4 Ways To Help Your Baby Sleep Better At Night

First off, I want to say that these are just the things that worked for my children, but obviously, everyone is different, and you have to do what is best for you and your children. With that said, I know lots of people, and the ones who go by these suggestions and stick with them almost always have babies that are sleeping through the night completely by six months, but more importantly are still good sleepers through childhood. Bad habits started very early in life can come back to bite you when your baby turns into a toddler, preschooler, and beyond.

1. Understand a baby's eating and sleeping cycle. This is probably the most valuable piece of information I gained as a preggers pre-children mom. I read Babywise (don't turn me off you Babywise-haters - please give me a chance...), and I learned that babies thrive off of an 1. Eat 2. Wake 3. Sleep. cycle. Before I read this, I assumed like all of our parents and grandparents that you nursed your babies to sleep, and that is how it was all day and night all the time. However, for me, sticking as closely as possible with this cycle proved to keep even my colicky baby less fussy than most babies. The only time I nursed my babies right before they slept was obviously at bedtime, but they did not require nursing to put them to sleep even at bedtime. They learned to self-soothe themselves to sleep since they were put to bed drowsy and not completely asleep every night.

2. Have a consistent bedtime. Babies are no different than adults. If you put them to bed at 7:00 one night then 10:00 the next, then 8:30 the next, they are going to have a very difficult time sleeping through the night. Almost all babies thrive on a routine. When you have a consistent bedtime (give or take 15 minutes at the most) they will be able to sleep much better and longer. There will always be those special occasions when you will stay out later with your baby, just don't make that the norm. This also goes with naptime - at least one nap a day should be consistent if at all possible - it will help everyone stay sane in your house!

3. Bedtime routine. With my first baby, we did a bath every night, read a story, sang a song, said a prayer, etc. His bedtime routine took about an hour every single night. However, when baby number two came along, that obviously didn't happen. He only gets a thorough bath every other night, so his consistent bedtime routine consists of only changing into his jammies, singing him a song while I stand next to his crib, and laying him down in his crib. It takes literally all of five minutes, but it is the same every night, and he knows that it is time for bed when that happens. So no matter how short or long the routine, consistency is key.

4. Let your baby self-soothe (eventually). I learned an important lesson with my first baby. They really aren't able to self-soothe until at least four months old, and they grow up so fast it is good to cuddle them as much as possible when they are little babies. On the other hand, I do love my sleep, and having my baby sleep through the night was important to me, and I didn't want to be up every night until my kids were five years old having to rock them asleep every time they woke up. So I started at six months with my second baby, and that worked perfectly for us - he barely cried five minutes the first night and he has never cried again (except for maybe two times - bad dreams, maybe?). This makes traveling easier, lets you know when your baby really is sick, teething, etc. because if they do wake up crying you know something really is wrong, and you don't have to guess. If you are good with getting up well into their preschool years and battling with crazy sleep habits, then by all means rock them to sleep every single time they wake up - the choice is completely up to you - I just need my sleep to function as a mother during the day!

Thanks so much for reading, and please comment below with your tried and true helpful hints to help your babies sleep well (stay kind, please - parenting advice tends to get personal!).

This post is written for Kansas City Home Security.