play calming music in the background to help sleep come naturally to your baby. Also, after putting your baby to sleep, try to reduce noise to a bare minimum.

To know more about your baby’s sleep, look at one of our posts on safe sleep for infants.

The bottom line

Now you are all set to make most of the pandemic and sleep train your baby. It may take some time for the practices to impress you with the result, but you have enough time to try various sleep-training techniques.

Happy sleep-training your little one! ☺

Originally published at https://thesleepycub.us on June 15, 2020.