We all know it happens. You have that oh so perfect first kid that sleeps right away and sleeps 12 hour stretches. They trick you into thinking it would be ok to have a 2nd one, convincing you that you must have the best genes ever when it comes to passing down sleeping habits. Then when baby number 2 arrives and it doesn’t just magically occur and you have to work at it, you get stressed. This was me about 6 months ago. I was bamboozled by my first offspring but then little did I know the 2nd child would get my husbands sleep habits and not mine. I know what every mom thinks in this situation as I felt it too. It was almost a form of shame of not wanting to tell people you’re struggling as you were given a beautiful gift and you love your little one and you know you don’t have it as bad as some do so complaining seems silly.
That being said, a little self care and asking or seeking help is necessary. One of the main regrets I have was not getting help sooner, not reading the books sooner, assuming it was going to naturally happen and waiting and praying. While I was dealing with this process it resulted in a couple different issues to arise which resulted in stress depleting my breast milk supply, and ultimately the lack of sleep, anxiety and depression from it resulted in me having to go back on my original form of birth control. This brought my breastfeeding journey to a halt and I was really upset and struggled with this as a mom. This blog is really just to make sure other moms who are googling quick fixes in the middle of the night unable to go back to bed are validated. YOU ARE DOING THE BEST YOU CAN! KEEP TRYING, IT GETS BETTER!
I recognize that the advice I give may not work for everyone, but it is something that you can try. Every baby is just a little bit different and requires different techniques to get that ideal 12 hour stretch of sleep from your little one. As a mom on a mission of trying to get more sleep, I recognize reading a long article may not be the best solution to your sleep dilemma, so I have kept it short and included 3 of what I feel were the best sleeping advice options that I found or that was given to me.
#1) Everyone always gives the cliche advice of maintaining a schedule in order to give them a sense of what to expect and what is expected of them, but honestly it doesn’t always work. This technique worked wonders for my firstborn Norah, and that’s all she needed, it did not work for Easton. For the first 6 months of Eastons life I was constantly stopping everything I was doing at 7:15pm to put him in the bath until 7:30pm. I would then bundle him up, take him into his room and do the same routine, drying him off, diaper, lotion, Pajamas. We would then venture to the living room and sit down with a bottle before bed. After 6 months of doing the exact schedule I was exhausted and didnt know why the typical go to schedule and routine that worked for Norah, wasn’t working for Easton as he would still wake up 2-3 times a night.
#2) The books I read that helped me the most were The Baby Sleep Solution by Suzy Giordano and Lisa Abiden. This book I believe is what ultimately helped. However , like I said I read this when Easton was 9 months and it may have been easier to train him if he was younger, so learn from me and start early. The goal of this book is to limit the amounts consumed during the night time feedings and was super helpful to help me understand that if the baby is used to getting x amount at night then that’s what his/her body is going to regulate to. So the transition phase of this book is to slowly put less and less milk in each bottle given to the infant. Slowly but surely that got me down from waking up 2-3 times a night to 1 time a night and I was in heaven. There was time I would say when his sleep regressed during growth spurts and I would again slowly try to lower the intake amount again. This book was a lifesaver and I would highly recommend it as it gives examples about what to change given your situation and how old your infant is. Like I said, start early and you will thank me later!
#3) Add a small amount of rice cereal to their last bottle of the night. This advice didn’t really work for my son, but I know a lot of moms that did it for their children and it did work to help them sleep through the night. This is something I would only suggest with a doctor’s approval, but like I said we have had a few babies that this is all it took as it helped them feel fuller longer.
Overall, each baby is unique and it’s important to be patient and never compare your baby’s sleeping progress to anyone elses baby as everyone’s journey is different.
From: One slightly less tired Mama