Sleep. The one topic that is guaranteed to be at the forefront of most new parents minds. Whether it is how much their baby is having or, most likely, how little the parents are having it becomes a word synonymous with those first few months (or years) of parenting. That is why we are dedicating a whole week to all things sleep related. From baby sleep tricks to routines and safe sleep. It’s all here this week so we hope you enjoy it.
First up it’s a question I googled a lot ‘How to get my baby to sleep?’. Honestly, I think I tried everything going with the girls. They were not the best sleepers in those early months and although I hoped beyond hope that it would get better (and it did) I still didn’t stop trying to find that one magical solution that would give them, and me, some much needed Zzzz’s.
So to help all you lovely parents I’ve come up with my A to Z of sleep tricks. Believe me, they are worth a try. The methods of getting your little one to sleep will vary depending on their age as their requirements and ability to sleep change but these should hopefully give you a bit of guidance. As ever please do share your tips and tricks with us below.
Baby Sleep Tricks
A is for Avoiding Stimulation. Keep bedtime as a quiet time. Try not to play with toys or have too much going on before bedtime.
B is for Bathtime. I always found a nice bath helped to settle the girls before bed. It symbolised that bedtime was near and helped them wind down. It still does.
C is for Cradling. Most babies like a gentle rock or bounce to send them to sleep. Transferring them to the moses basket or cot becomes a highly crafted skill!
D is for Dummy. I was never adverse to the dummy but both girls wouldn’t take one initially. Eventually Molly took one at 4 months and it changed my life. I kid you not. She went from not sleeping at all to sleeping for hours on end. She was also able to soothe herself to sleep so we didn’t have to wait with her. Yes there were meltdowns when she lost the dummy in the night but that was a small price to pay. Alice preferred her thumb which was much easier as she couldn’t loose that!
E is for Emptying The Cot. As they get a bit older you may find that they mess about a bit with their toys. Try removing everything from the cot if this is the case.
F is for Fragrance. To try and help Alice sleep my mum mixed up some essentials oils which we placed in hot water and diffused in the room before Alice went to sleep. A few drops of lavender oil can work wonders. Please note you should be careful using essential oils with tiny babies. I always placed it in the room before Alice went to bed and then removed it.
G is for Gradient. If your baby is struggling to sleep they may not like being flat. I found Alice was better when she was propped up slightly. I placed a few blankets under one end of her crib mattress to raise her head up slightly which seemed to help.
H is for Hands. Resting your hands on your little one’s tummy can help with sleeping. When we had a Snuzpod I would have the side down and place my hand on Alice’s tummy whilst she went to sleep. If you’d like a Snuzpod for yourself then check out our fabulous competition.
I is for Ignoring. I found this very hard but if all else fails try ignoring them. I didn’t like letting them cry it out and in truth that didn’t work for Molly. This is a very personal choice but has worked for a lot of people I know.
J is for Journeys. This can be a vicious circle but can be your only bit of sanity for some peace and quiet. Car journeys soothe a lot of babies and I know many a parent who has done an 11pm drive around the block. Likewise getting out and about with the pram is a lifesaver. Both Fern and I did many a walk to let the littles get some shut eye. Great for your fitness too.
K is for Keep Going. Not exactly a trick but just a little bit of reassurance for you. Keep doing what you are doing. Baby will get there and things will get easier. It may not seem like it at the time but having got through it twice I can assure you it does.
L is for Lighting. My girls favour darkness for their sleeping. It also helps differentiate between naps and bedtime as I never made it quite as dark for naptime. A good blackout blind is a must. When they wake in the night try to avoid turning bright lights on. Have a small nightlight or turn a hall light on instead.
M is for Milk. Often if baby isn’t sleeping they will hungry and need a feed. Give them a dream feed at around 11pm to see if that makes them go for longer and if they wake in the night feed them and put them straight back to sleep.
N is for Naps. The frequency and length of naps can sometimes affect bedtime. It didn’t with my girls, they loved sleep, but be aware of this if your nighttime routine is becoming disrupted.
O is for Osteopaths. I am a big advocate of a cranial osteopath. It worked wonders for Alice and I now think perhaps it could have helped Molly in the early months. I highly recommend it.
P is for Pampers. Ok, it doesn’t have to be Pampers but I’d already used N! Make sure baby is wearing the right size and absorbency nappy to see them through. Whether that is a few hours or when they are sleeping through the night. There is nothing like a wet nappy to wake a sleeping baby.
Q is for Quiet. As you will see from W below not all babies like the quiet but you should definitely lower the level of all noise prior to bedtime. If baby is with you downstairs then a quieter level of talking or television should help. Alice has always loved it being really quiet while she sleeps whilst Molly could sleep through a pneumatic drill (and has!!!).
