They say don’t tell anyone your newborn is sleeping through the night, or you’ll jinx it.  Guess we’re about to find out if that’s true!
So, spoiler alert:  Hudson is sleeping really long stretches at night, since about 6 weeks old.  At least 5 hours, if I wake him once to eat, otherwise he sleeps around 9 hours.  
Now this is where I’m going to throw out my disclaimer:  every baby is sooo different, and so is every parent.  But this is what has worked for us!
Some say you should never let a baby go that long without eating when they’re under age 1.  
Some say once they regain back to their birthweight, let them wake you when they’re hungry.
Some say lots of different things.  I say do what works for you and your baby, and follow your trusted practitioner’s advice and your own intuition.
Hudson is a big boy, eats a LOT throughout the day, and is at the 98th percentile for height, 89th for weight last we checked- so he’s definitely getting what his body needs.  And in my opinion, solid sleep is a top priority for him to grow and develop…  so we are basically thrilled with his sleep right now.

Because I’ve been asked what we’re doing, I’m more than happy to share- but this is just what has worked for us, for those who are curious.  I like to think about 70% of it is Hudson and his personality/biological makeup.  30% is tips & tricks we’ve learned by doing our research and practicing through trial & error.
Have tips of your own that I don’t mention here?  PLEASE, please, please comment with them below!  I would love a sleep-deprived parent out there to read this post and find even one tip that helps them help their baby!

WHAT’S WORKED FOR US

  • eat – play – sleep routine:  we’re flexible on this if needed but he does best with this routine when he knows what to expect- we only stray from this for his cluster feed/longer wake period before bedtime 
  • 45 to 90 minute wake time:  helps when he’s not too awake OR too overtired when he goes down for nap
  • sound machine:  we keep it on a pretty loud setting to drown out any noise while he’s sleeping and keep him from startling
  • DO wake during the day:  this is one we learned from the “Taking Cara Babies” newborn sleep program;  we keep his naps short during the day, and wake him up if needed to make sure he’s getting all of his feeding time in during the daytime, and saves his long sleep period for nighttime
  • flexibility on nap location:  typically all of his naps take place in his crib (where his monitor is set up) and he sleeps in the bassinet by our bed at night (sometimes moving into the bed with me in the morning).  If the crib doesn’t work out for whatever reason, we’re totally fine with him sleeping in the carrier, his stroller while we’re out for a walk, on our chest while we hold him, or on his playmat.
  • “dream feed”:  for Hudson’s last feeding of the night (and any during the night) we keep lights dim and interaction to a minimum so he doesn’t get too awake.  He usually falls right back to sleep after eating this way

Do you have tips you swear by, that work for you & your babies?  Leave them below!

FAVORITES
We took bits & pieces from an online class & a few different books, in addition to tips from friends!

!function(d,s,id){var e, p = /^http:/.test(d.location) ? ‘http’ : ‘https’;if(!d.getElementById(id)) {e = d.createElement(s);e.id = id;e.src = p + ‘://’ + ‘widgets.rewardstyle.com’ + ‘/js/boutique.js’;d.body.appendChild(e);}if(typeof window.__boutique === ‘object’) if(d.readyState === ‘complete’) {window.__boutique.init();}}(document, ‘script’, ’boutique-script’);

JavaScript is currently disabled in this browser. Reactivate it to view this content.


post signature

Filed   baby, lifestyle