The challenge of learning to be in the cradle
The education of the children can begin from the first day of the baby's life. The cradle It is a perfect environment to encourage some educational habits, although sometimes, parents mistakenly believe that it is not possible to start the educational process until the baby has some capacity for reasoning.
The truth is that a good part of education, especially in early childhood, is acquired by repetition, and not by reasoning. And the repetition processes with which subsequent habits are achieved start from the first day.
The day to day of the baby is composed of very few elements on which you can work some type of education, however, you can influence all of them to go laying the foundations with which after important values will be achieved. One of these elements is the cradle and one of the main goals of families is the challenge that the baby can learn to be in the cradle awake.
How to start educating the baby from the cradle
Newborns spend most of their time asleep. When they are awake, they are ready to eat, to receive a bath, and perhaps to cry a while prey of the gases. Each time will increase the moments of vigil, but the cradle is the great protagonist in this stage of life.
If the model of crib chosen is the right one, if it has the necessary security measures (distance bars smaller than the size of the head, padded chest, height adjustable bed base) and with a comfortable mattress, the baby does not have to be in disgust in his crib, since the lying position is good.
The parents understand this circumstance when the newborn sleeps, but they usually think that they should not leave the baby in the crib when he is awake. However, leaving him for a while awake in his crib is a good way to start working on two essential habits: patience and autonomy.
As it happens with other habits, if it is practiced from the first day it will not pose any problem to the baby. However, if parents come urgently to the room as soon as they hear the slightest sign that the baby is not sleeping, we will be teaching them that the crib is no place to be awake.
Acquiring this habit of staying in the crib will be especially useful for parents and children as they grow up, since sometimes it may be harder for them to fall asleep or, simply, at a certain moment the parents can not attend to the child for a few minutes. If you are used to playing in your crib, a familiar and safe environment, you will have no problem staying in it.
Alicia Gadea
