baby sleep - 5 ways to help your baby go through the night

Copyright © Best Baby Sleep http://bestbabysleep.net

5 Essential Tips to Help Your Baby

Sleep Through The Night

By Andrea Paxton

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from the author.

DISCLAIMER

The information presented herein represents the views of the author as of the date

of publication. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional

medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Because of the rate with which conditions

change, the author reserves the rights to alter and update his opinions based on the

new conditions. This course is for informational purposes only and the author does

not accept any responsibilities for any liabilities resulting from the use of this

information. While every attempt has been made to verify the information provided

here, the author and his referrals cannot assume any responsibility for errors,

inaccuracies, or omissions.


Introduction Congratulations on taking the most important step in solving your baby’s sleep problem!

Taking action. My name is Andrea Paxton, a married mum of one wonderful little boy, with a passion in everything to do with babies. I love reviewing the latest baby products and researching all the latest information on child care and raising children.

I set up http://bestbabysleep.net because I want to offer a solution to parents who desperately need help getting their baby to sleep at night. It can be so traumatic when nothing you do seems to be working! In this report you’ll discover... [+] Five sleep tips that should ensure you are on the right path to solving your problem (including a common mistake that many parents make every night!)

The advice in this guide is not meant to solve every baby sleep issue because everyone’s situation is unique. What works for you, might not work for someone else. And what works for many parents, might not work for you!

However, what I can guarantee is that the suggestions in this guide will put you on the right path to solving your baby’s sleep problem...

And allow you and your little one to get a better night’s sleep!

http://bestbabysleep.net/


What is sleeping through?

It may surprise you, but the majority of people misunderstand this term.

Many assume it means you remain in deep sleep through the whole night, until you wake up with the sun streaming through the window...

Or to the sound of an alarm clock!

However, this isn’t the case. Although a newborn baby will have these long periods of deep sleep, after 3-5 months they will start to experience what we have as adults - alternating phases of light and deep sleep.

Adults don’t usually pay attention to these phases or they make wake briefly during a light sleep cycle and go back to sleep.

However a baby can easily wake up during one of these transitions and either return to sleep, or have no idea what is going on, crave the attention of mummy and start the waterworks!

Take a look at this graph which illustrates the sleeping cycle during 8 hours of sleep (stage 0 being awake and stage 4 meaning deep sleep)

5 Baby Sleep Tips

Here’s some advice to get you started with helping your baby sleep at night...

1) Establish the difference between night and day

Does your baby understand the difference between night and day?

Let me explain…

Babies tend to view certain experiences as both night and daytime activities, such as feeding.

This is particularly true for newborns.

However, it can apply to older babies’ as well.

The good news is you can show them the difference and this can DRAMATICALLY improve a baby’s sleeping pattern.

http://www.intropsych.com/ch03_states/03sleepstagesonenight.jpg

http://bestbabysleep.net/recommends/Sleep_Sense.php



a) Sleeping environment

Try to keep your baby’s room quiet, and as dark as possible at night, using the smallest amount of light for night-time feeds.

Night-lights are great, but avoid turning on the main bedroom light, unless you have a dimmer switch. Also, make sure the room is clearly lighter during the day.

b) Don’t disturb your baby at night.

Avoid disturbing, and over-checking your baby. Try to ignore sleep noises and gurgling sounds.

Make sure you remove items from your baby’s room at bed time, which you may need later in the evening. Only change his diaper at night if it’s really necessary.

c) Don’t interact with your baby at night.

As well as the sleeping environment, this can really help your baby to understand the difference between day and night. When feeding at night, don’t talk to your baby and try to remain silent.

d) A full and active day

During the day, your baby should be out and about as much as possible. Many parents feel a daytime schedule of WAKE – EAT – PLAY- SLEEP works best for them.

This ensures that your baby is always eating as soon as he wakes up so the urge to fall asleep while nursing or bottle-feeding is reduced.

Also, when your little one has just woken up, he will have more energy to eat until his tummy is full.

When your baby is ready for sleep, he should be taken back to his room and put down for a nap in his crib.

Here's a video which expands on all of this

=> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGSLP_-82pc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGSLP_-82pc


2) Ensure your baby’s sleeping area is set up correctly

a) Create a private sleeping place as soon as possible.

If you can do this right from the start, for daytime naps and for at least part of the night, it helps establish a better sleeping routine for your baby.

b) Don’t have too many toys in the crib.

Many experts believe having toys and mobiles with music, sound and lights can over stimulate your baby and make it harder for him to settle down to sleep. Bedtime should be calm, quiet and peaceful, so save those precious dollars and use them for other, more essential, baby items. c) Make sure the room has good ventilation

Having a well ventilated room is extremely important for your baby’s sleep but also

for reducing the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).

According to a study in 2008 in the Archives of Adolescent & Pediatric Medicine,

sleeping in a room with a window open reduces the risk of SIDS by 36%, and up to

72% if the room has a fan.

Keeping the bedroom door slightly ajar can also help to circulate air round the house.

d) Ensure the room is not dry and dusty

A really dry and dusty room can result in a stuffy nose for your baby, which can

disturb her sleep. If your baby has to sleep in such a room, use a humidifier to stop

her nasal discharge from drying out.

This is especially important when you have your central heating on in the winter as

this can dry out the air.

e) Comfortable temperature

The temperature of your baby’s room should be around 18-22ºC (65-72ºF). Newborn

babies are comfortable at the same temperature as adults, but unfortunately, they

can’t do much themselves if they are too hot or cold!


Fresh air helps, but make sure the crib is away from ventilation or heating vents.

3) Keep things calm. Really? In a house with a noisy baby?

Let me explain.

In addition to having a baby not sleep through the night, an infant who takes ages to settle down to sleep is a real problem for many parents.

