If you have a child at home, chances are that you have a lot to do during the day. Make sure that you do it whether your child is sleeping or not. This means that if you have to wash the dishes or put them in the dishwasher, don’t worry about being too loud. Once I resolved to teach my daughter the difference between night and day, I would even vacuum while she slept. Far from causing trauma, I now have a five-year-old who loves to help daddy with the vacuuming. That should be incentive enough. If you are watching TV, keep watching and do not turn the volume down. You don’t need to blast the television or radio, but you also don’t need to turn your house into a library. The first few times that you do this, your child may become mildly irritated. That is usually because they are used to sleeping whenever they want. As time goes on, they will begin to associate activity with daytime.
Of course, babies need lots of sleep. A nap from time to time is fine. The point is that only you can teach your baby about what is supposed to happen during the day. When you are doing chores while your child is in her “bouncy seat” tell her what you are doing. Talk in your normal conversational daytime tone of voice. Pretend you are talking to your spouse or a neighbor (even though most of your neighbors probably drool less than your baby). In addition, play with your baby as much as you can. Parenting is challenging, but it is also fun. Babies like to stay awake when they are having fun.