On Saturday I attended a book-signing for Sleep is For the Weak. This quick and entertaining read is a compilation of essays from mommy bloggers such as Finslippy, Surrender Dorothy, Binkytown, Amalah, Three Kid Circus, and more. I got to meet contributors Kristen Chase (of Motherhood Uncensored, and about to be a Baby Buncher herself), Mir Kamin (Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda), and editor Rita Arens (Surrender, Dorothy). But most importantly, I got to escape from the house with only one of my three children.
The book is perfect for Baby Bunchers (i.e. people that have neither the time nor the brain power to read anything longer than the Sunday comics). The selections are both humorous and poignant, and they are short enough that you can easily pick up, put down, and pick up again without having to remember where you left off. It bought me two whole days worth of entertainment during nursing sessions, and the occasional story was so moving that it reminded me to actually glance down once in awhile to appreciate and make eye contact with the precious darling that is leeching off of me 20 hours out of the day. It's definitely worth a read.
And here's your chance! I've scored a copy to give away! Since I've got a newborn and I'm sleep deprived, help me out. Post a comment sharing your favorite tips and tricks for getting your Baby Bunch to sleep well. First poster to get my wee one to sleep through the night (or at least 4 consecutive hours) wins the book. Accepting comments until September 17th. I'll even take anything after that, but you gotta comment by the 17th to be eligible to win, because I need sleep FAST.
1. Put them in seperate rooms.
2. Have some kind of white noise in the room. This helps drown out the other child who may be up. Or even if you get up to pee. My husband's footsteps to pee in the middle of the night would wake my second child if she didn't have a fan on.
3. Stick to a schedule.
4. Make sure everyone have some kind of "lovey" (paci, blankey, bottle, boob, etc.)
5. Pray for the best and remember it's temporary.
Posted by: Linda | Sep 10, 2008 at 08:26 AM
Make sure the room is dark or dimly lit. Swaddle the baby. Hold him close while you sit on a big exercise ball and bounce up and down. When you see his eyes glaze over, lay him in the crib. If he stays awake, jiggle him gently. If he wakes after a few minutes and cries, go back in and jiggle him gently to get him back to sleep.
When he wakes for feeding, don't turn on a big bright light. Don't talk to him. Just feed him and quietly put him back to bed. It's night time, not time for play or socializing.
Posted by: KTP | Sep 10, 2008 at 12:37 PM
i am all about the schedule and any type of topping off, from boob or bottle
Posted by: feener | Sep 10, 2008 at 03:51 PM
1. Feed as many times as you can before bed. (at least 3 times within the 4 hours prior to bedtime) - TANK THEM UP
2. White noise
3. Swaddle
4. Jiggle, so that the head lolls a little while bouncing
5. Before laying the baby down, have the bed prepared... so that the babies head is against the bumper or a rolled up blanket so it's head doesn't get cold... and if the bed is cold use a fussy blanket on top of the sheet (tucked into the railing of course) to make it a bit softer & warmer
6. laydown while shhhh'ing them as you back out of the room ... praying to God they don't wake up until at least 4 hours later.
Posted by: Michelle | Sep 10, 2008 at 04:37 PM
It's been a wee while for me, but here's what I did: lay down in bed to breast-feed (or, bottle) so that baby is cuddled up against you. Rub baby's back while nursing. As they fall alseep, eeeeease the nipple out while rolling gently to the side, making as little movement as possible. Leave them in your bed until they're more soundly asleep, then move them to co-sleeper/crib/what have you.
Good luck!
Posted by: breana | Sep 10, 2008 at 05:37 PM
I'm a mom of 4. I somehow have managed to get the first 3 to sleep through the night by 6-8 weeks (8 hours)... by the time they hit 12 lbs. My 4th is 2 weeks old today and goes 6 hours. Here's how its worked for me. I've exclusively breastfed my babies, so it isn't because they're formula fed.
