My baby can not sleep

This occurs when we cannot get our baby to sleep through the night or enough hours a day. If you are fighting against those difficulties that prevent your baby from sleeping, the consequences can also affect you, due to the lack of hours of sleep. But what can be wrong? What should we do? Next, we will discuss the possible solutions to this problem.

It is very likely that during pregnancy you have heard statements such as "sleep as much as you can because once the baby is born, you will not sleep again." Surely you thought it was an exaggeration, but the truth is that this can turn into reality. As parents we have expectations about the behavior of babies and we want to control every detail of their routines, but there are times when nothing works and we begin to question whether we are doing the right thing.

1. Rule out health problems

When a newborn who should sleep about 14 hours a day only sleeps 6, something bad is happening. It is advisable to start by visiting the pediatrician to rule out that the reasons why your baby cannot fall asleep are related to her health. In many cases, it can be discomforts derived from eating, such as colic, reflux or sucking problems that do not allow her to receive enough food. Once a health problem has been ruled out, we can move on to the following points.

2. Adjust expectations

Each baby comes into this world with a set of specific needs, and many of them are determined by our species. Until just a few thousand years ago, our way of life changed. Before living in concrete houses and separate rooms, we weren't much different from primates, and our young spent most of their time by our side. Trying to change a baby's biological needs is impossible; the best we can do is adjust our expectations of a baby who eats every few hours and sleeps on a controlled schedule.

3. Create a suitable environment and routine

Getting to know our baby and her needs may take a few weeks, but once we achieve it, it is possible to establish routines that also fit our needs. For example, after three months we will find certain patterns in the hours of naps and feeding. This is when we can step in and create a consistent sleep routine: we can start by feeding the baby, followed by a bath, some soothing music and dim lights, and finally, laying him down on hers to sleep.

Creating a comfortable environment before bed will give your baby the signals that bedtime is approaching. As the baby grows, she will follow the pattern, and at this point her routine can be changed to, for example, having dinner, taking a bath, brushing her teeth, reading a story, and sleeping. Taking into account that they help them much more they are not infallible, some days we will have to lull them to sleep, and many others will want to sleep in our bed. The key is in perseverance and patience: these are stages that we must go through in the best way.