Creating a calm environment can really help with this and even help your baby sleep for longer periods at night. I must have spent hours trying to help my baby settle to sleep. He would constantly cry and sometimes kick and scream at the same time in his crib. It was so exhausting and frustrating! Nobody is entirely sure what causes this persistent crying and theories range from eating the wrong food, to trapped wind!

However, there is an idea to suggest that it can be caused by babies releasing tension, which has built up during the day from over-stimulation to different things. Therefore in the evening, try to allow your baby to release this tension in a calm environment. - Try not to have visitors too often. - Turn the TV off and just have some quiet music playing in the background. - Soothe your baby and give him your full attention when he cries. - Don’t let his crying make you feel more stressed (Hard I know!)

TASK – Check your baby’s room and see if it is set up correctly for him to get a

good night’s sleep!


4) Watch out for sleep associations!

This tip concerns the common mistake I mentioned earlier...

The problem with having a ‘sleeping ritual’ is that your baby can become so used to one, that it turns into a habit.

He is then unable to sleep without it and forms a sleep association.

A baby can become restless and upset if his sleeping ritual is delayed or doesn’t happen.

And if he wakes up during the night and the music has stopped, or his pacifier is gone, how will he react?

Some babies go back to sleep themselves.

But for others the desire to be rocked to sleep, have a pacifier or hear music, is so strong that they will cry out for your attention!

Therefore, your baby needs YOU to recreate the conditions for him to go to sleep to!

Does this situation seem familiar to you?

I honestly lost count of the number of times I tried giving my baby his pacifier at night just to stop him crying and settle back down to sleep.

How wrong was I?

To break sleep associations, your baby has to learn how to self-soothe.

The following tips can help…

- Put your baby down to sleep when he is awake, and NOT when he is asleep.

Hint: You can tickle his foot gently to keep him awake if you are feeding him before bedtime. Then place him into his crib in a drowsy state, but not asleep. This encourages him to fall asleep by himself.


- Use a stuffed toy

Wait, won’t this lead to another sleep association?

True, but it's something your baby can control.

If he wakes up during the night with his favourite toy next to him, it increases the chances of returning to sleep by himself.

Much better than him wanting YOU to rock him back to sleep again at 3am!

Give this toy to your baby during his bedtime routine when you're reading to him or just after his last feed.

Also, make sure you place the toy in his crib for every nap. This will encourage him to form a relationship with it.

Limiting the number of other toys in his crib will also help with this.

However, sleep associations aren’t necessarily always a bad thing.

It’s only when you can’t keep up with his demand to turn the music back on, rock him to sleep or give him his pacifier.

That’s when it becomes a problem.

Please Note - Managing sleep associations is one of the most important factors in getting your baby to sleep through the night. The baby sleep program I used contains some other useful strategies for this.

5) A consistent bedtime routine

Like me you may have already browsed the internet or read some books on baby

sleep and realised there is often a lot of conflicting information.

However, when it comes to a bedtime routine, almost all resources agree on one

thing...

Consistency.

You should always use predictable and consistent steps in a routine and move at a

good pace.

Here are some suggestions which worked for me...



a) The routine should last about 20-30 minutes.

b) You should stick to the same order for the first few weeks (I would sometimes just

do the last few steps if I ever got home late and didn’t have time to do the whole

routine)

c) The majority of the routine should take place in your baby’s bedroom.

d) Take turns with your partner! (This is important).

e) The last step should always be feeding.

And don’t let your baby fall asleep during the routine!

Here are some activities which you can try...

-bathing

-singing

-brushing teeth/hair

-washing hands/face

-reading stories

-having a drink(not with sugar)

-drawing in a coloring book

-putting toys away

What happens after the bedtime routine has finished?

Good question :)

This is often when the main problems can occur.

Unfortunately, having a consistent bedtime routine is only half the battle when it

comes to getting your baby to sleep.

We would all like our little bundle of joy to finish his last feed, start to feel drowsy

and then after we gently place him in his crib, he falls asleep by himself.

If only it was that easy!


You often need to apply certain techniques AFTER a bedtime routine is finished in

order to help your baby sleep. And this is where you may need a customized solution

to solving your problem.

I want to stress the importance of taking turns with your partner. It lessens the burden on you, and is vital if you ever want a social life again!

What happens next? I hope you’ve found the tips in this guide useful and now feel confident in putting your baby on the right path to sleeping better at night. However, please keep in mind that these are general tips and they won’t solve all baby sleep problems in every situation. You may need a customized solution, an option I went for, as I wanted to make sure I had professional advice with fast results. If you want to learn more about the program which got my baby sleeping through the night within a week, just click the link below... => Click Here To Learn More

While I was following this plan, I made some detailed notes on many of the crucial tips of this program.

These notes can save you a great deal of time and provide you with instant access to all the useful strategies.

I arranged my notes into a series of charts, based on various chapters in the program.

You can stick them to a wall in your baby's room, or leave them in another convenient place.

TASK – Analyse your baby’s bedtime routine and make any necessary changes

to ensure you have some consistent steps you can follow every night.



Birth – 3 Months

3-12 Months

General Sleep Tips

If you'd like access to the full sized versions of these charts, just hit 'reply' to any e-mail you receive from me (after subscribing to my site – see below) and send me your name and receipt number after you purchase the program.

Conclusion Hopefully you now have a better understanding of what you can do to help your little one sleep better at night. However, I still have some more advice to share with you. Just click here and enter your e-mail address and you’ll receive more baby sleep advice sent straight to your inbox! Thanks again for taking the time to read this guide. I wish you the best of luck and hope you and your baby get a good night’s sleep soon... Best wishes,

http://bestbabysleep.net/opt-in

baby sleep - 5 ways to help your baby go through the night

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