1. If baby sleeps 2.5 to 3 hours at a time during the day, wake her up. Give a diaper change and feed her, then play with her, cuddle & talk to her. Play kids music or classical music in the background while she's up to stimulate her mind. Engage her and make her day exciting.
2. Never put baby to sleep already asleep! Why? She won't learn how to put herself to sleep on her own which spells big trouble as she gets older. If baby falls asleep while you are feeding her last meal, do not simply put her to bed!
a. Make sure to burp her well, and wake her before putting her to sleep.
b. A gassy baby won't sleep well. Hold her knees up to her chest for at least 5-10 minutes (depending upon how gassy she is, if at all) to help clear any gas. Both these are essential whether she co sleeps, is in a bassinet or crib.
c. Make sure to put on a fresh diaper before bedtime. Make sure the diaper is on correctly. Some babies are explosive and require night changing, but if yours isn't an explosive pooper you can get away without a middle of the night diaper change.
d. Swaddle baby up tightly. Mine always preferred one arm out of the swaddle, but a good swaddle is critical to a long block of sleep because baby feels more secure. If swaddling with a blanket is difficult, buy a 'Swaddle Me' by Kiddopotamus. I swear by them!
e. Have a mobile, mirror or brightly colored crib scene (a flat 'toy' designed specifically to attach to the side of a crib or bassinet) for baby to look at as she falls asleep. If co sleeping, she'll enjoy looking at you. :)
f. Turn on some lullabyes. Some babies do better with white noise (a radio tuned into fuzzing noise (no station) will do the trick)
g. One of my babies liked to have the crib vibrated when going to sleep. These are available online or at baby stores.
3. When baby wakes up, stick to business. Skip the diaper change if possible. Keep talking to a minimum. No playing. Once she's done eating, burp her well and put her back to bed. Make everything as uneventful as possible.
4. If baby cries, I don't ever use cry it out, but some people do. Usually once you establish a routine and baby expects her nightime routine, its a non issue, but in the beginning you may need to hold her a little while and reassure her and put her back in and try again. You may need to let baby cry for a minute with you out of the room to allow her time to distract herself with her surroundings.
5. It may not work completely for a couple of days, so be patient and keep trying.
Enjoy this stage as tired as you may be. Its only a short while; they grow up way too fast and you'll look back and actually may miss these days in a year or two. :)
Posted by: Tammy | Sep 11, 2008 at 06:04 PM
Hold them while they nap. I did this with all three kids. I know it's tough, but I found a way. And it's my favorite thing to do. I still do it with my 3-year-old sometimes.
Once they hit six months, I Ferberize 'em. It's worked for all three really fast.
Good luck!
Posted by: Stimey | Sep 11, 2008 at 07:15 PM
the swing is the key in our house. baby goes to sleep just fine at 8 pm- for the night. If she wakes up in the night we put her in the swing and she is asleep till 5 or 6!
also, we believe in the child having their own space for sleeping - so she has always been in her crib in her own room.
Posted by: dawn | Sep 15, 2008 at 08:27 AM
Don't do what I did!
I'm in the throughs of sleep problems with my 7 month old. My mistake, I think, was tending to him at every tiny cry, since he shares a room with his 2yr old sister and I didn't want her to wake. I did everything Breana does, those are great suggestions, my daughter slept very well following a similar pattern, but though my boy goes down easily at bedtime put to sleep awake, he won't go back to sleep on his own when he wakes up at night. And he has started waking even more often, almost every hour! I think it is time to resort to some ferberizing in our house.
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Posted by: LeeWhitaker23 | Mar 25, 2010 at 04:03 PM
I read somewhere that babies sleep cycle is 90 minutes. Meaning, from the time they wake up, wait about 85 minutes and then watch for sleep signs. Put to sleep however you prefer, when they wake again, start the 90 minutes over. Do not wake them from naps. As they get older, their cycle will grow in multiples of 90- staying awake for 3 hrs, then 4.5 etc. until they are around 1 year and begin to follow the clock (ie set naps at the same time each day).
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