*This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Huggies, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #HuggiesatKroger http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV
Did that headline draw anyone in? Ha ha. Well, maybe — but I know that there is no one way to get a young baby to sleep all night. I also know it depends on the baby and some of them just won’t have it. And that’s okay.
As a new mom, I always find others’ stories fascinating though so perhaps you feel the same way. It’s every momma’s dream to have their baby sleep all night. It’s the first question new people ask you when they meet your little bundle of joy.
Until recently, I would say, “It’s…okay” but for the past few weeks, we’ve had some great stretches. I’m not so naive as to believe this is IT — but I’ll take it for now, right?
Also, DISCLAIMER, it’s not EVERY night — and it’s not always all night (Like if you consider 4am still “night” 😉 !!) But I know that 7pm to 4am is considered all night to many a new mom!
They say baby’s thrive on a schedule. I will tell you today a little bit about ours — and how we keep Jacob happy day and night 🙂 Here are a few things we do to make it happen.
1. Keep ’em fresh. Keeping a baby dry is key to keeping them happy — and we have a kid that seems to pee every hour. When I’m shopping for groceries at Kroger, I usually grab a new package of Huggies Snug n’ Dry while I’m there because…you can never have too many diapers. These diapers last up to 12 hours and that’s so important for helping a baby sleep soundly through the night. They are supposed to get 10-12 hours at 4 months. With triple protection to help stop leaks, we’ve never once had a problem — and that includes those monster pees he takes on day trips 🙂
2. Nightly schedule. The one thing I knew was “routine” was important with babies. But it’s not easy to develop that. I still don’t have it down wonderfully but our night time is very consistent. Around 6 or 6:30, we give Jacob his last bottle of the day, play for a few minutes, then its time for nightly rocking until he hits sleepy town (takes anywhere from 10-30-ish minutes depending on the day!) I know that rocking isn’t recommended for long term sleep solutions but for now, that’s what we do.
3. Magic Sleep Suit. As soon as he was big enough (12 pounds), I was ready to try the famous Merlin’s Magic Sleep suit that so many swear by. We had been using the swaddle sack but it wasn’t quite enough. Sure enough, it helped a lot. Jacob has major startle reflexes & would wake himself up multiple times a night with sudden movements. The sleep suit muffles the movements and keeps his sleep longer and more peaceful. In fact, we just ordered another version of the suit for summer!
4. Sound Machine. This makes a big difference! As many new mommies quickly learn, life in the womb was noisy so babies prefer to have loud, comforting noise like water, rain, the dishwasher or even white noise. When we rock him to sleep, I use the sound machine app on my phone and have our portable sound machine on in the bedroom so it’s an easy transition and I can steal my phone back once he’s in bed. We keep it on all night. After he moves out of the room, I may not be able to sleep without it!
5. Not Jumping to Pick Him Up. It took awhile to learn this one but I don’t pick him up every time he seems like might be waking up. Usually, he’s NOT really awake so waking him up would only do damage. Plus, because he’s wearing those awesome, 12-hour Huggies Snug n’ Dry diapers, I don’t have to worry about not changing his diaper too much, which is reassuring.
6. Humidifier. Jacob seems to have trouble breathing at night sometimes so we bought a humidifier to put in the room and it helps clear him up and breath more easily. Without it sometimes he’d wake up huffing and puffing like his little nose holes just weren’t enough for all the air he needed. That was enough to freak a first time mom out. Thank goodness for the little solutions!
7. Daytime Sleep. So this is the one I’m least good at. I have a terribly hard time getting Jacob to nap regularly each day. It’s all over the place but I do take the time to TRY and make sure he’s getting a decent amount of daytime sleep if I can. I think this helps in making him sleep better at night — at least that’s what all the books say. I need to be more disciplined with my napping schedule but working full-time from home with a part-time babsitter makes it hard to be rigid about it!
So there you have — a few things that work for me to get this kid sleeping through most of the night, most nights. Things could change — and maybe I’m in for a huge surprise but so far, I’m pretty happy about where we are.
*Shop at Kroger during the “Baby Me” Event going on between 3/20/16 – 4/2/16 and spend $40 on participating baby items so you can receive a $10 off coupon good towards anything at Kroger. (while supplies last)