R is for Routine. I never tried to force a routine on the girls (we will be chatting routines later in the week) but it does help to have some sense of repetition to get your little one used to bedtime and nap time. Both my girls fell in to a routine by themselves and it was brilliant once they did.
S is for Swaddling. That feeling of being wrapped tightly helps baby feel secure and mimics the feelings of being in the womb where space was restricted. I used the Gro Swaddling blankets which were really easy to use and kept the girls snug.
T is for Temperature. Getting the right temperature for the room is essential. You don’t want it too hot nor too cold. Make sure your baby is comfortable and wearing appropriate clothing and blankets for the temperature.
U is for Understanding. Only you really know your baby. You will get to know what they want and when (most of the time!!).
V is for Voice. Your voice is an immense source of comfort to your little one. Whether it is gentle shushing, story telling or singing lullabys. Keep the voice levels low to avoid getting them too excited.
W is for White Noise. Some babies don’t like the quiet as actually there will be more unexpected noises that occur that you aren’t aware off. Fern favoured the vacuum or hairdryer and I tried a ticking clock by Alice. You can also get some great apps and toys that have sounds to soothe baby, such as Ewan The Dream Sheep.
X is for XOXO. A little cuddle and kiss doesn’t go amiss before bedtime. It reassures your little one and being close to you can help regulate their breathing before they drift off. Some babies will only fall asleep whilst being held
Y is for Your Scent. Try lying baby on a muslin or one of your T-shirts/PJ tops. Both will have your scent normally mixed with milk which will calm baby.
Z is for Zzzzzzzz. Hopefully after all of this both baby and you will be getting some restful sleep. After all we know it is much needed.
And if all this fails remember sleep is for wimps! All we need is caffeine and a packet of chocolate digestives!
Image by Little Beanies Photography.
Brilliant! Looking forward to the rest of the weeks tips.
I found that going up a nappy size at night helps to keep them dry all night.
Any advice on how to sleep train a baby without waking your toddler?!!
That was the hardest Rebecca. I couldn’t leave Alice to cry as I didn’t want to wake Molly but luckily Molly can sleep through pretty much anything. However, i was still nervous. I found different approaches such as the reassurance worked well. I did the whole sitting by her cot and moving ever so slightly away each time. It seemed to work until she learnt to go to sleep as she got bigger. xx
Sleep, or lack thereof certainly seems to be the most popular topic of conversation about my baby son! I feed my son to sleep which for some parenting schools of thought is making a rod for my own back and he’ll never self settle and it did worry me for a while but I now realise it works for us so what’s the problem? I enjoy our feeds where he falls asleep in my arms, and it means both he and I do sleep. So I’ve learned to trust my instincts and do what works for us. And to stop googling!!
I fed Fern to sleep for the first year of her life. It was quite an easy transition. Sarah Ockwell-Smith had great advice on this
Another advocate of feeding to sleep. It works, releases all those magic hormones and hasn’t been as hideous to stop as I feared. Also find leaving some books or toys in the cot for a toddler can (but doesn’t always) help- S likes to flick through the pages and then settles herself in for the night.
Mine were both fed to sleep in the early stages. It helped massively and they very quickly changed as they got older. I still find Molly playing with her toys now. Her bed is covered in soft toys and I’ll go up to check her and they are all tucked up with her usually xx
Ahh, baby sleep – everyone’s favourite topic! I found the first few weeks really hard and promised myself I’d do anything that made sleep easier for bub and for me. That’s meant co-sleeping or bed sharing. It definitely doesn’t work for everyone but it’s been brilliant for us. My hubby sleeps like a log so doesn’t notice when bub stirs (unless I elbow him for help hah) and bub and I only really half wake during the night when he wants a feed, and then go straight back to sleep again. The only change we made was to upgrade our old bed to a superking to give everyone a bit more room and it’s been brill.
I’m a big fan of gentle sleep promoters like Sarah Ockwell Smith and like above don’t believe feeding to sleep or sleep associations are a “rod for your back” – if they work then go with them, baby won’t always be a baby and will, at some point, sleep without needing help. I find it a bit funny that people get SO worked up about a baby sleeping without help but it’s fine for them to need your help in EVERYTHING else. That’s what babies do, they’re a bit useless at the start, hah!
What’s lovely is how individual babies are – some things that work brill with one baby are useless with another. So go with what works for you and, if something doesn’t feel right, don’t feel you must do it just because you read it in a book xx
I’ve read Sarah Ockwell Smith too and thinks she’s great. It is what gave me the confidence to trust my instincts x
Yes I was exactly the same Sophie. Sleep was the one area where I felt quite pressured to ignore my instincts and do things that didn’t feel right for my son and me – but thankfully I read her book and realised what I wanted to do was okay!
