Everyone knows that there are some basic things you need to do to encourage your baby to sleep through the night. Keep her dry. Keep her room dark. Make sure she has a full belly. Consider using a soothing technique, such as a white noise CD or rocking her to sleep. There are plenty of tips and tricks that you can read right here at this website, as well as all over the Internet and in parenting magazines and books.
Today, we’ll look at a couple of areas you might not have really thought about. Using these two techniques isn’t guaranteed to help your baby fall asleep or to help her sleep longer through the night, of course, but you may find that they can give you at least a few extra minutes of shut-eye. And, as any parent of a newborn knows, even a few minutes of sleep can make a world of difference.
The Baby Monitor is Too Loud
If your baby monitor is turned all the way up, you’re going to hear every jostle and sqeak that comes through. When it does, you’re likely to get up and walk to your baby’s room, and in your half-asleep state just start doing the normal thing: checking the diaper, preparing to feed, or even just talking softly. IN that process, you may be interrupting your baby’s attempt to put himself back to sleep.
Instead of jumping right up at every noise, try to time it out a little bit. Give your baby a few minutes to know for sure if she’s awake or not. Step in to comfort her just at the time between you’re convinced she’s awake and the time that she’s about to start really fussing. This gives your baby a chance to sooth her self back to sleep. You want to get in before a full meltdown, however, or you’ll have a heck of a time getting her back to sleep.
The New Diaper Rules
One of the easiest fixes for a fussy baby is to change his diaper. Most of the time, when you go into your baby’s room at night and you know it’s not time for a feeding, you go right for the diaper. You need to resist the urge to change her each time.
Instead, use a high-quality diaper designed for nighttime use. When she wakes, give a whiff to see if it’s soiled or not. The fact of the matter is that the cold baby wipe on your baby’s bottom might wake her up much more quickly than a simply wet diaper.