Where does my baby sleep best
A young baby still has to get used to the environment outside the womb. To optimize his sleep, it is therefore helpful to help him adjust to the large, new world around him by recreating the safe experiences he has had in the womb. By recreating the experiences from the womb, you help your little one to relax which will make it easier to fall asleep.
When a baby is asleep, we tend to keep the environment as quiet as possible because we don’t want to wake him up. But did you know that your little one in the womb heard a constant white noise sound of 90db? That’s louder than the sound of a vacuum cleaner! A quiet environment gives your little one a tense feeling rather than a relaxed feeling.
5 steps for the perdect sleep environment
- White noise
White noise is a constant rustling sound, which gives your little one the same safe and sound feeling as what he experienced in the womb. This sound was produced by the heart and blood flowing through mother’s blood vessels. Do you want to know everything about white noise? Then read our blog: Everything about White Noise
De White Noise devices we recommend are:
- Dark room
It is important that your little one’s bedroom is dark, both during the day and at night. So dark you shouldn’t be able to read a book there. A dark environment stimulates the brain to produce the sleep hormone “Melatonin”. This will make your little one feel sleepy and will be able to go to sleep more easily
We are often asked whether the day and night rhythm of the little ones is not disturbed as soon as you darken the bedroom during the day. You do not have to be afraid of this, as long as you maintain an appropriate day and night rhythm. Which means that you also have to wake up your little one during the day if he sleeps too long.
- Temperature
The best temperature for sleeping is 18 degrees Celsius. For this it is important that your little one is not dressed too warm and not too cold. The image below shows which layers of clothing we recommend per temperature.
- Swaddling
Swaddling gives your little one the same safe and sound feeling as what he experienced in the womb. For little ones up to and including 4 months it is very helpful to swaddle them while sleeping. This will make it easier for them to relax, which will make it easier for them to fall asleep. After 4 months you switch to a sleeping bag, as swaddling is no longer safe because your little one will learn to roll over.
Besides helping them to relax, it also helps to counteract the so-called “Moro reflex”. The Moro reflex are the uncontrollable movements that your little one makes when you want to put him down, for example, or when he falls asleep. If you swaddle your little one, he won’t wake himself up by this reflex. It is also helpful to first lay down his feet on the bed and then the head. This prevents the Moro reflex from being triggered. Do you want to know more about swaddling? Then check out our blog: What is Swaddling and how do you do it.
The swaddling blankets we recommend are:
Babies have the instinct to suck directly after birth. This is because they have two different sucking reflexes. One sucking reflex for food intake and one sucking reflex for relaxation. These reflexes are vital for our little ones. Both sucking reflexes are very important for you little one.
As soon as the sucking reflex is activated, your little one’s brain produces a substance that makes him relax and even become sleepy. That is also the reason why many little ones fall asleep while drinking. To prevent feeding from becoming a sleep association, but still give them the safe and secure feeling they are looking for, you can use a pacifier.
It is important to know that you never offer the pacifier just before a feeding. Otherwise, this can lead to nipple confusion. Do you want to know more about pacifiers? Then read our blog: Which pacifier do I choose for my little one?
The pacifiers we do recommend are::