My 3 Secret Ways I Got My Baby to Sleep Through the Night (Yes, No Nightly Wakeups!)

Last updated on June 9th, 2020 at 02:16 pm

How-to-Make-Your-Baby-Not-Wake-up-at-night

Today, I want to discuss with you the joyous age-old terror of trying to get your baby to sleep at night. Before we were all parents, we all  laughed about how ‘fun’ it would be trying to get our babies to sleep at night. We all pictured that maybe, in reality, it wasn’t so hard, and it would get easier over time (oh honey, uh-uh!).

It wasn’t until you were eight cups of coffee in by 8 am, ready to pull your hair out, screaming, “Who on earth thought this was a good idea!”,  that you realize how hard it actually is to get your baby to sleep at night. I remember when my husband and I would try to get our first born to sleep, it was a literal nightmare (lets just say, there was a diaper stuck to the wall).

She was the kind of newborn that never wanted to sleep, didn’t want to feed, constantly needed a diaper change, and so forth (pretty much, a big pain in the booty!). It is safe to say that we gave grandma a call (a couple hundred times) and asked her to come help us put the baby to sleep!

But in all seriousness, if you’re expecting the arrival of a little one very soon, you will need to be prepared on knowing how to get them to fall into a comfortable and happy sleeping routine. Of course, each child is different, and not all methods will work on the same baby, but I have summarized the 3 most effective and unknown ‘secret’ ways to get your babies to sleep that have worked on my children, family friends babies, and that will hopefully work for your family as well! So without further ado, let’s begin!

1. Put Them To Sleep Before They Snore 

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I am super guilty of doing this with our babies and my husband always has to remind me to not wait for the baby to fall asleep before putting them in their crib. I know, I know, we all want to rock our little ones to sleep in our arms, but I speak from experience when I say that doing this can be a really terrible habit for many reasons. Not only because it is likely they will wake up when you move them to the crib, which in return it will make them become wide awake again  (but who needs sleep, right?).

But also because a good friend of mine who is also a mother has done this with her twin girls and regrets doing it every time. She has told me that because she always did this, her girls have become so dependent upon it that they will only go to sleep if she’s holding them (even now at the age of 3! Yikes!). Trust me, you don’t want to get to this point, so just remember that when you start to notice your little one getting drowsy, put them to bed immediately. This will help them to fall into a routine of knowing to go to sleep in the crib when they are sleepy, rather than in your arms! You can actually read more about how to go about this on a fantastic fellow mommy bloggers site called, One Mom To Rule, where I first learned about this via her When Your Child Won’t Nap blog post. On her site, she provides incredible tips and tricks on many different aspects to being a parent that are pretty much a huge lifesaver to mom’s everywhere! 

2. The Dark Isn’t Always Scary. And In This Case, It’s Ideal!

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Believe it or not, a dark room is ideal for helping your baby sleep. My husband and I used to leave the hall light on and the door open for our baby, because we feared that perhaps our little bean might become afraid of being in a dark room alone. But what we’ve found through experience is that all of our babies would become more awake and would actually sleep through less of the night when a light was on. So my husband and I (because we cherish our sleep so much) took very careful precautions and blacked out the windows, as well as kept the lights very low when we had to take frequent trips to change diapers or feed in the middle of the night. Just remember, once you develop a plan, stick to it, as I have mentioned how important routine is! If you don’t believe me, another incredibly resourceful go-to mommy website of mine, Mommysup, also discusses the importance of creating a routine for children via her blog post, Good Sleep for Toddlers, and how much easier it can make your life with your baby. I would highly recommend you have a look yourself and apply her simple steps to your life if you want to lose all that stress, and gain a lot of sleep!

3. Warm Heart, Warm Crib!

baby in warm crib

Ok, so you know how when you get into a really warm in bed at night, it instantly helps you to start relaxing and fall into a dream state? That’s the exact same thing with babies! But surprisingly, a lot of parents make the simple mistake in not warming their child’s crib before placing them in.  I will admit, I never used to do this with my first born. I actually did pretty much everything opposite of what I’m listing on this post for my first baby, but on my second baby, gosh, life was so much easier! It actually wasn’t until my mother showed me how quickly in can help a baby fall asleep that I begun doing it with our second child (thank godness for grandmas!). And it was such a simple preparation too! All you have to do is either throw their crib blankets in the dryer for 15 minutes, or heat up a warm bottle of water and place it under the blanket 15 minutes before placing them in the crib. Simple, and done! You will be amazed at how long your baby will sleep for when you do this (seriously, I don’t remember the last time I got a full-nights sleep until now!). And with all that extra sleep that they get, so do you! Which in turn will not only make your baby happy, but it will make YOU happy as well!

Overall, there is many different ways to help our baby sleep at night, and as I mentioned above, all babies are different, and you will need to find what works best for your child through trial and error. But if you are struggling with a seemingly hopeless sleeper, try these 3 simple tips and see if they will work for your child! Many of my friends have tried these and have had amazing results (as in, those bags under their eyes are no more!). Just remember, that while it is a pain and can be very frustrating, you should cherish these moments you have with your husband and your baby, as they will be a wonderful and silly memory you will look back on for the rest of your life!

 

Anna About Anna

Hi Moms and Dads, Anna here and welcome. I'm a relatively young mom, in my early 30's and my husband and I have 2 young (and incredibly cheeky) children. With my first child, I was confused about absolutely anything that had 'baby' written on it. I felt flustered and overwhelmed. For some Moms I believe it comes naturally, for others it takes a bit of work and patience, and the latter was me. With my second child, all those first round nervous flusters were gone and I approached everything ease, although I do admit, in between 2 children, baby products and my needs and wants had changed and in the baby/infant world, things change very quick and products that were suggested a few years back are now out of date, recalled or just not suitable no more. So it's not only your little bub that grows; products change and the needs and wants of your baby and you change also.

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