4 Steps on How to Get a Baby to Sleep in a Bassinet

Newborn babies require a lot of care right from the moment they are born. Most people would argue that it takes more than rocket science to take care of a baby especially getting her to sleep. All babies love the warmth of their mothers and would not trade anything for that. I can say I’m also guilty of having been like that. They know the smell of their mothers and will definitely detect it if someone else was carrying them or if they were not sleeping next to mama.

From napping to eating, they would do anything while on your arms hence getting your baby to start sleeping in her own bassinet will take a little patience and time. As a parent, it is your responsibility to ensure that your baby gets sleep enough and is safe while sleeping.

One of the most effective ways of ensuring your baby sleeps enough is by making them sleep in a bassinet. A bassinet is just a small portable bed where babies sleep. For more than a century now, bassinets have been popular all over the globe. With the recent study that has shown how unsafe it is to share a bed with your baby, the use of bassinets has even become more popular.

Below are the 4 steps that will help you make be able to get your baby to sleep in a bassinet.

This is the first step towards getting her to sleep in the bassinet on her own. According to research by psychologists and pediatricians, babies like to know that certain things will happen at a particular time each day. Hence to program their minds, you need to introduce an activity just before you put them to sleep. This works in such a way that they will always know instinctively that immediately after a particular activity, they get to sleep making them anticipate it.

You can sing them a lullaby, feed them, bathe them or change diapers just before bed. You can choose whichever activity; the most important thing to do is to ensure that you make it a routine.

2. Put Her to Sleep in the Bassinet

Ensure that when you are putting her in her bassinet, she is still not asleep. This is important so that she can learn to fall asleep on her own. You can just stay next to her so that she can see she still has you around her. Most babies will certainly cry when they realize that no one is around them.

Ensure that the bassinet is warm. Babies are very intelligent. They can differentiate when they are not in their mam’s warm arms hence to ensure they don’t find the new environment uncomfortable; the bassinet should be a bit warm.

You can also cover her with beddings that smell like you. Babies have a very strong sense of smell and can differentiate her mother’s smell from other people’s smell hence to make her feel your presence, covering her with beddings that smell like you is a good idea to making her feel comfortable in her bassinet.

3. Swaddle Her

Babies love being swaddled. This will make her fall asleep as fast as possible since she will be calmer and will feel safe. One of the reasons why your baby might reject her bassinet is because she might not feel safe in it hence swaddling her will assure her that she is safe. This is usually effective when the baby is less than 3 months old. By the time she will be over 3 months, she would have gotten used to sleeping on her own hence you can stop swaddling her.

4. Sing Her a Lullaby

Once she has started feeling sleepy, you can then sing her lullaby. This will remind her that you are still around her and prevent her from crying. Lullabies help soothe the baby making them feel calm and sleepy.

Please take note that if she still cries after doing all these, you shouldn’t ignore it since she might not still have gotten used to sleeping on her own. For the first few days or weeks, she will try to resist sleeping in her own bassinet, but with time she will get used to it.

Before putting her to sleep, you should ensure that she is properly fed. She might be refusing to sleep because she is hungry. Usually, when babies are hungry, they tend to suck their thumbs. Some babies also like to sleep with a feeding bottle in their mouths. If she is of that type, then feeding her while she is trying to sleep is a good idea.

You can also consider buying a pacifier. Pacifiers help to soothe babies making them less likely to cry. With this, she will be asleep in no time.

If you are planning to buy a bassinet for your baby and you are wondering how you will make her sleep in it, don’t sweat it, we have got you covered. If you own one and your baby refuses to sleep in it, don’t worry, we have got you covered. We believe the above-outlined steps will help you achieve that with her. But before you start using bassinets, it is important to know the safety precautions since your baby’s safety should be your number one priority.

Through extensive research, the American Academy of Pediatrics came up with the following guidelines to ensure that your baby is safe while she’s asleep. They include:

When shopping for your baby’s bassinet, you should ensure the following

We hope that you will find these guidelines useful and that you will apply them to make your little angel finally accept her bassinet.