It always concerns me to hear that there are parents using sleep medications for getting baby to sleep Not just for baby’s welfare but for the parents as well. Sleeping pills are completely unsuitable for babies and can do them a lot of harm in later life.

A sleeping babyis the family’s main goal when they’re tired which is why some choose to giving their baby “something to help him sleep”. By doing this you could be exposing your baby to a life of being addicted to medication. In later life he may find his sleep is of poor quality.

No tests have ever been done on the effects of sleep medication on infants. In the case of some over-the-counter medications containing histamines (For example Sominex) the effects can be reversed and they can act as a stimulant. As you can imagine, getting baby to sleep using over the counter meds would be counter productive.

Parents who give their babies sleeping drugs are usually at their wits end and deserve a bit of understanding Every parent with a restless baby is incessantly searching for ways to help that baby sleep. They will spend any amount of money to simply find out one vital thing - getting baby to sleep.

Parents have the following three problems:

• Their baby sleeps most of the day but is awake most of the night.
• falls asleep easily but wakes frequently.
• Baby becomes very distraught when put to bed at night and cries loudly.

If you’re a stay at home mom, you may be able to catch up with some sleep during the day. For those parents who have a full time job outside the home, however, it can be extremely hard to cope with.

Now if you’re one of these parents, then don’t give up because there is a better way and it may not be as tough as you imagine.

Here are some tips you can try for getting baby to sleep…

Leaving baby to cry for a while This one’s not for the faint hearted! It involves leaving your baby to cry for a set amount of time before going in to comfort him. As time goes on, slowly increase the time between visits. Tough love indeed, but it does work! In time baby will learn that his crying isn’t getting him anywhere so he gives up and goes to sleep.

Now I realize that’s probably not everyone’s idea of good parenting . However, realize that you’re setting baby up with good sleep habits for life.

Establish a sleep routine - Even a simple one works well. A bath followed by a cuddle and a short bedtime story will do wonders. Don’t include stimulating activities like games into the schedule and do everything in the same order at the same time of night.

Natural remedies - These are a great choice for busy families. Homeopathic or herbal remedies are a much healthier and safer option to chemical sleep medications for getting baby to sleep.