Tips for getting baby to sleep through the night? (1 Viewer)

[Marty Christion]

My wife really likes the book "On Becoming Babywise" by Gary Ezzo (usually just referred to as "Babywise"). It has a lot of advice on babies and sleeping.

There are a lot of people who don't like the principles set forth in the book, but you should read it and make up your own mind.

 

[Matthew Todd]

I will add to what Marty said and agree that it's worth getting your hands on the book "On Becoming Babywise" and reading it. Like he said, some people disagree with the principles, but you ought to read it yourself and decide for yourself. All I can say is it's working for us (we've got a 4 month old who started sleeping through the night before the 8th week).

Matt

 

[MickeS]

Isn't the real problem that the parents can't sleep?
Just get earplugs!
/Mike

 

[Dave Poehlman]

We tried everything as parents when our son was born. But he just cried and cried. And then one day around 6 mos.. it was like he was a different child. He was laughing and happy and would talk himself to sleep.

Don't ever blame the kid. It's probably pretty chaotic while your brain is quickly developing at that age... I'm sure it's a good thing we all don't remember those years.

You just gotta tough it out.

 

[Andrew W]

One thing I can recommend is not to let the baby become accustomed to complete silence to sleep. Continue with normal activities and sounds and don't stress out with "Quiet! the baby is sleeping." We HT trained our baby once she started sleeping through the night. She is 5 now and pops right off to sleep. After about 30 minutes, we can crank up the sound downstairs and she never even peeps.

 

[Thomas Reagan]

We found that an unlaundered shirt of my wife would comfort our 10 month old son, and make him less agitated at bed-time. Also, white noise in the background was good for him as well. We have an old air conditioner that is too noisy for us to sleep. We put it in his room and he slept through the night 95% of the time all summer.
Thos.

 

[DaveMcS]

Our daughter is 4 months old and sleeping from 1030/11pm until 630/7am.

We combine a few techniques to achieve this.
1) we "top her off" around 9pm. Wife.com will feed her to fill her belly which will lead to a nice happy baby.
2) we employ 3 of the five "S"'s to soothing babies as collected by a Dr. Karp. Here is a brief excerpt from his book:

"The 5 "S's": Five Steps to Turn On Your Baby's Calming Reflex

How is a vacuum cleaner like a lullaby? How is a Volvo like a flannel blanket? They all help switch on your baby's calming reflex by imitating some quality of your womb.

Although our ancient ancestors intuitively understood how to turn off their baby's crying and turn on their baby's calming, recognition of the calming reflex itself remained completely overlooked until I identified it during the mid-1990s while studying the characteristics of hundreds of crying babies in my practice.

I was struck by the fact that many traditional baby-calming methods failed to work unless they were done exactly right. I realized that, similar to a doctor setting off a knee reflex with a precise whack of a little hammer, the calming reflex could only be triggered by certain very specific actions. When presented correctly, however, the sounds and feelings of the womb had such a powerful effect that they could carry an infant from tears to tranquillity, sometimes even in mid-cry.

Parents and grandparents traditionally have used five different characteristics of the womb to soothe their babies. I refer to these time-honored "ingredients" of calm as the 5 "S's":

1. Swaddling-tight wrapping

2. Side/Stomach-lying a baby on her side or stomach

3. Shushing-loud white noise

4. Swinging-rhythmic, jiggly motion

5. Sucking-sucking on anything from your nipple or finger to a pacifier

These five methods are extremely effective but only when performed exactly right. When done without the right technique and vigor, they do nothing. (Detailed descriptions of how to perform each "S" are in chapters 8 through 12.)

The Cuddle Cure: Combining the 5 "S's" into a Perfect Recipe for Your Baby's Bliss

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to be a terrific parent, but there are some little tricks that can help you do your job better. Most infant-care books list these calming tips, but that's as unhelpful as listing the ingredients of a recipe without giving the instructions for how to combine and cook them.

Each individual "S" may be effective for soothing a mildly fussy baby. Your "easy" baby may only need to suck or to be danced around the room in order to be calmed. However, doing all five together can switch on the calming reflex so strongly that, for many babies, they become an irresistibly soothing force for even the most frantic newborn. This layering of one "S" on top of another is so successful at making unhappy babies feel cozy and calm that one of my patients dubbed it "the Cuddle Cure."


We wrap Brisget up nice and tight...pop in a little Vitamin P (pacifier) and I hold her and rock her while I'm watching the tube at night...

It's worked wonders for us over the last 10 weeks at least..
Your mileage may vary however..

Dave