Easy Tips that Can Get your baby to sleep better and longer
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Getting your baby to sleep better throughout the night will become a priority for you. With my kids I instilled routine in them from the beginning. Routine was something that I knew was not only going to help them, but it was also going to help me too. The more structure that I could add for their little lives, the more trust and security they were going to have with me. That translates into a tighter bond and more sleep! I want to share a few tips that I can pass on from my experience raising three babies.
Routine
I started off by just creating a daily schedule of all of the tasks that needed to get done. This included behaviors that my baby and I would go through in our day to day. Some of these things were feedings, nap times, reading time, bath time, and play time. By creating pockets of time for these activities and staying consistent my kids were able to grasp onto that. They were able to adhere to it naturally.
Now don’t get me wrong, we had our struggles. But for the most part, the routine worked and each one latched onto it. To this very day my kids are 11, 8, 5 and they know their routines. They know their schedules for their everyday tasks and times. If you don’t have this big piece in place with your babies right now, then I would most definitely start there. Put a good routine in place and stick to it.
No liquids before bedtime
This one that is often overlooked and I had to learn the hard way. My baby would wake up crying and it was often due to a wet diaper. It wasn’t until I started to adjust feeding times that I saw the best results. This one can be difficult depending on how you have already accustomed your child to feedings. However, it is not too late to make changes and definitely something that I would take a look at.
Music Lullabies
In our house we have a monthly subscription to Amazon Music Unlimited. We use our echo dot and Amazon Alexa to play music pretty much all day. We keep one in the kids room and we play lullaby music to help them fall asleep. It has become part of their routine, and when they hear their music it helps to soothe them because they know it is bed time. Since they were babies, we had them listening to one specific song right before we would lay them to sleep. The music helped to not only sooth them, but associate the song with sleep. In addition to the music, I purchased a little diffuser to put in their room and I filled the diffuser with some relaxing essential oils. The two of these combined and practiced over time, packs a powerful punch.
Bath
This one is completely relative, but my babies loved taking a little bath when they were fussy and cranky. I Invested in a great bathtub for babies so my baby would learn to enjoy this relaxing one on one time. When I found my kids getting to that unbearable stage, I would call a time out, draw a nice warm bath, and just let the water do the soothing. A few great tips that I that I found helpful was adding some lavender essential oil to the bath. Another option I found was using a baby shampoo that has some quality essential oils already added in. Essential oils act as excellent way to ease your baby in a natural way. Bath time became a relaxing ritual for the kids. It has helped them to wind down when its time to go to sleep to this very day.
Swaddle
A quality Swaddler is something I invested in quickly. The first time I gave birth I noticed that the nurse would wrap blankets around my baby to keep her warm and tight. At least that is what I thought. I decided to ask and they filled me in on what swaddling was. If you have never heard of this before, you can look it up or just picture a baby wrapped up like a burrito in blankets. That pretty much sums it up.
The reason that they do this is to help the baby sleep better. In researching it further, I learned that babies have this free fall tendency that takes place and when sleeping. This can cause them to wake themselves up and start crying. By swaddling the baby, you help to resist such a startle by keeping their arms and legs tightly wrapped to their bodies. This leads to more sleep for the baby and more sleep for you.
Not All Diapers are Created Equal
We had to learn the hard way that not all diapers are created equal. My baby would wake up crying and I would come to find it was because they were sitting in a disaster that has leaked everywhere. I decided to experiment and try out different diaper brands and versions. I didn’t know there were so many different ones until I started researching reviews. In trying around, we found the best ones that would hold and absorb the way they should. This also helps keep your baby sleeping longer and saves you the time and frustration in having to wash everything again and again.
Gripe Water
When I was pregnant with our first child, my husband was working at a supplement health food store. He had been working there for a few years and he shared with one of his loyal clients that he was expecting his first baby. She put him on to something called Gripe Water. His customer actually bought the bottle for him right on the spot as a gift. She told him that the newborn will cry sporadically and uncontrollably and you won’t know why. She advised to give the baby a small dose of Organic Gripe Water.
Turns out we entered that crying phase rather quickly. So, we decided to give it a try, and it worked! It helps to soothe the baby with organic chamomile and helps ease stomach nausea and colic. In fact, it worked so well that we used it with our other 2 children who came shortly after. I still purchase it today as an add on gift when I go to a baby shower.
Like everything in life, you need practice the self discipline and the consistency in order to achieve the results. You can have all of the worlds greatest advice available to you, but if you do not apply it and stay consistent, then it becomes useless information. I wish that someone shared all of these practical tips with me when I was entering motherhood. I want help others by passing on my little experiences. Hopefully these tips can help you get your baby to sleep throughout the night better. I also hope they help get you some much needed sleep too 😴.
