5 Ways To Make Your Kid Sleep Through The Night

I am super blessed, I know.

My 1st kid started sleeping through the night about 30 days after she was born, and although she sleeps at 830pm every night until next morning 6am or so, it was already considered a miracle no less. At least I got a decent 6-8 hours of sleep every night. Many mums hear that and wanna cry because their kids still wakes up once or twice every night.

Joey, at her fattest. Sleep makes babies fat, for your info.

My 2nd kid started sleeping through the night slightly after 2 months old, but immediately from then on, she sleeps 12 hours straight, without making a sound in the night. Of course, a baby being a baby, she sometimes stirs during the night, or on very rare occasions (happened only 2 or 3 times so far in the eight months I’ve lived with her), wakes up to cry, then falls back to sleep again soon after. She sleeps at about 830pm every night, until 830am the next morning if I don’t wake her up. That translates to 12 hours of sleep with no milk feeds. And it doesn’t happen just once or twice. It’s been 8 months and she pretty much sticks to her 12-hour sleep schedule. That, is a huge miracle, according to some.

Yes, I think sleeping a lot gives you double chin too. 

And so, I had been pricked by my conscience to share my secrets with you, just so that I can do something for the society and for the general good of mankind. After all, how many people can remain sane and happy if they have to wake up every night to attend to a screaming baby? Sleep is a rare commodity for most new parents, and the faster we get back the sleep, the faster we get a life.

Apart from playing with your baby for 12 hours during the day so that he/she can pass out at night due to exhaustion, what else can you do?

1. Much as you want to play with your baby, tickle her and fling her up & down, stop all play by 7pm. This will calm and sooth her nerves, and prepare her for a peaceful night of rest. You don’t want to over-stimulate your baby because when a kid plays too much, she is likely not to settle down to sleep easily, and may even have more dreams than usual due to the hyper mode they are in just before bedtime.

2. Keep to a bedtime routine. Every night at 830pm, I’ll play the same CD. Go for soothing music and no rock ‘n’ roll or heavy metal please. I think piano pieces or worship music are great. Then I’ll switch on an orange light, keep the air-con at 25 Degrees Celsius and give her a cloth & bean pillow to hug. I don’t even rock her to sleep, just feed her one full bottle of milk, let her lie down in her cot, and leave the room. She’ll flip and roll here and there for about 10 minutes and fall asleep on her own. When the conditions are kept the same at bedtime, the baby subconsciously knows it’s time for bed and will likely not put up unnecessary struggles to fight sleep.

3. Try giving the baby a warm bath just before bedtime. Even adults sleep better after a warm shower. It calms the nerves and makes the baby drowsy. Applying Ruyi oil on the belly button and chest will also calm the baby somewhat and aids smooth breathing.

4. Introduce a security item. It can be a pillow, a soft toy or a blanket. The baby has something familiar to hug and hold on to, and will feel less jittery even when she wakes up in the night. The familiar scent of the object will also help the baby sleep better and longer because she feels more secure and at ease.

5. For those just starting out to condition your baby to start sleeping through the night, you might want to avoid night feeds for the first few nights. Of course, you should try doing this only when your baby is at least 3 months old because younger babies need to drink milk every 2-3 hours and night feeds are necessary if they cry for it. But once your baby shows signs that she wants to sleep through the night (like waking up during the night and falls back asleep after patting or rocking for a while), then you can try to stop the night feeds so that the baby knows she is supposed to sleep and not drink milk. Slowly, the baby will stop waking up during the night.

There you have it! Get some of your sleep back and you’ll make a better parent during the day! =D