It’s safe to say that our sleep takes a hit when you have a new baby, but when we hit the point where exhaustion has completely taken over our lives, we have to learn to reclaim the nights for ourselves again. It’s ok for the first couple of weeks, but when you start to feel any form of exhaustion that sets you back, it’s important to find the best ways to get your little one to sleep. Let’s show you some of the most approved methods.
Do Not Underestimate Comfort and Swaddling
One of the most common pieces of advice older parents give is to let your child “cry it out,” but this is not sage advice. If you let the baby cry it out, and cry themselves to sleep, this could cause problems later on, not least with regards to their sense of happiness in the family unit. You may try swaddling, and the baby might have hated it initially, but you’ve got to remember that during the first couple of months, their sleep changes so much that they will get used to certain things. One of the tried and tested methods is to take your baby out in the car, and the gentle rocking can get them back to sleep, but one of the biggest problems is then transporting them from the car to the bed, but this is where a baby rocker can come in handy. It is important to give them comfort, and you may think that providing too much comfort is overkill, especially when you are exhausted, but this is one of the best approaches.
Recreate the Feeling of the Womb
This is especially true for babies during those first six months because they spent most of their existence in a warm cozy environment, in the form of the mother’s womb. You have to remember that half of a baby’s sleep consists of REM sleep, which is the light sleep stage, and when we are in this light phase of sleep, anything wakes us up, and this is doubly true for our children. So one of the best things you can do is to drown out any external noises with noises that recreate the womb. White noise machines are beneficial, and there are videos on YouTube that recreate sounds of the womb but also think about installing some blackout blinds. Some parents think you shouldn’t install blackout blinds because this means the baby won’t be able to get to sleep in lighter environments, but our sleep cues are dictated by sunrise and sunset. When the sun goes down, this is a signal for our bodies to create melatonin, the sleep hormone. So do not be afraid of blackout blinds, as this will recreate the same types of light they experienced in the womb and will help you to get some all-important sleep in the process!
Do Not Both Get up With the Baby!
There is no reason for you both to be awake every time the baby is. It is so important for you both to take shifts. When it comes to your sleep, having 4 or 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep will make all of the difference. It’s also important for you to get into the habit of knowing how long your sleep cycle lasts for. You can do this by getting a sleep cycle app on your phone. And that way, if you are able to put the baby down and have a nap yourself, you can time it so you don’t wake up in the middle of a sleep cycle, resulting in grogginess and further tiredness.
Implementing Bedtime Routines
One of the best things new parents can do is to get those bedtime routines down as soon as possible. It is important to give your baby those signals that it is time to sleep. Having a consistent bedtime routine can work wonders for your baby, but it’s about giving the baby enough time to realize that bedtime is coming. It will not be enough to just read your baby a book and then put them down, but this is where the four B’s come in handy: Bath, Book, Bottle, Bed.
When babies do not sleep, this causes tensions to rise high in the household, but one of the best pieces of advice is to remember that persistence is, unfortunately, key. You might hear stories about other parents who managed to get their baby to sleep through right away, but there will be times when babies do not sleep through, especially when they’re going through developmental leaps. Do not feel that you are the only one going through this problem. Don’t try to be super mom! It requires a lot of trial and error, flexibility, but also a lot of perspectives.
