Helping Your Baby Sleep Through the Night–Tips from the Trenches

After having three kids, I’m starting to discover some universal “tricks” for getting a baby to sleep better. It’s hard to believe Baby is 6 weeks old now. And last night he slept 5 hours!

I started thinking back about all the things I’ve learned, and I thought–why not? I’ll share a few of them and you all can add whatever tricks you learned. Somewhere out there is a new mom who is going out of her mind and maybe these might help.

Tip #1: Swaddle your baby
Newborns have a Moreau Reflex that makes their arms flail wildly at any given moment. I was very naive with my firstborn and put him in a crib from day one. Of course, the poor kid would wake up, those arms would windmill, and he’d start bawling because he was lost in that huge crib. I realized that the reason why nurses swaddle the infants in the hospital is that it helps keep the kids from waking themselves up from the startle reflex. It’s also what they’re used to, and babies love being wrapped up like little burritos. My problem was, I couldn’t seem to coordinate the blanket and all of my children were little Houdinis who could work their way out of it. This year, I found one of these swaddle blankets. Can I just say that this is the neatest invention ever? Velcro swaddlers! Love it. After I wrapped my baby up in it, complete with a hat to keep him warm, he slept 3 hours at a time in the beginning, and now he’s up to 4-5 hours at a time.

Tip #2: Buy gas drops (e.g. Mylicon or any form of Simethicone) in large quantities. Use them as a preventive measure.
My kids have all been very gassy, on the verge of colicky. At night, it only took one gas pain to send them screaming, and then of course they woke up and wanted to nurse themselves back to sleep. My early mistake was in treating the gas pains after they occurred. Since I know my kids have chronic gas issues, I started giving them gas drops BEFORE a feeding. That way they could work out their gas issues first and then sleep comfortably. I also give them gas drops at the 3 a.m. feeding, right in the middle of the nursing session.

Tip #3: Finish the Feeding
Whether you’re nursing or using formula, usually you’ll end up at some point with a baby who won’t finish eating. My son will doze off in the middle of a nursing session and it takes an act of God to wake him up. With my firstborn, I was stupid and let him sleep. Without a full feeding, he’d wake up an hour later and want to eat again. I was up all night, running back and forth from the nursery, and was ready to tear my hair out. Now, if my baby falls asleep, I’m pretty merciless. If he doesn’t wake up, I take him to the changing table and change his diaper. Nothing like an icy cold baby wipe across the bottom to wake up a baby. Hey, I may be cold-hearted, but it never fails to wake them up. Then I can finish the feeding and they sleep longer.

Tip #4: Get the Burp out at All Costs
My children are difficult to burp. Those nice soft little pats just won’t do it. I remember with my first son, I would gently pat his little back, and when he didn’t burp, I figured he didn’t have to. Yes, I was as dumb as a rock. Of course, he would spit up all over his clothing/crib/me and then want to be fed all over again. I’ve learned that you have to Whack the Baby. None of these gentle love taps. No, you have to give a nice firm whack from the base of the spine, all the way up. Then a good vigorous rub, from spine to nape. Whack and massage, that’s the way to go. If the shoulder position doesn’t work, you can try sitting them up on your lap, or putting them belly down across your knees. Your last resort if the burp won’t come out is to lay them flat on their backs for at least 45 seconds or longer (changing the diaper is a good way to get the burp out). When you lift them up, whack them again, and 99% of the time, you’ll get the burp out. Be prepared for a fairly huge belch, and often multiple burps. Make sure you have a good burp cloth over your shoulder, because sometimes the burps have some spit-up with them.

Anyway, for me, these were the tricks that helped me get a better night’s sleep. Hope they’ll help someone else, too.

What about you? Were there secret tricks you learned to help your kids sleep better? Tell me, because I’d like to try them too!