The back story...
 |
I guarantee she was asleep just long enough
for this photo!
|
Rosie was an awful sleeper at first as she would always settle so nicely on us and the moment we placed her down no matter how long it had been she would instantly wake up. It was extremely tiring and draining, as one of us would always have to be cuddling her. You pretty much expect this in them first few months, me and my fiancé used to take 'shifts' so we could both get some sleep. He would do the 'late shift' and stay awake from about 9pm to 4am then I would wake up and do the 'early shift', madness, I know. At the end of the day you do what you have to do to get through it!
I thought them days would never end and thought omg what have I got myself into? Like you have some serious moments of panic that you will never know the magical feeling of sleep ever again and you feel like you are seriously the only person on the planet up at 3am with a screaming baby.
However by about 8 weeks Rosie was managing to sleep through the night occasionally (this wasn't every night, but because she did it I knew she COULD now do it and that's the important part..) I also want to add we got lent a 'poddle pod' at 8 weeks and it worked wonders.
At about 4/5 months is when the real stuff started on the 'sleep training' if you will. Gov guidelines say 6 months is when a baby should be moved into their own room, however Rosie had far outgrown her crib by 4 1/2 months. She would bang her legs on the bottom of the crib all night, have no space to shuffle around, and any cough/creek from either me or my fiancé would wake her. I was sceptical about moving her into the 'big cot' as I, like any other Mother, was scared about her sleeping so far away from me, especially before the 'proper' time. However I think transferring her to the cot at this age was 100% the correct decision for us! But please please do be aware of the gov guidelines and only do what you are comfortable with. (Her room is right next to ours)
Tips on how we 'taught' Rosie to sleep..
- We used a dummy! Again a totally your personal choice decision on whether you want to use dummies or not, there is a lot of debate about it out there so read up on some info if you're not sure. However I feel like it has done wonders for us
- Go with what your baby likes! Rosie hated blankets and at first hated sleeping bags. Thankfully it was summer and she was completely fine and comfortable without, so that's what we did! Rosie has NEVER ever had any snuggly toys etc in her cot, mainly because they would distract her and she would spend ages playing with them rather than actually falling asleep! Its a lot safer also.. however if your baby is completely attatched to Mr.Snuggles, then that's fine too!
- We Let her 'cry it out'. Okay so this one is again one up for many debate amongst parents. I knew that by the time she was in her big cot she was old enough to not feel abandoned. Obviously it goes without saying, make sure they are completely full, clean, well etc before you let them cry it out, as then you'll be confident it is purely because you are not there!
 |
| Whilst away on holiday try to keep sleeping situation as close to normal as possible! |
- We would put her down at the same time every night and once we put her down, she was down. We would not pick her up again if we could help it until morning. At first we would put her down after she fell asleep in our arms, but after a few weeks we would put her down sleepy but awake. I wont beat around the bush here, she cried a lot. We would leave it a few minutes, then go back in so she knew we was still there, we would give her the dummy again, stroke her head and leave the room. This happened about 10 times an evening at first. We would never speak to her or get her excited, just simply place the dummy in, lay her down, stroke her a little and leave. This eventually got less and less until one night she didn't cry at all, and never has since! If she woke up in the night we would do the same thing, we knew she was fully capable of sleeping through without being hungry so we would never offer her a bottle etc at this point)
- Make sure they know the difference between day and night time. We would always turn down the lights, keep the sound low (or non existent) whilst we gave her the bottle and we made sure her room was always dark (we literally still use stick on black out sheeting.)
- Do the same routine every night, at the same time! They will soon realise that bath time means bedtime is near or whatever you choose to do!
- We use a 'slumber buddy' which is a little butterfly that does white noise/lullabies and lights. We found the lights too stimulating for Rosie so we just put the tune on as we settled her down. I'm sure you're aware they is many of these type of things to choose from out there!
- Try to choose a bedtime that is when they are sleepy. Don't force a 7pm bedtime if you're little one is tired by 6.30 or not until 7.30. Look out for the 'sleepy signals' and when they occur. For instance bedtime we just randomly decided was 7/8pm. Nope, by this time Rosie was far to aggy to calmy go to bed.. she was over tired by this point which made it much harder than it needed to be. She was clearly tired by 6pm so that's what time her bedtime became and that's still what it is today! (Even though some people comment on how early it is, if it works for you and your baby that is all that matters!)
- Rosie has never slept in our bed. Co sleeping is again one of them debatable parenting subjects (isn't everything it seems!?) and of course whatever works for you and your baby! We just knew it wasn't right for us. We wanted our bed to be a space just for us. We only have a small bed anyway and I feel like it just would not be a nice nights sleep for anyone involved!
- We never let her fall asleep on us anymore! I'm not sure she even would now, but as soon as she is sleepy we place her in her cot, so she knows this is where she falls asleep!
- Don't let them over or under nap! Its tricky to get it right but we tend to never let Rosie sleep after 4pm.
Rosie's bedtime routine!!
17:15- Dinner has just finished and we normally try to run a bath and plonk her straight in it as by this point she is normally covered head to toe in pasta sauce and yoghurt.
17:20- Bath time! Rosie loves bath time and so we obviously wash her and then we let her play for a little while and use up some of that after dinner energy! We used Johnsons bedtime bath for a really long time, no idea if that helped but it may have! It smells amazing.
17:30 - We dress her and set her room up for the night (lay out her sleeping bag, make sure there is nothing in her cot etc)
17:40 - All toys are put away and we turn down the lights. Its then bottle time! Rosie still drinks milk from a bottle currently. Eventually when we feel she is ready we will move it to a sippy cup. Rosie will just sit on one of our laps and give herself the bottle, we sometimes let her watch an episode of Peppa or In the Night Garden between now and bedtime, and we obviously give her lots of cuddles and kisses! No toys are allowed out at this point, although by now she's normally visibly more tired and only wants cuddles anyway.
 |
| Mummy why are you taking photos of me tonight!? |
 |
| The best photo I could get as I put her down haha! |
Rosie currently sleeps in a sleeping bag in her cot bed (LOVE them) but with no pillow, duvet cover or teddies. Again, when we feel she is ready we will let her have a duvet!
The biggest tip of all is too just not beat yourself up! Its hard and you can often wonder if you are doing the right thing, or not doing enough etc. Every baby is different and goes through different stages! I am well aware that Rosie may not sleep so nicely forever! They will soon be grumpy teenagers who you are dragging out of bed at 11am!
No comments