Skip to main content

Establishing Night Time Sleep

Since I assume that most of you reading this are either mothers or women who want to eventually be mothers, then we each know that our child (or child-to-be) is the brightest and most well-developed child out there (who wouldn't agree?!).  Our prodigy child wants to see and do everything - especially at night.  And, as mothers, we all know who gets to wake up during the middle of the night to teach Baby that, when the moon is out, we sleep...us!  A mother's physical need for sleep seems to diminish during the first months after Baby arrives.  But, our mental need for sleep is still ever present reminding us - day after day - that we are exhausted. Well, establishing night time sleep isn't impossible, and this blog will tell you how I did it and had my baby sleeping through the night by nine weeks old (which, for her age, was six hours of blessed, uninterrupted sleep).

I read many books prior to Baby's arrival about establishing a good sleep habit.  On Becoming Baby Wise: The Classic Sleep Reference Guide Used by Over 1,000,000 Parents Worldwide andHealthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child were the two most helpful books.  Through these books I realized that I could establish a pattern for my child's day - without taking away the basic needs of my child.  It was really pretty simple.  I started my schedule after Baby woke up.  I would immediately feed her and then we would play, read books, or do other wakey time activities.  Then, when she was tired, I would let her go to sleep.  While I tried not always to comfort her to sleep (i.e., nursing or rocking to sleep), I also realized that occasionally this was going to be the only way I would get any sleep.  So, I did what was needed for my own sanity and the health and nurturing of Baby.  I will admit, occasionally Baby slept with me just because I knew she would sleep.  I don't think there's anything wrong with this because it made me a happier and healthier mom so that I could grow a happier and healthier baby.

Over and over again, I utilized the routine: sleep, eat, play.  At first, Baby would sleep for an hour, then eat for an hour, and then play for 5-10 minutes, then go back to sleep.  However, as Baby grew, so did the time between each activity.  She would sleep for longer periods of time during the day, take less time to eat, and stay awake to play longer.  So, as she grew, we were developing her daytime schedule.  Throughout the day, we would follow the simple routine and she knew what was happening.  I also got to know Baby's cries because they became associated with our schedule.  If she had just woken up and was crying, I knew she was hungry.  If she had been playing for a while and was crying, then I knew she was probably sleepy.  

While this schedule didn't give me immediate nighttime rest (I was still waking up every 2-1/2 to 3 hours to nurse Baby), it did allow me to know if there was something else wrong.  If Baby woke up before the usual time, then I knew she was either gassy, had a dirty/wet diaper, or there was another problem.  While it sometimes took time to find the problem - and sometimes she just wanted to spend time with Mommy - I had some peace of mind that I was doing what was best for my baby.  Through utilizing a daily routine, I was able to determine times that I could take a shower because Baby would be napping and times when I could do chores because Baby would be awake and want to look all over the house while riding in our carrier.  Life was getting a little bit easier.  

Now, I am not advocating a parent-directed, hyper-schedule.  There are always going to be times when Baby needs extra food, attention, or naps.  But, I am advocating trying to establish some sort of sanity routine so that both Mom and Baby can find time to relax and rejuvenate.  After all, the old adage is definitely true: When Mom is happy, everyone is happy!
So, for those of you who have gotten your kids to sleep through the night, please feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments.  As mentioned previously, all babies are different.  What works for me may not work for you, but hopefully together we can help each other out!

Comments

  1. After having my third baby, I was shocked(!) to realize that I did not, in fact, know it all. Healthy Sleep Habits was recommended to me by a friend and it totally worked for us! Now I recommend it to all of my friends who are having sleep issues. You are so smart!

    ReplyDelete
  2. unrelated to sleep...but what type of carrier do you use?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I use a Baby Bjorn for just short periods of time, but have found that it causes my back to start hurting if I wear it too long. So, when I'm hiking around the mall, I use the Kelty Kids Pathfinder. It's a carrier made for hiking, but it can be easily taken off and set on the ground without having to take Baby out of it. It's perfect when I want to try on something!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have done CIO with all 3 of my kids and am a firm believer in it. Of course I hate to hear my kids cry but I think being able to STTN is a huge deal for a baby. I usually wait until 6mths since all my kids have been tiny and all have been breastfed but once they hit 6mths it's time to start. I have 3 awesome night time sleepers that know when it's time for bed and we don't hear from them until the morning. I know it's not for everyone but it has worked extremely well for us.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Leadership Mom: SWOT Analysis

In business, leaders often analyze our Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats through a SWOT analysis.  So, if we are going to look at our role as moms as being the greatest leadership opportunity to us, let's start with analyzing ourselves and our kids.  Here's the SWOT I developed for my family: Family SWOT Analysis As a doting mother, there are hundreds of strengths that I could put up here for my kids.  Their hugs, kisses, bedtime stories and prayers, the fact that they come to me when they're seeking healing from an injury (physical or emotional), the notes and drawings they make for me, their precious hearts when they try to help me or that they've learned how to use the Keurig to bring me coffee in the morning...I could go on and on. Now, here's the part where we get honest with ourselves.  Yes, we love our kids and we love our family (or, hopefully, most of the time), but we are not perfect.  Nor should we be perfect.  As we analyze oursel

Cybersecurity 101

One of the things that continually amazes me as a parent of young(er) children is their ability to quickly understand technology and its uses.  Not only have my children learned the art of swiping to use different devices, but they've also learned how to access apps, take pictures, answer calls (both phone and Skype), and more.  My children could teach their grandparents a lesson or two on how to use technology. But, as a student of cybersecurity, I have seen a greater need to educate my children - as well as so many others - on the cybersecurity.  This goes beyond posting inappropriate pictures and unfriendly words on social media (although these lessons must also be taught).  This goes into the nature of understanding the benefits and risks of using technology and the privacy lost to it.  The major premise that must be understood in regards to cybersecurity is that information/data is money.  It's value is continually increasing.  We need to secure our information just as w

Why can't they just be friends?

Why can't my kids just be friends?  I must ask myself this question hundreds of times during the week.  I thought that having kids relatively close together was going to be great.  They'd have a playmate and an automatic friend.  However, the truth is that - most of the time - they don't get along.  It's not that they're enemies...it's that they drive each other crazy.  They each want the other one to do what they want to do.  Then, when the other one does what they want, they get mad at them because they wanted to do it themselves. They don't want to share their toys.  Then, they play together only to then get mad and purposefully break the other sibling's toys. They want to get the other one in trouble so that they look like the "good" child and get more rewards.  Then they get upset that the other sibling got them in trouble when they *tattled* on them. At mealtimes, they want to sit where the other one is sitting.  They want the c