Let's Talk About Sleep, Baby.

 

So Riley's first night on Earth, she slept a ton. We had to wake her up to feed her. But the second night, she was whiney, and the third night she wailed unless she was held. It actually turned out to be she was just hungry and I wasn't producing enough, so kind of besides the point. However, we were at the hospital for a total of 6 days, and I bet we only had 2 hours of consistent sleep over the course of our stint there.

That first night home was a doozy, so many emotions, and hormones, and pain meds. Mixed with tears and being way too tired to function, we put Riley in the mamaroo and she slept for a solid 4 hours. It was complete survival mode. We woke up feeling a little less zombie like, and ready to get this parenting thing underway.

I have always been a big sleeper. I love taking naps. I love going to bed early and sleeping late. Not that I get to do all of those things, but I just love to sleep! So, I knew we had to institute good sleeping habits for Riley. 

I'm not sure if it's a result of our sleep efforts, or just a baby that loves sleep also, but our girl now sleeps at least 12 hours overnight, with a 3 hour nap during the day. She is 19 months old. And this schedule is GLORIOUS! 

Here's a few things we did that I feel helped her into her routine. 

1. Swaddling- Riley was swaddled from day 1. I know lots of moms and dads think their baby doesn't like to be swaddled as they show little magician traits like breaking out of super tight swaddles in 2 seconds flat. Baby has free roam to stretch out now, of course they are going to do so! But, think back to those 9 months spent inside your belly. The last few months baby has been crunched, and squished up tight into a ball. He or she is used to feeling tight, constricted, and held. Put the arms down as low as they can go, and swaddle baby up tight! We used the hospital blankets at first, then Aden & Anais swaddles, and around 3-4 weeks Riley graduated to the Halo sleepsack. She felt tight, secure, and comfortable. Her startle reflex was managed, and baby was able to snooze away the day. Baby may resist at first, but once the swaddle is secure, he or she will likely calm down and relax! Keep trying, I assure you it will work! I love Aden and Anais swaddles for their breathable yet warm muslin fabrics, and adorable prints. The halo sleepsack is a must for us! Point the wings down, pull tight, and then pull a spec tighter before you velcro. We never used the woombie with Riley, but I do think this swaddle looks awesome! It allows baby's arms to be up on their chest, or move down to the sides, and is zippered closed! Baby can't get out unless they legitimately are baby Houdini and can undo zippers!

2. Sound Machine or Music- so they say the inside of the womb is as loud as a vacuum, constantly running. So it's no wonder that they can sleep through some crazy loud commotions early on. We received some of the Rock-a-bye lullaby CD's as a shower gift and would play them when Riley slept. Around 4 months, when the first sleep regression hit, we purchased the Baby Einsten's Ocean Dreams crib soother. It plays some familiar songs and automatically shuts off after about 30 minutes. We also would play Billy Joel on an old ipod. By the end of Piano Man, Riley was always off into dreamland! Lastly, we invested in a sound machine. We were late to the game on this one, but it works! During the day, don't muffle sounds. Baby should get used to the day to day noises that will be in their environment. We have this mybaby sound machine. It's simple and easy to use! We put it on ocean and let it run all night long! 

 

3. Distinguish Day and Night- babies are nocturnal, and it's our job to turn that around. It's hard! We did this by opening all the blinds and curtains during the day. Making it bright and sunny. At night, we would use dim lighting. Even in middle of the night feedings, the less light the better! We distinguished day time as 6am-10pm, and nighttime was the opposite, 10pm-6am. During night time I never engaged much with Riley. So she understood it was business, eat and go back to sleep! 

 4. Scheduling feedings- So many nursing moms probably won't agree with me on this, but I was a nursing mom too, and this totally worked for us. I know many moms feed on demand, but we decided to go with a set schedule. I had gotten some great advice from my sister in law to feed baby every 2-2.5 hours during the day. I was waking Riley up to eat regardless of if she was still in dreamland. Babies do have their days and nights backwards, so they will want to sleep more in the beginning, during the day. Which can stretch daytime naps longer, and leave baby still hungry overnight! So, once Riley was back to birth weight we stopped waking her overnight (10p-6a). I let her tell me she was hungry during those times. And starting at 6am, I would feed her every 2.5 hours. I would decrease the time between feedings in the 3 feeds leading to bedtime. So when she was 3 weeks old bedtime was about 10pm. I would feed Riley at 6, 8, and 10. As her bedtime moved earlier, I still kept this 3 feed rule. When bedtime was 7, she would eat at 3, 5, and 7.  Scheduling feedings made it easier on me also. I knew when to feed her, when to schedule appointments, or run errands. Once she got a little older it stretched to 3 hours during the day, then 4 hours. But in the beginning, every 2.5 hours!

5. Sleep space- our bedroom is small. So Riley was in a family bassinet for the first 5 weeks on and off. We had a few nights in the rock n play. Or we would mix the two, starting off in the bassinet and ending in the rock n play, etc. She was literally right next to the bed in both of these. We started naps in the crib at 4 weeks, and they went well, she took normal length naps! So we went for it. The 4th week during the early morning hours 3-6am, Riley started grunting in her sleep. Constant. Grunting. For. 3. Hours. (Insert crying emoji). It was terrible! We had a doctors appointment that Friday. Our pediatrician suggested moving her to her crib overnight. We never looked back! 

 6. Establish a bedtime routine- Once you are feeling better and you are starting to get the hang of this parenting thing, start a bedtime routine! It helps baby understand that all of these things mean it's almost time to go to sleep. Our routine consisted of bath, jammies, nurse, sleep sack, quick cuddle/chat/book, down in crib awake. 6/7 nights a week Riley gets a quick bath. I use California Baby calming shampoo and bodywash, as well as the calming bubble bath. The french lavender scent helps Riley relax and unwind in the warm bath.

7. The Binky- Riley came out a sucker. She needed to suck to pacify, and I did not sign up to be a human pacifier. I had a Lactation consultant in the hospital tell me that if I needed to have Riley latched on for 6 hours on end to keep her happy that is just what I needed to do. Enter mom freak out. N. O. Way! So enter the Avent pacifier! This kind was the favorite for Riley. I loved them because they were clear and didn't take up half her face. She was good about the paci, and didn't freak if it fell out. She would continue sleeping. Of course we had some tough nights around the 4 month sleep regression and a random night here or there where she will lose her binky. A quick pop into her room to give her a new one and she is back out like a light!! It was only ever once per night that I needed to replace the binky.. if it became a 5-6x a night type of thing I would have tossed the binky in a heartbeat!

I am sure there are more things that we did or incorporated. But for the most part, these things really helped to set the tone and establish a great sleep routine with Riley. I am so thankful for my amazing little sleeper! 

Hope these tips can help you in some small way! A well rested mama is a happy mama! I truly believe the best thing you can do for your baby is give them the gift of sleep!