It seems like the way we get our babies to sleep can be a controversial topic. But it really shouldn’t be. We all do what we feel is the best thing for our own children.
This post is just my way of telling you the way we did it, and some of my tips. If this isn’t for you, that is perfectly okay with me and it doesn’t bother me a bit if you choose to do things differently with your baby.
It’s fun to me to read different tips from all different mothers, because I think we all like to put our own spin on things based on our children and their specific needs. It’s important to keep in mind that each child and each family is different and this isn’t a list of advice, but just a way to tell you what we did, and what worked for us.
Swaddle
We were big swaddlers. Before Hudson was born we watched Harvey Karp’s “Happiest Baby on the Block” DVD for a complete swaddling lesson, and Todd and my mom mastered it. It took me about a week longer before I could get the tight swaddle down. We used a flannel large square blanket, and made sure their little hands were down at their sides. This helped keep them from waking themselves up and they loved it. Of course, the first few days they didn’t love it at first, but after about a minute of fussing, they’d fall right to sleep. And then they got used to it.
White Noise
There are so many different machines, Sleep Sheeps, tracks for your iPod, etc. that you can use for white noise. You can use a fan or just “shhhh” in your baby’s ear. But it was important to have some noise in the room that was a soothing sound, but kept the room from being too quiet. I read that our babies are so used to so much noise from pregnancy that having a home that’s too quiet will make it difficult to sleep. For me, personally, white noise is a must. I know I can’t sleep in a room that’s too quiet.
Schedule
Around the two week mark, we were on a good schedule of feeding them every 2.5-3 hours and having them awake for one hour and then napping for two hours. They naturally sleep so much when they’re newborns, so after being awake for one hour, they’d start to yawn and we’d swaddle them and put them in the crib with the white noise playing. Establishing a flexible schedule helped the baby know what to anticipate throughout the day. As they got older, they’d be able to stay awake for longer periods of time, but giving them the opportunity for quiet, uninterrupted naps helped establish nap times and helped them adjust to sleeping longer periods of time during the night.
We love our sleep in this house!
What tips would you add to helping your baby sleep?
I totally agree with the schedule thing. My “baby” is almost 3 now, but we have always had some kind of bedtime routine so that he knows what to expect when it’s bedtime. It makes all the difference!!
We also put our kids on a schedule right away, swaddled them as newborns and have air purifiers in their rooms, which we turn on high. It does double work as a white noise machine. We also established a bedtime routine very early: bath, bottle (later omitted of course), book, cuddles, then bed. It helps them know that bed time is near. With our 3 year old, Parker, he loved it when we would hum to quiet him down. Avery, on the other hand, preferred to be “shhhed”. When she gets worked up in the car, Parker will start telling her: “it’s ok, ‘Ey-ree’! Shhh!”. It still works and she’s 18 months old!