How to put your baby to sleep without motion sickness

After giving birth, a newborn baby usually gives her mom some rest. As a rule, in the first days of life, the child is calm, eats well, pisses and poops. After the first month of life, when the first colic, discomfort and moods appear, peace disappears and sleepless nights and days begin. Very often, due to pain in the tummy and other problems, the child is disturbed in sleep, and it is not so easy to lay him down. Moms find a way out - they rock a baby. When the baby is in a pendulum state, he falls asleep faster and easier. But the child grows, develops, grows up and still requires motion sickness before going to bed. Rocking a newborn baby is not difficult. But shaking a one-year-old baby at 10 kilograms of weight is quite difficult even for a few minutes. That is why mothers sooner or later come to the decision that the child needs to be weaned from motion sickness. But how to do this if the baby has been falling asleep this way all his life?

Why do children like motion sickness?

Smooth swaying is the physiological state of a child. While still in the mother’s womb, the child feels the smooth movements of the mother when walking. That is why motion sickness has a calming effect on the child.

Another reason for the child's reverent attitude to motion sickness is the proximity of her mother. Often the baby does not need pendulum movements. He associates motion sickness with maternal embrace, the proximity of the chest - as a source of nutrition. When mom is nearby and shakes it is safe, warm and soft.

Often, a clear habit is developed in the child, which suggests that if you get sick, you need to sleep, if you don't get sick, you need to stay awake. This is the fault of the parents themselves. From a very early age, you need to show your child that there are tons of other ways to go to bed.

How to prepare your child for sleep

To put a child to sleep without motion sickness, you need to prepare him for sleep as much as possible. The baby is unlikely to fall asleep immediately with the new rules that you establish. To reduce the resistance of the crumbs, it must be prepared. Namely - “exhaust” so that he falls asleep with one touch of his head with a pillow. How to do it?

A large period of wakefulness. If the child woke up three hours ago, he is unlikely to want to sleep again (if this is not a child in the first months of life). It is very important to maintain a long period of wakefulness before a night's sleep. If the child sleeps twice a day, at least four hours should elapse between the last and the night's sleep. If the baby sleeps once a day, then 5-6 hours. This will provide sufficient fatigue for the baby, and he will fall asleep faster, regardless of the way he is laid. You need to go to bed strictly at a certain time - a clear schedule produces a mode in which it becomes easier to fall asleep.

1. Walks. Any mother knows how well the child falls asleep after long walks in the fresh air. Just before bedtime, take a couple of hours to walk with your child in a stroller on the street. But do not let him sleep at this time. Distract the baby with leaves, doggies, etc.
2. Massage. Massage will help relieve fatigue and relax. If you ever received a course of professional massage, you probably know how long and hard the kids sleep after these procedures. We do not tell you that you need to take the child to a specialist. Mom can do a gentle relaxing massage herself. Spread the diaper, lubricate the baby’s skin with massage cream or oil, carefully massage the feet and legs, then the palms and hands, then the chest, abdomen and back, with gentle movements with gentle movements, neck with gentle movements.After the massage, you need to go to water procedures.
3. Cool bath. There is an opinion that for a good sleep, a child needs to bathe in hot water. Like, the baby is younger and after warm water quickly falls asleep. It is true, but he does not sleep in this state for long - only a couple of hours. To ensure that the child and the family have a normal sleep, the baby needs to be bathed in a little cool water. At a temperature of 34-35 degrees, the baby tries to move more and, accordingly, spends more energy. And when he warms up in warm diapers after bathing, he falls asleep for 5-6 hours. And, as a rule, falls asleep in any position - the baby does not require motion sickness.
4. Stomach fullness. Well, who wants to sleep on an empty stomach? Before going to bed, the child needs to be well fed. This will not only help him fall asleep faster, but also allow him to sleep longer - both for the child and his mother.
5. Eliminate the annoying factor. It is very important to provide the child with a quiet sleep so that he can fall asleep without motion sickness. If the child has colic, do a tummy massage, give a cure for bloating, do gymnastics to discharge the gases. If a child’s teeth are being cut, let the baby gnaw on special rubber toys, lubricate the gums with a soothing ointment. In addition, there should be no noise at home, bright light should not scare the baby during sleep. By removing all irritants, you can significantly improve the quality of the child’s sleep.

