5 Baby Sleep Tips

I’ve partnered with Ergobaby to bring you this post.

My two babies have been very different when it comes to sleeping. Maddie Grace didn’t sleep. Ever. She still isn’t a good sleeper at 2. Tripp has been a much better sleeper from the start. For a while there we didn’t know what color his eyes were because he was always asleep. But as he’s gotten older we’ve had some issues when sleeping that we’ve managed to overcome. He gives us a solid 8 hours (or more) at night, will then wake up to nurse, and sleep a few more hours. He takes several naps throughout the day, and then takes several naps throughout the day. Here are some tips for getting babies to sleep that have worked for both my good sleeper, and my terrible sleeper:

(1) Swaddle that baby! Both of my babies have needed swaddling to sleep through the night. Tripp even usually needs to be swaddled for his afternoon nap. He gets overly tired and the only way to get him to calm down is to get him swaddled up. And as he gets older and stronger we’ve had a harder time getting him to stay swaddled. That’s why we are loving the Ergobaby Swaddler. It has arm pockets that I’ve never even seen before in a swaddler, and is pretty much impossible for a baby to break out of. It’s also the first swaddle I’ve seen that has an ergonomic design and has been designated “hip healthy” by the International Hip Dysplasia Institute.

Swaddling helps babies sleep because it controls their startle reflex, which wakes them up. It mimics the structure of the womb which helps ease baby’s transition into the world. Studies have also found that swaddling helps babies spend time in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep which is super important for brain development.

(2) Use white noise. White noise even helps me sleep better. There is a free app for white noise that we’ve used with both of our kids and it works wonders, especially the ‘rain on car’ noise for some reason.

(3) Have a bedtime routine. Whether it’s a warm bath, lotion, singing some songs, rocking, reading books… whatever your bedtime routine is stick with it every night to let your baby know that it’s bedtime and time to sleep for a long time (hopefully).

(4) Keep baby awake for a while before bedtime. This is something that helped with both of my babies from those early newborn days. No naps close to bedtime – because then they’ll sleep longer at night. Makes sense, right?

(5) Turn up the heat. This is a last resort for us because I do NOT sleep well when it is hot, but babies tend to sleep better when they are warm. But if you are desperate to get your baby to sleep try turning up the heat (or turning down the air conditioning) to make your home a little warmer.

What worked to get your baby to sleep? I’d love to hear more below!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Ergobaby.