Tuesday, February 22, 2011

How I get my babies to sleep

Adison, 3 days old

I wish that I would have done this with my first.
Not that she was a difficult sleeper after we got through the first three months.
They was sheer torture.

We tried doing the bath and reading, but instead of making her sleepy it woke her up even more.
We eventually settled on a routine that worked for Adison and she slept like a champ.
I wish that I would have thought of something as simple as singing during bedtime.
We did it throughout the day, but for some reason I never thought of singing the same song every bedtime.

I started doing this with Ainsley.
I sang the same song every time I put her to bed.
Her song was "Daisy Daisy."
I chose that song for her because I could replace the word "Daisy" with her name "Ainsley."
Every time I would lay her down for a nap or night time she would hear it.
Then she would simply go to sleep.
I remember thinking to myself, "This is GENIUS! I should have done this with Adison."

Since it worked so well on baby number two I decided to give it a shot on baby number three.
I chose "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," why that song I have no idea.
It just made sense to me that they should have their own song.
What do you know, it works like a charm.
She now knows that this signifies time to sleep.
If I don't do it she doesn't succumb to sleep as easily.
Without fail as soon I start singing to her, Abby immediately slumps down, rests her little check against the crook of my neck and the swaying begins.
It is such a simple thing to do but oh so special.

What about you?
What are some of your little tricks and routines for helping little ones off to slumber land?

6 comments:

  1. Well..I don't have my own kids...but with The Babe we've used a bunch of different things...we sing to him and calm him down with the same cd/songs every night...and we have the same routine every night..we read a story, we have a bath, have a bottle and then it's two songs and bedtime...he knows exactly what to expect and it's part of his daily routine. He turned six months old last weekend and is already sleeping through the night. Like, from 5:30/6pm until 7am. Consistently. It kind of blows my mind...my cousin likes to thank a book that her pediatrician suggested..and I definitely think that it pushed her in the right direction...he wasn't a good sleeper, he wasn't a good naper..and you could tell that he was exhausted..but we had no idea what to do...we tried everything we could think of...and it just wasn't working...then the dr. recommended this book..and I kid you not..my cousin started reading through it/looking at sections...and within a week of us actively doing what the book said..the kid was sleeping 6-7 hour stretches (which, when you haven't slept more than 3-4 in a GOOD night in 4-5 months..IS AMAZING) and in the last few weeks he has dropped his middle of the night feeding and is now sleeping from 6pm-7am..and having three - four 30-90 minute naps throughout the day..depending on the day and how tired he is/how much he's growing.

    I just figure that I'm pretty lucky because if I ever have kids..I'm TOTALLY reading this book BEFORE they get here so I'll be game for when their circadium rhythm develops..LOL

    You sound like such a good mommy...that MUST be why your kids are so darn cute! :P

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  2. No babies here either...but you know, I think it may have to do with the fact that your voice is soft and soothing...and that your heartbeat is calm, and things seem to be calm and restful....I'm sure babies can sense the mood of the parent and they too relax into sleep....they feel safe and after all, they're with their sweet Mommy who is making time to sing them their own personal song so they can succumb to dreamland ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  3. We kept bedtime simple...no books, no radio, no fan. Simply change their diaper, put on jammies while singing our bedtime song...It's our favorite time of the day, hurray! It's bedtime, it's bedtime. It's our favorite time of the day, hurray! It's bedtime, it's bedtime. At naptime we changed the words bedtime to naptime. It worked like magic from the very beginning. I know many mama's out there are co-sleepers with their children, I love mine dearly, but they were in their own crib by night number 5.

    ReplyDelete
  4. We kept bedtime simple...no books, no radio, no fan. Simply change their diaper, put on jammies while singing our bedtime song...It's our favorite time of the day, hurray! It's bedtime, it's bedtime. It's our favorite time of the day, hurray! It's bedtime, it's bedtime. At naptime we changed the words bedtime to naptime. It worked like magic from the very beginning. I know many mama's out there are co-sleepers with their children, I love mine dearly, but they were in their own crib by night number 5.

    ReplyDelete
  5. No babies here either...but you know, I think it may have to do with the fact that your voice is soft and soothing...and that your heartbeat is calm, and things seem to be calm and restful....I'm sure babies can sense the mood of the parent and they too relax into sleep....they feel safe and after all, they're with their sweet Mommy who is making time to sing them their own personal song so they can succumb to dreamland ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  6. Well..I don't have my own kids...but with The Babe we've used a bunch of different things...we sing to him and calm him down with the same cd/songs every night...and we have the same routine every night..we read a story, we have a bath, have a bottle and then it's two songs and bedtime...he knows exactly what to expect and it's part of his daily routine. He turned six months old last weekend and is already sleeping through the night. Like, from 5:30/6pm until 7am. Consistently. It kind of blows my mind...my cousin likes to thank a book that her pediatrician suggested..and I definitely think that it pushed her in the right direction...he wasn't a good sleeper, he wasn't a good naper..and you could tell that he was exhausted..but we had no idea what to do...we tried everything we could think of...and it just wasn't working...then the dr. recommended this book..and I kid you not..my cousin started reading through it/looking at sections...and within a week of us actively doing what the book said..the kid was sleeping 6-7 hour stretches (which, when you haven't slept more than 3-4 in a GOOD night in 4-5 months..IS AMAZING) and in the last few weeks he has dropped his middle of the night feeding and is now sleeping from 6pm-7am..and having three - four 30-90 minute naps throughout the day..depending on the day and how tired he is/how much he's growing.

    I just figure that I'm pretty lucky because if I ever have kids..I'm TOTALLY reading this book BEFORE they get here so I'll be game for when their circadium rhythm develops..LOL

    You sound like such a good mommy...that MUST be why your kids are so darn cute! :P

    ReplyDelete