Getting baby to sleep

Got my free copy of the Raising childrens DVD in the mail. It is ab interactive DVD provides information on  nutrition, development, communication, behavior, sleep, health and safety, play and learning.

It is contains into 3 short movies divided into newborn(0-3 months), baby (3-12 months) and child (1-5 years).

The DVD interviews a number of parents and they talk about their challenges and achievements. There are sections on sleeping and wrapping which are quite helpful.

The Raising childrens DVD is available free to Australian residents and there are plans to make it available overseas for a small fee. To get you copy visit http://raisingchildren.net.au/

At Karitane there was always music playing while baby was sleeping. The music was gentle instrumental music. The music is supposed to have a calming effect which makes it easier getting baby to sleep.

You can get these music cd’s at most baby shops. I managed to get a Fisher Price cd from Kmart. It contained lullaby instrumental music with songs such as Brahms Lullaby, Hush little baby and Rock a bye baby. It also include the lyrics for you to sing along with. Be sure to use a cd player that can repeat as some babies wakes up when the music stops.

I have also seen some CD that play white noise such as moving car, washing machine, hair dryer, vacuum cleaner. Not sure if there is anything special to them but I wonder of you can can just record these your self. If it helps getting baby to sleep, it might be worth a try.

The week mother and baby spent at Karitane has been most helpful. When first enrolled it was easy to see the difficulty we had in getting baby to sleep. This was done by charting babies sleep pattern. Red ink was used to indicate where baby was unsettled ans the first day was full of red. By the end of the week baby managed to sleep 4 hours without requiring resettling.

On returning home, however she has only managed to sleep a maximum of 3 hour at one time. It might be that she need some time to get used to the new environment as we have moved  her to her own room.

Interesting to note that the room where baby sleeps at Karitane is in total darkness, so to get the same effect we have bought a thick curtain to make the room dark during the day.

The most important thing we learned is to develop a routine. It does not haev to be a stricked routine where things have to be done at a specific time of day, but in general baby should be up for 1  to 1½ hours during the day . This includes feeding and play time. Baby should then be put to sleep, sleeping from 2 ½ to 3 hours. The times will vary depending on the age of the baby.

At night there should be no play time. Nappy should also be changed at each feed. Once you develop a successful routine you’ll find it easier in getting baby to sleep.

Baby is now 7 weeks old and we are still having difficulty getting baby to sleep. People say that after 6 weeks babies get into a routine and sleep better, but not our little baby. She is still only sleeping for a maximum of 2 hours. Generally she wakes after only 5 minutes and we have to try re-settle her.

After consultation with a pediatritian we were told that baby should be sleeping at leas 4 hours by now so she has referred us to a Katitane, a family care centre. My wife was interviewed on Friday and because our baby was such a difficult sleeper we were given a priority listing. Fortunately for us there was a cancellation so she was admitted on Monday. At Karitane, mothere and baby stay over for 4 nights so that staff can monitor what is happening and find a solution for getting baby to sleep.

So far it’s only been one day and we were told that we have a difficult baby. Hopefully by the end of the course baby will be sleeping better.

Baby is now 5 weeks old and we would like her to sleep longer, but getting baby to sleep longer has been quite a challenge.  Currently she only sleeps for about 2 hours at a stretch. There have been conflicting ideas on what to do. A book I was reading suggests to develop a routine and if baby wakes and cries leave them be so that get used to a routine. I gave it a try but its hard for any parent to watch their baby screaming their head off, and with my daughter her whole face turns red. The postnatal nurse suggests picking baby up to calm baby and then put baby back to sleep. Her reason being that the baby gets all worked up and will be harder to settle.

Another factor in getting baby to sleep longer is whether baby is bottle feeding or breast feeding. Formula milk lasts longer in babies tummy and therefore baby will not get hungry as soon compared to breast milk. However, breast milk is healthier for babies, especially during the first few days when colostrum is produced. Colostrum provides new born babies with antibodies until their own immune system is strong enough to protect baby from germs.

Getting baby to sleep longer can also be influenced by what mother eats. The one day we had some visitors over and there were a lot of sweet cakes. We had trouble getting baby to sleep that night. This was probably due to the increased levels of suger in the milk which make baby more active.

With baby now 3 weeks old we had trouble getting baby to sleep, so we attended a settling class. Luckily for us we were the only ones there so we had the attention of the nurse for the full lesson. The beauty about it is you get to see first hand how it is done and best of all, how it is done on your own baby. Our baby was a bit grumpy as she had not slept for three hours so it took more time to settle her as she was over tired.

So after a feed, baby can play a little and when baby starts to show the tired signs, you need to settle baby. Wrap baby and hold to comfort for a little while, then put baby into cot while still awake. This will teach baby to fall asleep by herself. If you are always holding baby when she falls asleep it will become routine and always expect to be held in order to fall asleep. If baby is crying while in the cot you can put hour hand on baby for comfort. If crying persists for more than a few minutes you can pick baby up, otherwise baby will get more unsettled and it will be harder to get baby to sleep.

We were told that the routine for a baby during the day is to feed, play then sleep. At night it should be feed and sleep.  Also babies have sleep cycles of 40 to 60 minutes. REM sleep, deep sleep and waking. This explains why our baby always seems to wake up and complain alot, then we want to pick her up and comfort her. What we should actually do is leave her to see if she goes back to sleep by herself, otherwise try resettling.

 I highly recommend attending a settling class if you need help getting baby to sleep. 

I was told that sounds can help getting baby to sleep. My friend who also had a baby recently says his baby sleeps well when there is a lot of noise. I don’t find this hard to believe as there was a program on TV which should a guy who playedhis guitar and sang to his his baby while his wife was still pregnant. Now, the baby is born and when the baby is crying he just sings the same song and the baby calms down.

My aunt says to play classical music to getting baby to sleep and this also helps with their brain development. My seven year old daughter has her own technique and thinks that singing ‘twinkle twinkle little star’ will help getting baby to sleep through the night.

The baby sleep solution audio program

Getting baby to sleep can be quite a tiring task for parents. As the father of a newborn baby girl I wish I new the best way to get baby to sleep through the night. I know that won’t be possible for the first few months though as baby needs to feed at least every 2-3 hours. The first few days, all baby wanted to do was sleep and we hoped that it would always be this easy, but as you can guess that would be too good to be true.

The best way to getting baby to sleep is to give her a good feed. Just like you and me we feel tired after a huge meal, especially after returning to work after a nice big lunch. I have noticed that baby sleeps a good 3 hours after a hearty feed.

My aunt who used to be a midwife showed us a good way of wrapping baby for getting baby to sleep. With our older daughter we were showed to wrap baby with her hands sort of across her stomach, but this new way babies hands are up by her shoulders. Wrapping baby gives them a feel of protection just like the were when still in the womb.