After Birth: A Guide to Healthy Sleep Habits for You and Baby
Hello Intended Parents!
We are so happy to have you reading this blog of our surrogate agency in California. If you’re just reaching our blog on surrogacy related topics, we encourage you to keep reading.
You will learn about the process of surrogacy for parents, and many articles about finding a surrogate or information on looking for a surrogate. We are the Sacramento area’s premier surrogacy agency located in Roseville, CA.
Even if you are in the Los Angeles area, San Francisco area or San Diego looking for a surrogate- we service all couples who are going through IVF treatment or IVF cycles putting embryos together but are unable to transfer those embryos or attempt having a baby on their own.
Today we are going to be discussing the topic of developing a nap schedule and why it is important for you to develop parenting skills with your new baby after the surrogacy process. When you develop a nap schedule for your child, even when your child is very young (0-6 months), you will see benefits in many ways.
Let’s talk about your baby’s nap:
Why is it so important?
Napping for your baby helps develop their brain.
In the first three years of life, it is most important for them to develop in multiple ways- socially, motor functions, and brain development.
Naps provide them with unadulterated time in order to rest, which helps promote a better development of brain function than if their brain were being used interpreting information (as it is every time when we are awake).
Have you ever wondered why you feel better after you have had a good night’s rest? Your baby will also feel much better after giving their brain time to rest.
Maintain Good Sleeping Habits Overall
Over the course of your new developing parenting skills, you’ll see that good sleeping patterns develop healthy children overall.
Maintaining good sleeping habits include the following:
Move the Baby to Their Own Crib in Their Own Room After 3 Months
New parents struggle with this one a lot for some reason. Once the baby is in the room with them – they feel a part of their master bedroom as sort of an attachment.
Husbands may be suffering from sleep as well, and everyone’s sleep is probably affected by the numerous wake-up calls you to get for feeding. Moving the baby to their own room and their own crib early will help them adapt to their own space easier.
It will most definitely improve the family situation in a few ways: It will help everyone sleep better, and it may help the baby sleep longer. With a quiet space all to themselves, they will grow accustomed to “their room.”
Start in phases with their nap, and gradually increase time in their room to include over nighttime.
Be Sure NOT to “Co-sleep” with the Baby Too Much
This isn’t because we believe co-sleeping is bad per se. The main reason I wanted to include this point is that many new parents may not understand how fast that habits form in their baby children.
We think of habits forming over weeks of time. But in many instances with young children – they want and need to repeat good feelings of love and care (sleeping with you, or sleeping in your room), will foster very quickly – sometimes in as quick as just 1 or 2 times with you.
Co-sleeping for many new parents often becomes a bad cycle they are unable to break many years after starting.
Make Sure to Encourage Naps for Your Child
Set up a napping schedule. If they are showing signs that they are tired (yawning, zoning out, fussiness), take them to bed at the same time(s) every day.
Just as discussed in (b), children will soon develop a habit, and naps in their own bed will become a great routine for your child and help you get a much-needed break.
Usually, children under 2 will need at least 2 naps in the day time besides sleep (15-18 hours of sleep). Not just the 10-12 at night. This is because their body is still developing, and it takes a lot of energy to grow!
Focus on Doing the Same Activities for Nap Time
Naptime will become very easy with a consistent routine.
At Made in the USA Surrogacy, we encourage families to start with a few books, perhaps provide a small snack like berries with water (or breastmilk if the baby is still nursing or on formula), songs or singing, and rocking in a rocking chair.
Just these few activities will help your child know that it is nap time and time to settle down.
Don’t Neglect Naptime – Plan Your Day Around It
Busy parents don’t always have to mean busy children. Keep in mind that it’s a lot on new children and new babies to be out-and-about.
Their developing brain and body need a lot of sleep to help support those daily activities. And just because they may be sleeping in the car seat, does not mean that their time with eyes shut was actually restful.
Naps should be restful and not in the presence of many distractions. This means you may have to think twice about the activities you wanted to go do for a day – and re-plan around those times you know your child is sleeping.
Plan activities between the times you know your child will be up, but generally plan to be home, so your baby can have a good nap!
When it gets tough to maintain your child’s napping schedule, consider this:
Napping for Children Promotes Better Attitudes
Most every parent will be struggling with children that have attitudes whether that be crying or throwing fits.
Let’s say your newborn (0-9 months) is also crying and not necessarily throwing a fit- but you can’t quite soothe them, even between holding them in your arms and the swing.
This probably means that your child is tired. Fits of screaming or fussiness is a tell-tale sign that your child is tired. Learn to read your child’s cues, and you will be one step closer to fixing the issue soon.
Getting them to a nap most likely will solve 99% of your issues beforehand, and they will wake up refreshed! Make no mistake, napping usually promotes a better attitude.
Napping Helps YOU Get Your Much-needed Rest
The surrogacy process can be difficult and long!
Now that you actually have a child, your real work starts! You will be tired and stressed. Make sure to do the steps above to make sure your new child had by surrogacy so that you have time to rest.
The times during a nap can be used to work, to catch up on sleep, to read more of this surrogacy blog, or just time to prep lunch or dinner.
The real fact about napping and having a schedule of sleep for your child is that it provides breaks for you during your day- perhaps the best benefit of this new plan!
If you are a parent looking for a surrogate or having trouble finding a surrogate – we want to help you.
If you found this article, and you think your friends could use the advice or our services, please also share this with them!
Fill out our inquiry form to get started looking for your surrogate and complete your family today!
If you are a current mother and researching surrogacy agencies in California, we would love to have you become a surrogate with us. Please fill in this inquiry or give us a call at 916-226-4342.
