Sleep. We’d all love a little. Especially once we have children.
How have you, did you, or will you help your baby (and you!) sleep through the night?
Everyone has an opinion. Really, one opinion is rarely better than another. It’s one of those beautiful parenting truths where often, we’re all a little “right.”
Watch this segment from KCTS with insights from me and from sleep expert, Elizabeth Pantley.
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Allison says
Thank you for emphasizing consistency…ultimately, being consistent is what worked for us. Elliott, like many babies, didn’t sleep well at all for the first several months. As parents, we were in survival mode, constantly trying different things to help him… what I would call reactive parenting. Just reacting to the current situation to survive.
Figuring out a routine and helping Elliott learn to sleep was really the first time my husband and I became intentional parents. We made a plan that worked for our family and then did our best to follow through on it. For us, this meant having a consistent (but somewhat flexible) routine day and night with feeding, playing, outings, reading, bathing… and sleeping with lots of cues for Elliott when we were winding down for a nap or bedtime.
We had to wean him off of sleeping in someone’s arms ALL the time and only nursing to sleep and give him the opportunity to learn how to settle and soothe himself, which did involve some fussing and crying. I honestly hated to hear him cry (and boy I was kicking myself for saying in my pre-kid days “I would NEVER do that.”) but Elliott surprised us on how well he fell into a routine and learned to adapt…once we finally figured out a routine.
Being consistent and not giving Elliott mixed messages was the critical thing for helping all of us adapt to having a baby who finally, finally slept.
Captain pep says
Hey Allison,
I’m Captain Pep. I’ve been reading these posts and I know how important sleep can be – and how rare it might become – when you have a newborn. Although the feeling of having a baby is incredible, getting enough sleep can be tough, and trying to relax might be even harder. I like to find media on the Internet to help people feel better. I’ve found this one for you: https://www.pepfly.com/a/6560
Check it out – I hope you find this video helps you get relax a bit…
Captain Pep