A baby's cry is its only way of communicating with adults. However, it begins to manifest itself more and more persistently before falling asleep. Why is this so?
By the eighth or tenth month, the baby, who up until that point had been sleeping peacefully, satiated by the last bottle of milk (or breast feeding), now begins to violently resent when you put him to bed and leave him alone in the room. Be aware: this crying is not a whim, but is often an expression of genuine concern and a perfectly legitimate desire.
What are the reasons?
is fully aware of his own existence and already maintains more complex relationships with his loved ones. For him, any separation from them is painful. Getting into bed is experienced as parting. It knows that its well-being is entirely dependent on other human beings over whom it has very little influence unless it cries.
That is why the evening of parting and falling asleep become very delicate moments. If during the whole day the child was outside the home (at daycare, with grandparents or with a babysitter) and sees his mother, he experiences the moment of the new separation quite hard an hour later. If his father comes home after his bedtime, the baby will do his best to wait for him awake. The child is aware that family life continues in another room, and is unhappy that he is kept isolated.
How to proceed?
The difficulty comes from combining the understanding that the child needs to have the emotional contacts with his family that he needs and some intransigence. The baby must learn to fall asleep alone. If you get him out of bed or keep him company every time he doesn't want to go to sleep, you're likely to cause more crying and more middle-of-the-night awakenings.
It is important to feel when the time of the Sun is coming. This is the same evening time when the child falls asleep most easily. It also partly depends on the duration of the afternoon nap.
A "reasonable" bedtime is best suited to the time each child wants to spend with mom and dad. It's a time for cuddles, for games, for socializing, not just feeding or bathing hours. It's not so scary if you put the child to sleep at nine o'clock, since during the day he can sleep whenever he wants.
In some children, activity and fussiness increase when they are tired, rather than decreasing. It is good to know him in order to correctly interpret his excitement. For such children, evenings should be markedly calm and quiet. Bathing in the evening often gives good results.
