Hopefully, I'll have some tricks up my sleeve for when she gets here to help alleviate some of the crying and help her to rest better. My first tidbit of indispensable advice came from my friend Charity whom I called frantically one day in a daze during those first few crazy newborn weeks and asked her how she coped {she has 3 boys} and how she got her boys to sleep when they were babies.
She was a dear and went to the library and checked out a DVD for me that saved my life and helped Peyton to learn to sleep in his own bed. Ever since then, he has been a great sleeper and rarely {if ever} wakes up in the night. If he does, he knows how to soothe himself back to sleep with no help from me! The DVD is called 'The Happiest Baby On The Block" by Dr. Harvey Karp.
After watching it, all of the other tips I used for Peyton just fell into place. In the video, Dr. Harvey Karp talks about the 5 'S's'. They are: Swaddling, Sucking, Shushing, Swinging, and Side or Stomach Position. Obviously, the nurses at the hospital always brought Peyton to me swaddled- but I didn't think he needed it so when he came home, I tried to put him in his crib and he just wasn't having it!
When I watched the DVD, I learned why. Dr. Karp says that most babies have 4 trimesters not just 3. After a baby is born, they have to learn to adapt slowly to their new environment which can seem scary and overwhelming after 9 months of living in their nice warm cocoon. Babies feel closer to being in their own environment when they are swaddled because they feel safe and their movements which they haven't learned to control yet and which can startle them are kept to a minimum when they are all wrapped up.
It completely clicked when watching this- I should have made the connection when we noticed that Peyton would sleep better in his car seat- a measure we often tried when we were at our wits end and didn't know what else to do. He liked being in 'small spaces'! After that, I made my first purchase of a swaddler since my receiving blankets weren't big enough to do the job. I used the SwaddleMe which you can find at Babies R' Us or other retailers.
This time around I found a new swaddler which I think I'll be trying since it doesn't use Velcro and seems to have more intricate folds to keep the babies arms in a little snugger. It's called the Miracle Blanket!
To see how this blanket works, you should go check out the link. I'll probably be ordering two soon for my baby girl {you always want a back up one in case their are accidents- you don't want to be doing laundry before you can use it again}!
The other two things that worked for us as part of Dr. Karp's advice was to use a pacifier since babies like to suck even when they're not eating {but it's only needed for the first 3 months of a newborn's life, just like swaddling}. Peyton didn't know how to keep a pacifier in so it was wonderful when we rigged it so that if he spit it out, he could find it again so he wouldn't get frusturated in the middle of the night. I'm hoping that this next baby will like using pacifiers because it would be a life saver! I just ordered two of these this morning:
Okay, only one more, I promise. The last thing we used for Peyton was something called a Sleep Sheep which is a stuffed animal that has a white noise player in it. It was great, and we loved it; but it would turn off after 20 minutes and sometimes that wasn't long enough for Peyton to get into a good deep sleep or he'd notice the change in sound and would wake up.
So this time, I've purchased Dr. Karp's white noise CD which emulates the noise heard in the womb. Apparently, it's pretty loud inside the womb which explains why some babies love the sound of hair dryers and vacuum cleaners when they join us!
Jeni always swore by using a fan with Calyn because it would drown out all background noise and allow her to sleep through noise happening elsewhere in their apartment. The premise is the same no matter what you use- babies like steady sound that help them feel more at home in their new surroundings.
So the trick to most happy babies is to swaddle them up, give them something to suck on, play soothing music and sounds {or shushing softly in their ear} that remind them of their time in the womb, swinging {either from doing it manually yourself or using a battery operated swing} and holding them on their side or draped on your arm over their stomach {which gives them pressure in their tummy region and helps push out gas}.
Most of you Mom's are pro's out there and have your own tricks that you use too. If you have any you'd like to share, please do! I hope this info helps someone like it helped me when I was desperate for a bit of sleep. Good luck!
P.S. Hunt before you buy ANYTHING. Most retailers will bank on you paying full price and sometimes even more because they think that most people won't do their research. I like to compare between Amazon and Ebay to get really good deals.
8 comments:
Yeah. You know my tricks. Box fan, tummy sleeping when they can raise their heads, and crying-it-out.
Swaddling didn't work for Calyn. She hated it. She only tolerated it for the first few days.
Oh, and my last trick: formula feeding at night...keep them fuller, longer.
That book sounds like something I would agree with. I usually have issues with a lot of tactics, but I liked all of those. Every kid is different-which you will soon find out-but with all of those steps, you'll definitely find what works for your little sweet girl!! Ian was really gassy, so I had to gently bounce him on my knee, pressing against his tummy until all of the little toots came out. OH! AND....I have the same sleeping problem. I always wake up around 3am and can't go back to sleep until around 5:30. It's so irritating, but at least I'm used to getting NO SLEEP. I've found that eating a little something with a big glass of milk helps get me tired again. Oh, and just a little advise...when you have the insomnia, stay away from the computer and tv. Read a book in dim light instead. I read somewhere that the light coming from the pc or tv overstimulates your brain and will wake you even more.
I noticed that as soon as I bottle-feed (pumped breast milk) Emily at night, she would drink like 8 oz at 7 weeks. Thats when she also slept through the night. So try that to see if it helps!
Oh- and if the baby IS picky about pacifiers- I've noticed that babies that are breast-feed like the latex more than the plastic. And vice versa. ALSO- I have also found that for myself to get more sleep during the day, use an eye mask. It creates instant darkness, which is a must for good sleep.
I love the Happiest Baby on the Block beliefs. Thank heavens a friend told me about it before Jack was born or I might be in a crazy house right now.
I second searching for a good deal...I just got a $90 scrapbooking thing for $30 (including shipping) from ebay!
It is great to read all these tips--since I am about to become a first time mother to two at the same time! I don't sleep through the night either. I wake up at 3:30 and then I am awake for several hours. I asked my Dr. about it today and she said that it was really common and that there wasn't anything for it. She said taking a sleeping pill will only make it harder for the babies to get sleep through the night once there born. She told me to just read a book or do something until I am sleepy again (then take a nap during the day when I got tired).
This was on the list my friends recommended as well. It was a very good book! However had I know about the dvd I would have opted for that version :) the other book that I have loved so far is On Becoming Babywise, it talks about sleeping and eating patterns. Both books got put on Josh's must read before the baby arrives list ;)
Post a Comment