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Tell MAM the best baby sleep tips you wished you’d have known: £200 Amazon voucher prize!

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  • Watching wake windows was absolutely key for us and allowed our baby to have good, restorative  naps. He would seldom show any signs of being tired (yawning or rubbing eyes) even though he was, so keeping an eye on the clock prevented overtired meltdowns. A rock-solid nap and bedtime routine were golden.
  • We have two beautiful boys both who have been very different when it comes to sleep. Our first born sleeping through very young with no fuss, the second who is two and still co sleeps most of the time. The best piece of advice I would give any new parent is to do what is best for your baby. They are all individual and will all want different needs with their sleep regime.
    What we have always done with both though is have structure and routine always having tea, bath play and story time before kisses and cuddles. We have found that this really helps to mellow and put them in the frame of mind for bed. We have a dim night light and a gro clock which out eldest now uses very well. 
    Just remember one day they will sleep through the night! 
  • My daughter had 3 dummy’s one in her mouth and one in each hand so if it dropped out when sleeping there was one to hand to send her back to sleep
  • Trusting your own instincts and realising that there is no "one size fits all solution" - The hours we wasted and struggled with "controlled crying" when it just wasn't right for our baby! Also just to tune in to little signs of tiredness so that you pop baby to sleep at the optimal time before they become overtired - That was really hard to do with my first baby but by the time the third one came along, we realised that when she started making "signing" sounds that she was tired so she always drifted happily to sleep instead of getting grumpy where I hadn't spotted those signals with my first baby. Some people swear by a routine but I think there is also scope for still living your lives and getting baby to fit in with your routine too - again comes down to not having a one size fits all solution. Really found the baby sleeping bags helpful too - just check the correct size for your baby and the right tog weighting compared to the temperature in the room. 
  • Dream feeding. I wish I had know this from day one with my first. Second time round it was a game changer. Sleeping through from 5months!!
  • Put a bit of lavender essential oil on the radiator and when it warms up you get a nice soothing, lasting aroma.
    It helps us grown-ups too!
  • Putting a hot water bottle in the cot before bedtime. That way when I put the baby down the cot is warm and mimics my body temperature 
  • A sound and light projector with a blackout blind. Really helped. 
  • Definitely follow a routine and put them down for naps at the same time every day. I spent a while trying to just go with the flow but it was a nightmare trying to get him to sleep during the day.
  • With my eldest; he had colic, I wish i had realised this earlier at the beginning and raised his cot at the head to begin with.
    I didn't know it would  make a difference until months later.
    Also swaddling in the evenings after a bath and white washed sound which we played in his joie baby swing in the afternoon helped. We wouldn't play the music to begin with because we thought it would startle him, but it actually made him sleepy.
  • My best baby tip to help baby sleep is to feed and bath baby and put on some soft playing classical music I play Mozart and it works wonders and has been scientifically proven to make your child more intelligent in later life. 
  • Routine definately helps.
    My daughter goes to bed at the same time every night or as close as, even at the weekends. We do the same things every night, teeth, toilet then bed. She used to have a story but at 5 she seems to have grown out of that 😔 she's not quite comfortable with staying upstairs by herself so I get in the shower whilst she's in bed and by the time I'm out she's asleep. She has also had Ewan the Sheep since she was born and I swear by this bedtime aid. 
  • The noise of a hair dryer can get a baby to sleep in minutes
  • Marpac white noise machine and black out blinds. They make a difference. 
  • Implement a regular routine at the earliest opportunity , and stick to it .
  • Don’t rush in to them when they cry. Watch them on the monitor closely for a few minutes, chances are they may be crying in their sleep and will soothe themselves back off. With my first I would rush in to her room at the first sound I heard. She then got used to this response and we had a horrific few years with no sleep at night. I let me youngest self soothe a little with me watching from a distance of course, and she’s been a fabulous sleeper from the age of about 5 weeks. I plan to do the same with this baby when he arrives x
  • I wish I'd listened to everyone that it's not simple and everyone has to find a way instead of me thinking I was just getting it so wrong all the time.
  • The bath before bed never worked for my youngest daughter. We finally realised that both our daughters were different, and what worked for one didn't work for the other. 
    We placed a phone next to the door and put YouTube white noise rain drops on pond. That worked for a time. We then came to realise it was the dark she wasn't a fan of. (Being in nicu its always loud and bright) so I used an old lava lamp too. 
    Fast asleep and stayed asleep. Even now she will fall asleep better to the TV being on than just laying in the dark.
  • I think the best way is to go with the flow! We spent so long trying to settle our daughter, swinging, singing, shushing! and so much more but nothing ever worked! Once we just followed her lead, it made it so much easier and she slept through from 7 and a half weeks!
  • Our sleep journey has been a rocky road! Due to his heart condition our son slept a lot but never for more than an hour at a time! Plus he had severe reflux due to medicated milk, which made him uncomfortable and affected his sleep. Even after his operation he didn't sleep well as he needed to be woken in the night for his medication and it took ages to get him out of that routine. 
    My advice is to listen to your baby. Put them down for a nap when you see the signs and just follow their lead. All babies are different, what works for one won't work for another, try different methods until one sticks and go with it. Eventually they will sleep, you just have to keep going until you get to that stage. 
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