Getting Baby To Sleep

Archive for the ‘baby won t sleep’ Category

You may be wondering what in the world a nasal aspirator has to do with getting baby to sleep.  It has everything to do with it.  When your baby is running a temperature and has a runny nose –not a-typical of the winter months– you will want to do everything you can to help her feel better fast.  The Baby Nasal Aspirator Vacuum Suction Pigeon got rid of all traces of her snot and helped her to feed and sleep longer. 

Last month my little 4 month old got her first cold.  Her nose was so snotty that she would sputter and cough every time she would try to feed.  It was heartbreaking.  I have four different types of nasal aspirators.  The big blue one that most hospitals use was given to me when we left the birth center.  It sucks…no, not literally.  It just plain sucks.  I don’t even remember the name of the second one I got.  It doesn’t really matter now anyway.  The third one came with my Little Remedies medicine kit.  This one was actually much better than the other two I mentioned before.  Lastly, my sister sent me the best nasal aspirator of all time.  I’m not even kidding.  The Baby Nasal Aspirator Vacuum Suction Pigeon is a must-have for any mom who has tried using other suction devices twenty times straight with no avail.

How It Works:  The device, which looks similar to a hookah or mini-bong has a small bulb-like opening atop a clear jar.  Attached to the side of the jar is a thin rubber tube.  You take the small bulb and put it in baby’s nostril and put your mouth on the rubber tube and suck.  The snot drips down into the jar.  When you’re done, you can unscrew the jar and wash the whole thing out.  

I love it for so many reasons.  Here are a couple of them:

1. I’ve had to use other suction devices over and over again and never got the kind of results I got with this thing.
2. You can actually clean it.
3. When her nasal passages were clear she was able to sleep a lot longer.
4. It took a lot longer for snot to build up in her nose again.  She actually only had two days with snot.  Yes, I said that right.  Just two days.
5. My daughter didn’t have to have a snot nose.  While other people wipe the snot as it oozes out all over their baby’s little face, my baby didn’t have that problem.
6. I’ve have friends who were so desperate to help with their baby’s snot that they sucked it out themselves by mouth!    
7. The Baby Nasal Aspirator Vacuum Suction Pigeon helps baby to sleep through the night.

So, if you’re one of the parents out there who is suffering through your baby’s first cold or if you’ve been doing this for years and didn’t know something like this existed, I suggest you buy a Baby Nasal Aspirator Vacuum Suction Pigeon today.  Your baby will thank you for it.

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Even the best of sleepers need some help getting to sleep sometimes.  Here are a few of the baby sleep problems that may be keeping your baby from getting a good night’s sleep.  If your baby won’t sleep well, just one minor adjustment in the following areas may do the trick.

The Room Is Too Dry

My daughter was sleeping in five to eight hour stretches by the time she was 5-weeks old.  But when the first signs of fall hit, she began to wake up every 2 – 3 hours needing to be nursed.  I realized that the only thing that had changed was that we had put the heater on.  So while I was reaching for my bottle of water to quench my thirst, my daughter was waking me up for that same reason.  The simple solution is to use a humidifier.  By keeping the air moist, you’ll prevent or at least postpone those nighttime feeds.

Baby Is Too Warm

If the air temperature is too hot or too cold your baby will let you know it.  Newborns have a hard time regulating their body temperatures, so they rely heavily on you to keep them feeling good.  It is recommended that you put on one layer more than what you’re wearing.  The room temperature in your baby’s room should be kept between 65 and 75 degrees.

Baby Is Too Excited

If your baby seems to fall asleep but then wakes up 20 or 30 minutes later, or has trouble falling asleep, you may not have an adequate sleep routine.  Don’t expect to take a child from a state of play into a restful state within a few minutes.  By establishing a sleep routine, your baby will begin to recognize sleep time cues and calmly settle in to a restful state.  Try things like dimming the lights, rubbing baby with soothing lotion and playing soothing, familiar sounds.  All of these will contribute to baby’s overall calm and comfort.

Baby Is Hungry

If your baby is waking up in the night crying and takes a full feed, or can’t sleep more than 3 or 4 hours at a time or was sleeping longer but is suddenly getting up then your baby may be hungry.  Granted, if your baby is a newborn, she will need to be fed approximately every 2 hours.  But at three-months old your baby should be able to go for 5-6 hours without needing to be fed.

One way to prevent these late night feedings is to give your baby a “dream feed”.  This is when you give your baby a full feed around 10 or 11 at night.  By giving your baby plenty of feeds every 2-3 hours throughout the day, or as much as your baby demands it, your baby should have the nutrition she needs to sleep through the night.  Keep in mind that if your baby is going through a growth spurt, she may need to fed more.  If this is the case, add another feed during the day by nursing every two and a half hours.

Baby Is Too Attached To You or Something Else

If your baby needs something to be there in order to fall asleep (like your touch or a pacifier), or needs to be held all the time or refuses to sleep in her own crib, then you may need be proactively parent.  By changing the way you do some things you will help your baby and yourself for the long-term.

This means that instead of letting your baby sleep in your bed because you’re tired and don’t want to try to comfort her in her own sleep space, you need to find ways to make her own sleep space seem more appealing and pleasurable to her.  This also means that if your baby cannot sleep without the pacifier in his mouth that you teach your baby to suckle his own hand so that you don’t have to keep putting the pacifier in his mouth every single time it falls out at night.  After three months, pacifiers are no longer needed or beneficial.

Also, babies will get up frequently when sleeping.  Night waking is a common thing that all people do.  During a night waking, one usually checks to make sure they are still safe where they are and then slips back into sleep.  Sometimes when a baby wakes up in the night, they make a lot of noise.  By giving baby a chance to readjust on his own, your baby will be able to fall back asleep without your assistance.

Baby Is Insecure

If your baby has trouble falling asleep, or wakes up every hour (granted they’re no longer newborn) or sleeps during the day but not at night, you may need to implement a daily routine.  An unpredictable daily schedule may be contributing to baby’s insecurities.  During the day, try to make sure that there are markers of consistency, like feeding baby every three hours, doing belly time and taking naps.  Follow the pattern of eating, playing and sleeping.  Keeping baby up for at least 20 minutes after feeding will help baby to sleep better in the evening.  Also, by feeding your baby every two to three hours will prevent baby from needing too many feeds at night.

Conclusion

If your baby won’t sleep, chances are there is something that needs changing in their daily schedule, nightly routine or sleep environment.  If your baby is waking you in the middle of the night, start by making sure that baby’s immediate needs are being met.  Is she hungry?  Is her diaper soiled?  Is she cold?  Is she comfortable?  Is she sick?  If your baby won’t sleep after you’ve checked all these things, you may want to seek additional help.  By implementing these baby sleep tips, you will surely be on the right path to raising a great sleeper.

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