If you're already a parent then obviously you'll know that the first few weeks of your baby's life is not a routine just more of a lucky dip. So with that I was incredibly lucky that Olivia decided early that sleep is fantastic! The first few nights with her were awful and she woke up every couple of hours wanting feeding, which is awful before your milk comes in because they literally feed for hours! Then she got milk greedy and decided to be sick every time she laid down on her 3rd night. On her 4th night Olivia started her new 'routine' where she would wake every 4 hours to have her bum changed and to be fed . We would stay awake until 11 when she would get fed and then take her from her Moses basket and into her crib for the rest of the night.
At 5 weeks old I took Olivia to my mums house for her first sleep over there with me and to my surprise she slept from 11 right through until 5! Going home was awful because I desperately wanted to get some proper sleep again! So me being a nasty mummy decided enough was enough that we were having no more night time feeds! The first few nights were horrific with crying from both me and Olivia but every time she cried I simply went into our room and put her dummy back into her mouth and walked back out again. The first night I was up and down for over two hours before she finally fell asleep and again the second night and then all of a sudden it just clicked for her that I wasn't doing it any more! The 11-5 routine went on for maybe 2-3 weeks before I then decided that I couldn't stay awake until 11 every night and going to sleep then waking back up at 11 just made me even more tired so after reading online we decided to get her into the 'bath, booby, bed' routine. We eat our meals quite late so we decided to give her a bath between 6 and 7. With bathing her we use Johnsons bed time bath in her small baby bath and we do that in the living room at the moment. One because she enjoys watching the tv but two I don't really like the thought of having to carry a wet slippery baby on tiled floors in our bathroom. I don't know if the bedtime bath has anything different in it to the normal Johnsons baby bath but Olivia likes it so we just use it anyway! We're quite chilled with her bath as well, it's never a rushed thing, we always take our time and make sure the she is completely relaxed! After taking her out I then rub her down with the Tescos brand of night time baby powder. There's no particular reason for using it other than it was bought for us so I'm using the bottle of it first! I find that if I massage it into her it really calms her down. Especially when I rub it over her legs as I think she's having a growth spurt and getting growing pains! Olivia then gets put into her pyjamas and grow bag (so much easier than blankets, plus they can't pull them over their heads which Livi has a habit of doing with blankets!) has a cuddle and kiss with Callum and then I'll take her through to our bedroom where I sit with the light off and feed her before putting her down in her crib to go to sleep. I refuse to put any music/lights/cot mobiles on when I lay her down when she's still awake as I think that this just gets her excited and she'll just think it's play time. So even if she's awake I just lay her down and leave the room. We use baby monitors to listen out for her as I keep the bedroom door shut so that other noise won't wake her up and we find that really works for us. At first Olivia wasn't keen on being left to get herself to sleep but after a week she cracked it. All we do when she whinges is go in quietly and put her dummy back in her mouth. I know not everyone agrees with dummy's but we find that it really comforts her and I honesly don't think she would sleep through the night without it. We don't talk to her when we go in, we don't pick her up (unless she's crying properly of course), and we don't really touch her as I like her to just be left to 'self sooth'. Again not everyone agrees with that either but I have never ever left her for more than about a minute crying. I just don't agree with running to a baby every time they make a noise (unless I know she's dropped her dummy and then we go in to her and pop it back in!). Personally with having her crib right next to me at night time I have found it a lot easier as sometimes she has tried waking up between 3 and 5 but all I do is put her dummy back in again. So now, at 10 weeks old my baby sleeps for at least 10 hours a night! Not only do Callum and I get to spend some time together but it also gives me a chance to catch up on housework and all my soaps! 😉 This routine might not work for everyone but it definitely works for us. The key to routine is not messing it up! Stick to it and eventually they will start to settle!
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