These are 6 simple steps that you need to perform every night before going to bed. They will help you lay your baby quickly and oversleep for a long time.

How to lay a child without motion sickness

If a tired kid still does not want to fall asleep without motion sickness, there are many tricks that can put the child according to your rules.

1. The child will not be able to fall asleep immediately without motion sickness. Therefore, the baby should be brought to a new way of laying gradually. First, try rocking the baby not while standing, but sitting on the couch. It will be much easier for you - less load on the back. Then, motion sickness needs to be gradually reduced, reaching the point where the baby can just fall asleep in your arms, without swinging.
2. As an intermediate stage of motion sickness, you can use a large ball for gymnastics - fitball. You can sit on it, swaying slightly. The load on the mother’s back in this case is small.
3. Instead of wiggling, you can gently pat the child on the pope. Such movements imitate swings and soothe the baby.
4. If the child is big enough and understands everything, he can be given a favorite toy. After all, often the baby requires motion sickness because he does not feel safe and warm. And if you take a good friend, a bear or a hare, with you to the crib, the child will feel more relaxed.
5. Sometimes, instead of motion sickness, you can use a regular mobile to bed. Toys spin slowly to calm music, the baby watches them and, as a rule, slowly falls asleep.
6. Some children fall asleep to certain monotonous sounds. It can be a working hairdryer or vacuum cleaner, as well as classical music.
7. To put a young child to sleep without motion sickness, he needs to “twist” a small nest. The fact is that in the womb it was warm, comfortable and crowded. And the open space of the mattress scares the child and he becomes uneasy. Cover the baby with a blanket so that there is a kind of cocoon around it - the baby will feel calmer. But be careful that the blanket does not fall on his face and block his breath.
8. If the baby simply does not have enough of your presence, you can put the baby in your bed. At this moment, he does not need motion sickness, because mom is so close. When the baby falls asleep, you can put it in your crib or leave it next to you if you practice sleeping together.
9. If you put the child next to him and give him a chest (or a bottle), he will fall asleep very soon, and he will not need motion sickness either.
10. Some toddlers fall asleep very quickly if you scratch their back.
11. Sing your baby a lullaby or a simple calm song. The maternal voice usually calms the baby, and he quickly falls asleep.

These are simple, but time-tested ways to help you put your baby down without motion sickness.

Comfortable sleeping conditions

Separately, it must be said about the air temperature in the room where the baby is sleeping. If the room is warm or hot, the child’s sleep will be disturbed. Best of all, children and adults sleep in a cool room. The air temperature in the room should be 18-23 degrees heat. The upper permissible limit of air temperature is 25 degrees, the lower is 16 degrees.

It is very important every day to repeat the ritual that prepares the child for sleep. For example, walking, massage, swimming, eating, reading books, stroking the back and sleeping. The kid should understand that one action is followed by another, everything is in order and invariably ends with going to bed.

If you are determined to wean your child from the habit of falling asleep with motion sickness - do not back down from your decision. If after another hysteria you, taking pity, again take the child in your arms, the baby will understand that the tears still work, and can begin to manipulate you in this way. Understand - you are not mocking the child, forcing him to do what he can not. You can fall asleep without motion sickness - this is normal. But this will take a long time to learn - maybe not a day or two. Having decided on such a step, you will simply fall asleep for the first time longer until the baby acquires a new habit. Understand that a child cannot help but sleep - this is his physiological need. Sooner or later he will fall asleep without motion sickness. Remember, a child needs a happy mother with a healthy back!

Video: how to teach a child to fall asleep without breastfeeding and rocking