If your baby won’t sleep during the night, you are not alone.It has been shown, through research, that about a quarter of all children below five years experience problems with sleep. It is common for children to refuse to go to bed or to keep waking during the night.

When your baby won’t sleep at night , your sleep patterns will also be disrupted. This leaves you constantly feeling tired and sapped of energy. This can make it difficult for you to function properly and may also make you more prone to depression.

It is possible to help your Baby and also yourself sleep better. The best strategy is to help your baby learn self -comfort in order for him or her to get to sleep, and get back to sleep, with minimal help from you.

The following are some of the best tips on how to get your baby to sleep at night:

Bedtime Tips

• Set up a soothing routine : Give your baby a bath, read a book, tell a story , or sing lullabies .These activities help your baby to relax. They also serve as a signal that it is sleeping time. Avoid getting your baby exited with active play a short while before sleep time.
• Once you notice your baby is getting sleepy , put him or her in a crib in a silent, darkened room. This helps your baby learn to go to sleep in a crib.
• Stop rocking your baby to sleep after he or she attains the age of 4 to 6 months. It is alright to rock your baby but make sure you lay the baby down to sleep while he or she is still awake but drowsy.
• Do not add cereals to your baby’s bottle. This does not make your baby sleep through the night. Babies do not need solid food until they attain the age of 4 to 6 months.
• As soon as your baby becomes sleepy, put him or her down for a nap. If the baby becomes too tired, it may become hard for him or her to get to sleep.
• Always remember to put you baby down to sleep on his or her back. This helps prevents your baby from sudden infant death syndrome.

Tips for when your baby won’t sleep

• Try feeding your newborn when he or she starts to wake up and is calm enough. Hungry cries usually start with a whimper and gradually become louder and longer. If your response is fast enough before the baby becomes upset, he or she will feed and soon go back to sleep without any problem.
• Always keep the light off when feeding your baby at night and ensure that your voice is soft.
• Learn to settle your baby down to sleep as fast as possible if he or she doesn’t show any signs of hunger during a nighttime feeding.
• If your baby is having difficulties settling down to sleep, check to establish whether he or she is hungry or needs a change of diapers. Change or feed your baby quietly while keeping the light low. Don’t sing to or play with your baby. Put the baby back in the crib as soon as possible.
• Stay calm : The importance of this is because young children are very sensitive to a parent’s feelings of frustration.
• Be consistent: If you decide to change your plan of handling nighttime crying, ensure that you and your partner are in agreement before you retire to bed.