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| My husband and our newborn Noah taken last year by Hannah William Photography |
I'm pretty sure many have warned you about how little sleep you will get after your newborn arrived. They kid you not. James (my husband) and I have been gone through it twice and have experienced our "zombiefied" moments of not getting enough sleep. We don't want to scare you much but here are some tips that might be helpful for you!
1. SWADDLE
Newborn babies innately possess a startle reflex as is they are falling till about four to five months old. It causes baby to have jerking movements and baby will incidentally wake up. Swaddling helps prevent babies from startling themselves awake and helps them sleep better.
2. DREAMFEED
The meaning of dreamfeed is the feeding given to the baby right before you go to bed. This helps prevent baby from waking up just as you are about to go to sleep and many mothers believe dreamfeeding can really help a newborn baby sleep longer. This technique is great till about 4 months old.
3. SHORTEN NAP TIME
Sleeping too much in the day time can really rob the night time sleep for baby. If your baby sleeps past 2-2.5 hours, do yourself a favour and go wake that baby up, feed him and keep him a wake for a bit before another nap.
4. WHITE NOISE
For some strange reason, the sound of the fan helps baby to sleep. Some say, white noise
mimics the sound of the womb and its comforting for the baby. We have a regular fan at home which I use as well to help my son to sleep. So far it still works. He is 15 months now.
5. CREATE A ROUTINE
Train your baby to follow a routine. Wake up, eat, nap, bath and sleep about the same time everyday. This cycle will eventually teach your baby what is happening and what to expect. Babies are fast learners. This routine will also keep you organise so you have some time for yourself. I hope!
6. SMART DIAPER CHANGE
A skill we all need to have as parents. Do change your baby’s diaper before the middle night feeding to prevent baby from waking up too much after a feeding is done.
7. UNDERSTANDING YOUR BABY’S SLEEP PATTERN
The more you understand your baby’s sleep pattern, the better both you and baby can sleep.
Keeping a baby awake hoping to tired him out will eventually ended up in over-stimulation and
baby will experience difficulty falling asleep. Overtired baby will sleep shorter, not longer.
8. LAY YOUR BABY DOWN AWAKE, BUT DROWSY
Encourage your baby to sleep well in the long run is by helping him to learn how to fall asleep independently. It does sound easier than done, I know! Keep trying! As they grow older, falling asleep independently will eventually become reality.
9. BE PATIENT
We may unconciously have a habit of rushing our baby to sleep when they cry at night. Quite often, babies wake up babble for a bit and go right back to sleep. So don’t rush in when this happen.
I really hope some of these tips will come in handy for you. It's never easy taking care of newborn. And if you ever need someone to talk, I am here for you mama!
Email me at parentsavenue@gmail.com.
Love,
Stella Matilda