Ahh Kate THIS – ‘I find it a bit funny that people get SO worked up about a baby sleeping without help but it’s fine for them to need your help in EVERYTHING else.’ Is SOOOOO true. Thank you for saying that! x
Hopefully over time people will stop worrying about helping babies sleep Fern – or it might go the other way and you’ll get “Don’t keep changing his nappy, he needs to learn how to pee and change his own” or “Don’t hold her hand when she’s learning to walk or she’ll never walk alone”! ??
White noise helped with my first and is helping again with my second, I’ve got an app called Sound Sleeper which is good! I always fed my first to sleep and no doubt will do again, there’s nothing wrong with feeding and cuddling to sleep if it works so my advice is ignore anyone who starts making the ‘rod for your own back’ comments (eye roll) and just go with your instincts! They grow out of everything eventually so just do what works now and don’t worry about next week / month / year! Also if they don’t like to be put down then a good sling is useful! X
Sarah I couldn’t agree more with this comment (and all of the others actually) – it’s exactly the advice I think all new mums should receive!
x
I have to admit to a bit of an inward sigh when I initially saw this post, sleep advice is often really prescriptive and one-size fits-all which is irritating, but as ever Lottie, you’ve hit the nail on the head with all of this. I couldn’t agree with you more.
We’re glad that at 21 months, Fern is a reliable, easy sleeper. That could well be down to luck, but I’ve also done everything possible to lay the foundations for a healthy sleep habit. I agree, routine (in as much as predictable, reliable sequence of events rather than time-strict) is key. I’m so glad we tried a dummy. Fern associates it with sleep and we’ve never had any issues with her wanting it in the day, which is partly due to the fact I only ever gave it to her at naptime, never as a quick-fix for a standard daytime grizzle.
I also think our video monitor is key, as it means we can differentiate between true distress and a dramatic strip over a list dummy and act accordingly. Times I’ve gone to her room when she’s crying then paused outside her door with the video monitor only to watch her fall asleep at that very moment whereas without it I’d have bowled in and disturbed her.
I also swear by the Snuzpod and cocoonababy mattress combination. We moved Fern into her own room at 7 months and I stopped the bedtime breastfeed at 15 months. All decisions made when we felt she was absolutely ready, not before. A calm, gentle, methodical approach has paid dividends here.
I have huge sympathy for people who have difficulty with sleeping. I know someone could use the exact same approach as we have but still have a poor sleeper. I really believe though that gentle firmness and consistency makes a big difference.
Strop not strip! ?
I definitely agree that there are no real ‘tricks’. Each baby is completely unique and you have to do what works for you both. I had complete mare’s with both girls in the early months but do you know what, they were babies, and I guess that means they set their own rules. They both got there in the end and sleep returned. That said we still have wakes ups at various points so I guess that’s just the joys of parenting. It’s all good fun. xxx
We feel like we’ve hit the jackpot. Little E falls into an undisturbed 8-8 slumber every night! We’ve changed her night routine a little bit to include more cuddles, reassurance and stories – she goes out like a light!
We feel very very lucky x
Amazing. Go you Karen. Cuddles are the best xxx
Another fan of Sarah Ockwell-Smith here ? Her tips about red lighting, white noise and humidifiers with lavender oils have been so helpful to us, especially knowing I could never ‘ignore’ my baby or leave her to cry.
Very helpful a-z! I wasn’t sure there could be 26 different sleep tips but actually having read it I’m sure there are even more!
I agree with the comments above about all babies being different – I was hugely critical of myself and believed that I was doing something wrong, when in hindsight I think baby just wasn’t ready to sleep through yet.
That being said, I’m not sure I agree with the comments about not teaching a baby to sleep on its own because there are other things you do need to help them with – if we used that logic we wouldn’t teach them to do anything alone until they can do everything alone! My little one is so much more settled now he knows how to go to sleep alone (and I am much more sane!). I think it’s just, as ever, different strokes for different folks!
Sarah P I agree with you that children need a little help. As with all things they learn we encourage and teach them. Some grasping things quicker than others and doing things at their own pace, but none the less learning and taking guidance from us. xxx
(Is that even the saying?! It looks weird now I’ve written it down! What does ‘different strokes’ even mean?!)
Ha. It’s definitely a saying xxx
I would agree with Sarah P and Lorna about needing to teach / help a baby learn to sleep or self settle. I don’t think babies will necessarily learn to self settle if constantly feeding to sleep, and not given the chance. It also becomes frustrating for them in my experience to need, in my case, the boob to fall asleep as they don’t necessarily want to feed. My little one is 14 months and this is now a problem for all of us. I would advise trying to give babies a chance to settle themselves after the first few weeks. It becomes very hard for all when only a mother can settle baby and said mother needs to work outside home etc.