Baby Sleep Tips {& a Pampers Giveaway}

I’ve well documented on here the sleep habits of my baby. How she started sleeping through the night at only 3 weeks, and then regressed somewhere in the 3 month range. We are just now starting to get back into the sleeping through the night habit that her dad and I were taking for granted. But guess what? Daylights Savings Time is right around the corner. Daylights Savings Time is known to throw baby’s off their sleep schedules, which is great when we have just now established a firm bedtime for Maddie Grace.

If you are a first time mom facing Daylights Savings Time like me you are likely asking yourself: how will baby adjust to the time change? Will that mean an earlier wake up time for both little ones and their parents? Well there are ways to handle this issue and we are all going to make it out alive. A 2013 survey conducted by Pampers found that nearly one-quarter of mothers (24%) felt that a dry diaper was the number one thing that enabled their baby to sleep through the night.

Sleep contributes to well-being in many ways, from physical and cognitive development to sociability and day-to-day mood. And this is both for parents and babies – we all ned our sleep! That’s why Pampers is committed to keeping baby dry through the night. Through Pampers’ extensive research on sleep, they’ve learned that babies are more vulnerable to waking up when they’re wet. Unlike diapers that offer two layers, Pampers have three absorbent layers that provide up to 12 hours of overnight dryness protection.

Here are some tips that work for us for getting our baby to sleep at night. Hopefully they help us to conquer Daylights Savings Time and will help you too:

This one may seem obvious, since lots of times babies are waking only because they are hungry. But it’s also difficult to handle when exclusively breastfeeding. Now that we have introduced solids, I make sure we give Maddie Grace rice cereal mixed with apple sauce right before her final nighttime nursing.

A familiar environment, dim lighting, and white noise can all go a long ways in helping baby go to sleep.3) Keep a constant bedtime routine.

A warm bath, pajamas, and a night time book are the standard bedtime routine in our house. Doing this every night signals to Maddie Grace that it’s time to wind down and go to sleep.

4) Maintain a regular bedtime.

For a while we were bad about this, and it really messed with MG’s internal clock. Babies need routine! Putting your baby down at the same time every night will get them on a schedule where they naturally know when to go to sleep and wake up each night.

5) Help baby learn how to sooth themselves

I totally know the feeling of needing to go soothe baby the instant you hear them crying. I get it. I know in the middle of the night when they wake up crying you want to rock them back to sleep, to hold your upset baby. But obviously that only keeps you awake. We aren’t big fans of crying it out over here (although we respect ALL parenting choices so if it works for you, go for it) but I do try to encourage MG to sooth herself back to sleep within limits so that she doesn’t always rely on me.

6) Do what works for you.

The second week of having Maddie Grace at home I was on the phone with my mom crying about how sleep deprived I was. I told her I knew I wasn’t supposed to, but I had let her sleep on our bed (but in a 4 walled travel bed) the night before. I assumed she would tell me that was a terrible habit to start, but she didn’t. Instead she told me to let the baby sleep wherever all 3 of us got the most sleep, whether that be in a bassinet in our room, in our bed, or in the crib in the nursery. And she’s right. Different babies and different parents are going to have different situations that work best for them, there’s no one right answer, so figure out what works best with you and just do it.

If it’s not hunger that wakes up baby, it’s discomfort. Usually this is in the form of a wet diaper. However, changing baby’s diaper when they wake up hungry will only further wake up your baby and is not conducive to getting your baby to go back to sleep. Luckily, Pampers Baby Dry diapers will keep your baby dry for up to 12 hours, which is how long your baby should be sleeping! These have made a huge difference for us in getting MG to sleep through the night and we plan on continuing to use Pampers, especially overnight.