How to Lay Down A Sleeping Baby

How To Lay Down A Sleeping Baby- A famous saying is “sleep like a baby.” This means that a baby sleeps so soundly, we should all aspire to sleep so soundly. However, parents find this saying funny! Babies can be light sleepers and once you wake them up by accident, they are ready to go again. Parents and caregivers struggle to keep a sleeping baby as they move them to their crib or another safe space to sleep. Here are some top tips to transfer baby to a crib or another sleep space without waking them. We have broken it down into simple step by step process to make it easy!

Table of Contents

Make Sure The Crib Has No Obstructions

Before even considering lifting your baby, make sure their sleeping space has no obstructions. You don’t want blankets, stuffed animals or anything that requires you to move them or lift them again. Once these items are out of the crib or sleeping space, you are clear for landing!

The Pathway To Sleep Is Clear

Make sure there is no toys or obstructions that you can bump into or slip on. You don’t want any sudden noises waking your baby! Especially with older children. If you have other children, be sure to tell them that you are bringing their sibling upstairs and to play quietly for just a few minutes. That way, your child can stay asleep as they take the journey to bed.

Prepare The Bedroom Ready For Bed

Make sure your babies room has a night light on if you use one, a quiet and darker ambiance and no loud noises. Preparing the room and making it warm and cozy will help your baby transition easily to their crib.

Watch For Your Babies Reaction

As you are about to pick up your baby, do you notice that they are in a deep sleep? Have you noticed their eye lids fluttering? Are they moving limbs and making small sounds? Maybe they are just getting into a restful sleep. However, if they are quiet, not moving as much, they may be in a deep sleep. This means its go time to get them to go into bed.

Support The Head!

It is time to pick up the baby and bring them to their crib or sleeping space. Firstly, slide our palm (palm side out) gently under your babies head, not disturbing their slumber. Silently, slide your second hand to support their back. Make sure the baby is safe. Secondly, slowly lift up either cradling your baby and supporting the head or gently put your infant against your chest. The sound of your heartbeat may remind them of what it is like to be in utero and keep them at ease.

If they are not stirring, you can begin to walk to their room! If your baby is stirring or wakes up, you can either bring them to their bed for a rest and comfort them from their crib or put them down and wait for them to fall asleep again.

Some babies do not rest once they have been roused. If this sounds like your baby, put them back into their previous resting spot and soothe them to sleep. Then retry the previous steps again.

If your baby can soothe quickly, its best to continue to follow the next steps. As you walk to your babies crib, try to speak or whisper softly to them to soothe back to sleep.

Walk Slowly and Quietly

Transfer Baby Slowly Into The Crib

You are now at the crib and you are doing great at moving a sleeping baby undisturbed. Raise your arms carefully to the crib, supporting your babies head and making sure you are maintaining a safe position. Lower your child slowly into the crib. The key here is to make sure the head is being supported. If the child suddenly realizes that they are moving around too much they will stir and cause alarm.

Carefully and slowly place your child into the crib. Keep your hand under the babies head. When the baby is safely in place, slowly remove your hand from your babies head. They may struggle a bit but that might be because they are trying to find their new sweet spot for rest.

Your child loves familiarity. If they are in their room or your room, they will love being in a familiar place that even if they wake up, they know where they are and that they are safe. Lastly, they know that you are near by.

If the baby is in your room and you have some free time or are getting ready for bed yourself, take the time to get ready outside of the room for bed and slip in quietly so you too can get some sleep.

If Baby Wakes Up, Here is What You Do

Do not worry if baby wakes up at any of these stages. Every baby is different. If you notice your baby is waking up and should be sleeping there are a few things you can check to make sure that they are okay before going to bed.

Firstly, check to see if your baby has a dirty diaper. They may be waking up because they are uncomfortable sleeping in their dirty diaper. Make sure they are all cleaned up and ready for bed.

Secondly, make sure that they have been fed. Feeding the baby will give them a nice full stomach. An empty stomach almost always wakes a baby up. Coupled with being tired, you will have one fussy baby on your hands! Burp your baby afterwards and check their diaper once more. They may be ready to go to the bathroom again before bed.

Lastly, check the room temperature and your child’s pajamas. If they are in winter pajamas and the room is quiet warm, they may want something lighter. Alternatively, if it is cold in the room and they have lighter pajamas on, they may need appropriate pajamas for their crib.

Sometimes babies will wake up, have bad days and there is nothing one can do. Keep reading the signs. Hunger, overtired, in pain or in a dirty diaper are some of the signs to help you.

Quietly Leave and Wait

If your child is sleeping and you have transferred your sleeping baby successfully. Now it is time to leave! Make sure to be quiet as your slowly turn around and exit the room. Going at a regular pace but quietly works better than attempting to tiptoe out the door. Going very slow may cause unwanted noise and waking up the baby. Hesitation and then light noise from leaving may also wake up the baby. Leave confidently and quietly.

How Not To Lay Down A Sleeping Baby

Here are some tips on what not to do when you are tying to lay down a sleeping baby.

Not controlling the noise level– When parents do not consider the noise level when a child is sleeping, a child may sleep less or not be able to go to sleep. Though we don’t think you should try to maintain a silent house, making sure loud music or televisions are off no one is yelling is important.

A child should adjust to the sounds of the house. This includes people talking, laughing, working and playing. However, loud noises will not help a child get the hours that they need to sleep.

Not supporting the head of a baby- A baby is safest when the head is supported. If the head is not supported the baby can be injured, sometimes seriously injured. Make sure to always support the head of an infant when you are trying to lay your sleeping baby down without waking them up.