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ADVICE RATING |
  4.22 (Worth a try) from 123 votes (18982 Visits) |
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Getting babies and toddlers to sleep |
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by ClayCook  (February 2006) (rank 29th) |
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The best advice I can give from personal experience with babies and sleeping is to follow a routine. From day one we implemented a routine and Codi has been an amazing sleeper.
Critical to the routine is a few key items...
- Full stomach. We make sure he has a full dinner so he is content and will not get hungry at night.
- Bath before bed. Baths are very soothing before bed. We always finish his bath just 10 minutes before he is due to go to sleep.
- Pacifier (dummy). Some people do not like pacifiers. We do, we find he feels comfortable with a pacifier at night. Actually we normally give him more than one in his cot/crib.
- Nice and warm. Codi always sleeps in a grow bag, which is like a little baby sleeping bag.
- A sleep cue. We have a toy that hangs on the side of his crib. When it is time for him to sleep we pull the cord on the toy animals and it makes a soft lullaby. It plays for about 2 minutes and he knows this signals it is time for his night time sleep.
- We also used controlled crying early on. We no longer need to, however initially we would wait 10 mins and then resettle, then 15 mins, then resettle, then 20 mins, and then 30 mins thereafter. After a week or so of controlled crying technique he would only need to be resettled once or twice, and then it wasn't long before he didnt need to be resettled at all. I suggest however that you use your watch to count/measure the time... a crying baby can make you feel as though you have been waiting 15 minutes when you may have only waited 60 seconds!
I have written an article on our full routine here, however the most important aspects for a good nights sleep are above. |
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4.22 (Worth a try) from 123 votes |
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I always found that too many people put their kids to bed and insist on dead quiet till they fall asleep. I always made sure that every day noises like the radio or tv were on, if they get used to the noises, nothing stops them from sleeping when they want to. Of course, they have to want to sleep, or you will have to try all the alternatives like rocking chairs, lullabies etc.
