By Caroline Jones, infant sleep coach and founder of The Sleep Remedy

We all know that we need sleep. 

We can’t all explain why, but we know what it feels like when we’ve had a terrible night!  At times it can feel like our babies point blank refuse to acknowledge their need for sleep and work tirelessly against our attempts to settle them!

So, how can we encourage our little sleep thieves to go to sleep more willingly and for longer stretches when they seem so intent on doing the opposite?

We need to start getting curious!

• What’s causing my baby to resist sleep?
• What can I do to encourage them to settle more easily?
• What gives my baby the best possible conditions for sleep?

So here’s your breakdown to answering these questions and equipping you with the knowledge that’s going to get your baby drifting off to dreamland in no time!

REG FLAGS:

First up - check for any red flags such as underlying medical conditions, pains and discomfort.  Teething and illness can often temporarily disrupt sleep so if it all goes awry suddenly, give it a couple of weeks to see if it gets back on track before panicking!

ALWAYS speak to your GP or healthcare professional if you think something really isn’t right.  Trust your instincts!

SLEEP FOUNDATIONS:

Next, check their sleep foundations are sound…

Schedule

• Knowing your baby’s own unique sleep needs will allow you to meet their optimum sleep time and they will fall asleep with much less resistance and wake better rested from that sleep.

Environment

• An important part of ensuring healthy sleep habits is to make sure your infant has a sleep environment conducive to great sleep! Calming, quiet, safe, dark and perfect temperature.

Routine

• A successful bedtime and nap time routine will help to cue to your little one that sleep is coming and will calm them and prime them for sleep. Think; predictable order of events. Babies love predictable patterns!

Consistency

• It may be a cliche but it really is true. In order to see improvements you need to be consistent every day. As a rule, any changes you make to your child's sleep situation should be put in place consistently for around a week to truly see the effectiveness.

INDEPENDANT SLEEP:

Some babies / children benefit from being able to fall asleep by themselves without help.  If you are helping your baby to sleep by rocking / feeding / patting etc you may find that their naps are short and they wake every couple of hours overnight when they seek your help to get back to sleep.

For some families, this isn’t a problem and I can promise you that at some point in the future your baby WILL sleep without your help.  There aren’t many grown adults who need to be rocked to sleep! 

That being said, if you feel your current situation isn’t sustainable and you’re desperate for change, that’s absolutely understandable and its totally possible to make the changes that will give you all the sleep you so crave!

There are plenty of sleep methods out there to encourage independent sleep (self settling).  The trick is to find one that suits your baby’s temperament in order to reduce the chances of extended upset and also your parenting style so that its something you’re on board with and can stick to.

If you don’t feel confident to identify the cause of your baby’s sleep challenges or you need help to put a plan into motion and stick with it, using a Sleep Coach is a great option to help you reach your goals.  Get in touch if you’d like to explore how i can help you!

Caroline x

www.thesleepremedy.co.uk

[email protected]

@thesleepremedy

PS: If you have an unsettled baby and you are not quite sure what it is that makes them unsettled, maybe you are considering that your baby may have cow's milk allergy but don't know how to get it diagnosed? I have a really great masterclass called 'Settled Your Baby' which goes over absolutely everything from colic, reflux to cow's milk allergy and strategies to implement for each that really does work. Click here to find out more.