Things I Did To Help My Baby Sleep Through The Night
Tags: Sleep Training For Babies, Baby Sleep Training, Sleep Training, Baby Bedtime Routine, Baby Sleep

My youngest baby is almost 13 months old now, but for the past 11 months he has been what people call “a good baby.” People call babies “good babies” when they sleep through the night from a very early age. All babies are good babies!!

Now I have never been one to care for sleep training because it is completely normal for babies to wake up throughout the night. However, I have done a lot of reading on how to get better sleep for myself and I used those with my baby.

When our son was born he was super tiny. Not even 4 pounds! That meant he needed a lot of sleep and most of his energy was spent eating. I actually had to wake him up on the 4th hour on occasion so that I could make sure that he was eating properly and on time so he could gain weight. This is where I started with helping him sleep properly. I kept him on a schedule. I was a little flexible with his schedule and I still am, but a schedule was perfect for both of us. I do want to point out that I did not start scheduling our days until the 1st month. I did this because I always consider the first month as a learning time for mom and baby. Plus, babies usually sleep a ton in the first month, and by the end of it they start to stay up for longer periods.

Photo by Dakota Corbin on Unsplash

Bedtime was on my schedule as well. I am a bit of a night owl so I would let my son stay up with me until midnight, 1, or 2 am. I know most parents probably think I’m crazy for that, but bare with me. This did not last as long as you think. Anyways, I didn’t mind him having a late bedtime because he was going to wake up in the middle of the night anyways. Once we did the middle of the night feeding and change, I would swaddle him and put him in his bassinet next to me. He absolutely loved to be swaddled. After we went to sleep there was usually one to two feedings in the middle of us sleeping. One thing we use in our room are blackout curtains. I cannot stress enough how amazing blackout curtains are for you when you need to get some much needed rest. If you stay up late like I do, blackout curtains will help you sleep during the early morning sunrise! They also helped my son sleep soundly.

Photo by Florencia Viadana on Unsplash

Every night without fail, the curtains are closed and the fan is on. Who doesn’t love the fan on while they sleep?! We even use it during winter! The main reason we use it is for the white noise. Having that sound on that blocks out any and all little annoying noises is the absolute best! When we go somewhere that doesn’t have a fan or A/C (yes we go to the places), we will open our tablet or phone and play an A/C sound on repeat all night. It really helps all of us sleep.

Photo by Im3rd Media on Unsplash

A schedule, swaddle, blackout curtains, and a fan are some things that I used to help my son sleep. That is not all though. I realized that my son likes to have his scent in his bed. I used blankets that had his scent on them from earlier in the day to swaddle him in. Eventually when I stopped swaddling him I moved him into a heavy sleep sack. He loved it! A weighted sleep sack in great for babies. The sleep sack was a little bit of a transition because it didn’t smell like him at first. He did wake up for a few nights until he had more of his scent on it. We have recently moved him into his own bed and into his room and we started by letting him play in it and take naps. If he would take naps in there anyways. At first he didn’t want to, but I think letting him play in there and letting his scent be on the mattress and sheet helped a lot.

All of these have helped my son start sleeping through the night from when he was 8 weeks old. My son did not go through any sleep regressions either. I don’t know if he just didn’t for whatever reason, or if these things helped him skip them. That I will never know.

If you have a new baby, I highly suggest trying each of these out as your baby gets older. If you have an older baby that is not sleeping well, you can always give these a try. However, I am not sure if they will work. You would need to try them for a few days to a week at least. I did not do any of these things with my older children and they did not start sleeping through the night until they were older. They did go through sleep regressions as well.

I would like to add that if you have a baby that is like my son and sleeps through the night for long hours, it is normal too. I honestly thought something was wrong with him because he slept so much. Even naps were long! Some babies require a lot of sleep while others don’t.

Whether your baby sleeps a lot or very little, enjoy those snuggles when ever you get a chance! I know I do!

Do you have a baby that sleeps a lot or a little?