How We Created a Good Sleeper

I think one of the first questions you get asked as a mom of a younger baby is "how is he/she sleeping?" I get asked this ALLLLLL the time.

Let's be real, sleep is SO important...and when you're sleep deprived you will do, buy, or try just about anything to get your baby to sleep better and longer.

Do I have the magic answer? No. But I do have some things that worked for us, and I figured if I can help one sleep deprived mama out there, then I'll do it!

What Worked for Us:

~The TakingCaraBabies newborn sleep class 

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I took this when Ella was 5 weeks old. I'd seen an ad or something for it on Instagram (check out her instagram--she has awesome tips etc) and followed along. And in those first few weeks of being tired, I finally decided I needed to try it.

*I had been reading Baby Wise to try and get Ella on a schedule during the days because this was when MG went back to work and I felt like I was just flying by the seat of my pants every day. I think the tips in BabyWise are awesome, but I didn't feel like it showed me HOW to do some of the things like getting a baby to follow Eat, Awake Time, then Sleep. Ella was doing Awake Time, Eat then Sleep which is a big no-no when getting babies to learn to sleep well (I learned). 

The TakingCaraBabies class really helped me SEE, and understand some of the concepts in BabyWise, along with a bunch of other things I'd looked up on the internet (because the internet is your friend when you have a new baby). It's a great combination of a lot of the things out there.

By 5 weeks, she was sleeping 5 hours between feedings at night, 6 weeks was 6 hours...by 8 weeks she was sleeping for 7-8 hour stretches between feedings and we felt like new people again (although I'm still perpetually tired and I think this will just be how I feel until she's 40).

~Noise Machine

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We've used both the Dohm ($$) and the Homedics Sound Machine. I personally like the Homedics one better (it's cheaper, more portable, and has volume adjustments). Ella currently uses the Dohm in her room now because it was expensive and I want to get use out of it. But we used the Homedics one when she was sleeping in our room.

~Swaddling Ella at night. Not a blanket swaddle because 1) they aren't safe, and 2) I could never do them correctly even if they were safe...making them WAY more unsafe haha.

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We got this swaddle at the recommendation of my friend whose baby was a month older than Ella. It was one of those 2am Amazon purchases that I paid overnight shipping for so we'd have it the next day lol. I'm not joking.

We LOVED this swaddle because it kept her arms in--most of the time--and made her feel all snug. And we still use it for nap time since she's not rolling over yet (We get this for all of our new friends having babies now)

~I practiced putting Ella down in her crib during the day for naps. She slept in the Rock and Play at night until about 13 weeks old. We attempted putting her in her crib for her 7pm-10pm sleep several times but she just wasn't ready for it (we are talking screaming/crying/writhing). So for many nights of many weeks, Ella slept in our arms from 7ish until 10 when we'd dream feed her and put her in the rock and play. I think the crib practice during the day helped her eventually get ready to fall asleep in her crib at night.

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~Dream Feeds. Another recommendation from TakingCaraBabies that we continue to use with Ella even now. Maybe she doesn't need them anymore...maybe she does. Mama's not really willing to risk finding out at this point. #ifitaintbrokedontfixit

We feed her before she goes to bed, and then we feed her again before WE go to bed. This gives her a little extra to "top off the tank". Luckily, she never has a problem going back to bed afterwards. I know some babies wake up with a diaper change and feeding, but Ella always did well with it.

~Pacifier: 

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Ella has used a pacifier to fall asleep since....I think maybe 6 weeks. Maybe before that. Honestly, the first 6 weeks are still kind of a haze lol. This was another TakingCaraBabies rec that worked for us.

Once Ella was falling asleep in her crib around 13 weeks, we kept her in her own room. It was better for her sleep (and safer, because technically you're not supposed to let them sleep in the Rock n Play, but dammit that thing was a life saver), and it was better for our sleep.

Everything was fine and dandy until Ella started rolling over from her tummy to her back. So I started freaking out that she was swaddled and I'd need to start transitioning her out of the swaddle. I asked my new moms facebook group about some items to help (Magic Merlin Sleep Suit, Zippadee Zips, etc etc etc) and basically got mom shamed by several of them for even thinking about "another sleep aid" because "she could be rolling over at any second and it's not safe and how could I?" 

Umm...Ella is now 21 weeks and hasn't rolled from her back to her tummy yet--she's showing signs, but not yet. I didn't appreciate the mom shaming, but they shamed me enough that I looked up online how to transition out of the swaddle. We'd tried it one other night and Ella just pulled her pacifier out and couldn't get to sleep.

There were lots of options including just doing it cold turkey (nope, already saw how that worked out), but the one I tried was to swaddle with one arm out. We did that for over a week and then Ella got sick and basically poop hit the fan and we reverted to a Rock n Play and fully swaddling because that's what she needed to get good rest.

When she was feeling better, we went back to swaddling with one arm out for a few weeks, then we switched and swaddled the other arm out (I figured if she got used to the feeling in both arms, separately, it would help when both were out). One night she stopped needing the pacifier--she kept pulling it out with her one free hand and I was tired of fighting her on it so I left the room, and she went to sleep minutes later without it. The next day I didn't even offer it to her, and left and she went to sleep. Now, we don't use it for anything but naps.

Right before I decided to do both arms out, I ordered The Nested Bean sleep sack (I used a discount code that TakingCaraBabies provided), with free shipping, and a free return policy for any reason. I had nothing to lose! It's a great quality sleep sack and it has a very light bean bag egg that is supposed to mimic the feel of your hand on their chest.

Ella was dealing with her second cold, and waking up at 2 and 5 am, sometimes 3 or 4 am...not a fan. I was nursing her back to sleep and it set my boobs off schedule again. No bueno. So I ordered the sack and tried it last Thursday and little miss slept until 6am when I woke her up. She slept until 645 the following morning, 630 the next morning and 530 the following one. Allllll of these were better than 3 am!

One of the other things that I think has helped us to avoid a HUGE 4 month sleep regression (unless the Gods are mean, and are planning on giving us this at 5months instead) is that Ella has practiced putting herself to sleep in her crib. We don't rock her to sleep, or nurse her to sleep. We don't hold her and then put her in her crib once she's asleep. She now has the skills to put herself to sleep at night, and if/when she wakes up in the middle of the night. The times she does wake up, I know that it's for a need (9 times out of 10) and not because she just can't get back down.

Some other quick tips:

~We keep the tv off after her last evening nap until she goes to bed. She was way too stimulated with it on, even if she wasn't watching it, to go to sleep on her own in her crib when we had it on

~a bedtime routine. We started this later than other people started it--maybe it started helping her to get ready for the crib sleep when we'd try it at night.

 I feed her, then we either wipe her down with a warm wash cloth or give her a bath (she gets a bath every other night usually), change her diaper and get her into jammies (or a new onesie during the summer since she was fully swaddled at the time), read a book, and then swaddle her (or sleep sack her now) and leave her be. Some nights we have to go back up once, but most nights she's asleep within 5 minutes.

So...this is my long winded, hopefully helpful, post about what worked for us. Keep in mind, each baby is different. I happen to think Ella is a good sleeper in general, but I also know we started early, put in the work with her practicing these skills and I think it's made a HUGE difference. 

I should also point out that this is NOT a sponsored post for TakingCaraBabies. That was/is just a fantastic class that I continue to reference to this day. I paid for the class, I bought my own sleep sack, pacifiers, swaddles, noise machine, etc. and I'd do it all over again in order to have the good little sleeper that we have!