The Importance of Sleep for Babies

The birth of a baby brings in lots of responsibilities for the parents. Though the only thing that parents want after taking care of the baby's needs the whole day, is to have a peaceful sleep at night. Newborn babies, unlike adults cannot recognize day and night and will take time to adjust to the the 24 hour clock. Hence, the first few weeks of the baby's life goes in sleeping for the most of the time in the day and as well as at night. It is said that a new born infant sleeps for an average of 16 hours in a day. 

 

I was fortunate enough to attend JOHNSON’S Baby Bedtime Discoveries: Bedtime A to Zzz’s.Dr Luis Rivera the resource person shared with us the importance of sleep and how a good night sleep will help our baby grow. And also, we were taught on how to make our baby's sleep better through Johnson's Bedtime Routine. Which includes a bath, massage and some quiet time.

 

In fact, in the first year of life, growth hormones are actively working at 3 times the normal rate. So when you encourage good sleep in your baby, you are not only helping your baby establish beneficial lifelong habits, you are also giving her the best start in life!

 Below are some general guidelines as to how many hours of sleep the average child requires at various ages.

 

Let me go ahead and discuss some of the bedtime routines that I have learned.

 

 

Set the tone of your bedtime routine with a nice warm bath or even a simple ´punas´ with JOHNSON´S Baby Bedtime Bath. The warmth of the water, coupled with your gentle, lathering touch will soothe baby, while giving you a moment of light play. Once you´ve established this as a regular nighttime routine, the bath will signal your baby that she´s on her way to bed.

 

Turn up some relaxing music and get baby in the mood for a soothing massage. Lay her down on a comfortable flat surface. Spread JOHNSON´S Baby Bedtime Baby Lotion on your palms then stroke her with a gentle, downward motion. You can vary your motions by tracing letters of endearments like “I Love You” on her belly.

This will not only get your baby ready for sleep, infant massage or Touch Therapy also has clinically proven benefits and has been shown to contribute to healthy weight gain, improve babies´immunity and calm then when they are irritable.

 

Now is the time for some quiet moments with your baby. You may apply JOHNSON´S Baby Powder before you begin quiet time. This is the perfect moment for you and your baby to share your most intimate moments while you hush her to sleep.Read your baby a bedtime story and let rhyme and rhythm hush her to sleep. You can also spend this quiet time talking softly to your baby, or singing a lullaby. Your voice, familiar to her from birth, will cradle her into dreamland.

 

So moms, the better the quality of your baby´s sleep, the more growth hormones are released!