Tips to Move a Sleeping Baby from Hand to Bed

Your baby enjoys the nice cosy sleep nurturing the skin-to-skin contact with you. You are ready to move her to the bed and catch up with some sleep yourself.Just as her body touches the bed, she starts crying. You have to start the process all over again and wonder if the saying "Sleep like a baby" is really true. The simple trick to make your baby continue sleeping peacefully as you place her on the bed is wait for her to enter deep sleep. To ensure this, do not move your baby to the bed as soon as she falls asleep. Wait for a few minutes before you make the transition.

You can try the following tips to effectively move a sleeping baby from your arms to the bed:

• Get your baby's bed ready before you start putting your little one to sleep. This saves a lot of time for both the baby and you. Remember to keep the bed warm. You can also make sure that the bed has a high mattress so that you do not have to bend yourself too much. If the side railings of your baby's bed can be lowered, you may consider lowering them. But remember to raise them when she is in bed.
• Although babies prefer sleeping in darkness, you may consider using a small night lamp. This reduces your chances of tripping as you make your way to her bed through the dark. Keep in mind that the minimum noise can waken your baby.
• Maintain the least distance between the place you rock your baby to sleep and her bed. Lesser movements are ideal to keep chances of her waking up to a minimum.
• Choose to sit in a chair or bed from which you can get up comfortably without waking up the little one.
• Feed your baby and lay her to sleep on the arm that you find easier to place her on the bed.
• Before laying her on your arms or breast to make her sleep, spread a blanket on your arms or breast. Place the baby partly on the blanket and partly on your arms as you make her sleep. When you lay her on the bed, move her along with the blanket. This may help her in not identifying the transition.
• Rock her for a while and try singing to her before you decide to put her on the bed.
• Lean forward so that your breast touches hers and place one hand on her back under the blanket.
• Lay her on her back and swaddle her using the blanket.