Sticking to a sleep schedule will program your body to know when it’s bedtime. Try to go to bed at the same time every night and to rise at the same time each morning. Give your body other clues that it is time to slow down, relax, and drift off to sleep.  One tip is to slowly make your surroundings more dark. Dim light signals to your body that it is time to sleep. Avoid exposure to natural light in the evenings, for example, and, inside your bedroom, slowly dim the lights or progressively shut off lights.  Make your room a comfortable space. Cover your bed with comfortable blankets and pillows. Also, ensure that the room temperature is to your liking. Flip your pillows, adjust your covers, or turn on a fan. Do anything else that puts you into a relaxed mood. Try a warm shower if that does the trick, or have a cup of a warm, sleep-inducing tea like chamomile or “sleepy-time” blend. If reading makes you fall asleep easily in class, then it should do the same at home during the evening. This is also a very effective strategy if you tend to dwell on the problems of the day — reading a book will let you decouple from those stress-inducing thoughts. Pick something that is easy or bland. Don’t distress yourself by reading the newspaper, for instance, or a horror novel. Pick a textbook or a dense novel, instead. When you’ve finally put your head down, make sure that you are in complete darkness. This is one of the most important factors in quality sleep. Light not only inhibits the release of the sleep hormone melatonin, but also stimulates the hypothalamus to raise the body’s temperature and produce cortisol, both of which inform the body to be awake and alert. Even if you fall asleep with lights on, you won’t sleep as soundly. If you live in the city, share a room with a night-owl, or always have to leave a nightlight on, wear a sleep mask to give yourself a fighting chance. Try also to use a low-illumination night-light. Televisions, phones, and computers tempt and distract us. They tell our brains to be up and alert. In fact, you should avoid using them before bed, because the particular kind of light they emit (blue light) can reduce the quality of your sleep.  One study shows that two hours of exposure to light from iPads and other tablets at night reduced melatonin levels by about 22 percent. Consider ways of changing your routine if you are a heavy user of smart phones or tablets.  Resist the urge to browse the internet if you’re having a sleepless night. Screens on computers, phones, and tablets are backlit, which will arouse you from sleep and lower your melatonin levels, making it harder for you to fall asleep.  Set a time to stop all device use each night, such as 30 minutes before bedtime. You can also download software, apps or changes the setting on some of your devices so that they reduce the amount of blue light emitted as it approaches bedtime. Your screen will instead look yellow or reddish, which is easier on your eyes and will not inhibit melatonin production. Ambient or white noise is a steady, low noise that hovers in the background and sort of pushes out other noises. Your preferred white noise might be light music, "rainforest sounds," or even the sound of a rotating fan. The point is just to have low-level sound. There are free white noise generators that you can find online. If you prefer your phone, you can also buy ambient noise apps. These generators will help you to fall asleep more readily by dampening external sounds. If you are the fretful type, try to force out the stressful thoughts about the day, work, or school. Do not reenact problems or arguments from the day in your head. If you find you are prone to doing that, try playing music as described above — and focus all your thoughts on that music and let it carry you into slumber. Quieting a worried mind can be hard. Let your thoughts wander. For example, try the standard technique of “counting sheep.” You might also try to think in mental pictures instead of words. Studies have shown that staying in bed, without sleeping, can actually worsen insomnia because your brain begins to associate bed with being awake. If you can’t fall asleep within 20 minutes or so, get up and do something else for a while like read. Then, when you feel tired again, go back to bed. Try changing places as a last ditch effort. If you can’t get comfortable in your bed, move to your sofa and try to fall asleep there. Sometimes the change will work.
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One-sentence summary -- Establish a pre-sleep routine. Read a book. Turn off all the lights. Keep electronics out of the bedroom. Listen to ambient noise. Clear your mind. Don’t wait out insomnia.


Drape the cloth so that it is under your baby's chin. This will help you avoid getting spit-up on your clothes. You can also use a clean area of the cloth to wipe your baby's mouth and nose after you burp them. If your baby is sleeping in your arms after a feeding, then carefully transfer them to your shoulder. Position your baby so that their chin is resting on your shoulder with the burp cloth on it. Place 1 hand under your baby's bottom to support their weight and place the other hand against their back.  If you are sitting in a rocker or recliner, leaning back slightly may help you to transfer your baby without waking them. Be ready to support your baby's head with the hand that is on their back if needed, such as if they make a sudden movement in their sleep. With the hand that is on your baby's back, pat your baby gently. Do not use sharp or hard taps as these will not make your baby burp faster and are likely to wake them up. Keep patting gently until your baby burps. If you are seated in a rocking chair, rock your baby to help soothe them and keep them asleep. If you're sitting in a regular chair or standing, you can sway back and forth slightly to soothe your baby. After your baby burps, carefully place them on their back in their crib or bassinet. Do this slowly to avoid waking up your baby in the process of transferring them. Make sure that your baby's crib only has a fitted sheet and no heavy blankets, pillows, or stuffed toys which pose a suffocation hazard for your baby.
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One-sentence summary --
Put a clean cloth over your shoulder or chest as you burp your baby. Hold your baby against your chest with their chin over your shoulder. Pat your baby's back gently to help them burp. Return your baby to their crib or bassinet after you burp them.