Affiliate Disclosure
Canadian Mom Recommends is 100% reader-supported, which means I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using my affiliate links, at no extra cost to you! This helps me to put food on the table for my 3 little snack monsters by doing what I love, helping out parents by recommending products I know and trust!
#1 – How to Get Your Baby to Love the Swaddle
In a nutshell, make sure your baby is near the end of their wake window, so you know they are getting tired (but not overtired). Then take them into their sleep space, change their bum, read a book, sing a lullaby and swaddle them up (make sure you can still get a couple of fingers in the top of their swaddle so you know they aren’t wrapped too tightly!). Then cuddle your little burrito baby until they are settled, think swaying and bouncing around the room a bit, once they are settled then slowly put them down in their sleep space (on their back of course), keeping them close to your body for as long as possible, and laying them down feet first and head last. Then place your hand on their belly and gently rock them back and forth a bit to help them settle into their bassinet. If you are using a pacifier, this is a great time to lightly tap the pacifier a little bit to have them engage their sucking reflex to help them calm to sleep.
Safety Warning – Please make sure to transition your baby out of the swaddle as soon as they show signs of rolling!
#2 – Wake Windows
As referenced to above, I followed wake windows with all 3 of my babies. I found knowing their wake windows was so helpful in having a more successful nap or night sleep. You can simply Google “3 month old wake windows” or whichever month you are at and find tons of resources online with this information.
#3 – Overtired vs Undertired
Following wake windows helped to ensure my babies didn’t get too overtired or be undertired which is so crucial. Again, you can find more information about overtired vs. undertired if you do a quick Google search. I recommend trying to find a couple reputable sleep companies that are actually trained in all things sleep to help you learn this information. We used Little Winks Sleep company to teach our twins independent sleep skills at 10 months old, and I can’t recommend them enough!!
#4 – Laying Your Baby Down Awake
I always knew laying your baby down awake was an important skill for babies to have but it wasn’t until we were in the depths of bad sleep habits with my 9 month old twins that this skill was really reinforced to me, once we hired a sleep coach through Little Winks Sleep company.
From Day 1, we really should be laying our babies down awake (but near the end of their wake window) to allow them to figure out how to fall asleep on their own. The more we support them to sleep, the harder it becomes to take that support away as they get older.
I know this is a little contradictory to what I was saying before in how to teach your baby to love the swaddle, and that is because in the newborn phase (0-3 months), our little babies will need more support to help them ease into a nice sleep, which is totally okay! But! When you are able, try to lay them down awake to let them practice falling asleep independently.
#5 – The Power of Pausing
If your baby is full out crying, especially if they are still a newborn, then yes I get it, go to them. But if your baby is just fussing and whining or crying lightly then I highly suggest giving them a few minutes, or more, to let them figure out how to self regulate. This is such an important skill that we need to give our babies space to learn.
Bonus Tip! Little Winks Sleep Company
As I mentioned above, we hired a sleep coach from Little Winks Sleep company to help sleep train our twins at 10 months old. I did my research before hiring a sleep coach and landed on Little Winks because I absolutely love their philosophy! They have such a gentle and baby centered approach and will never ask you to leave your baby to cry it out. Yes, there may be some crying involved because crying is how our babies communicate to us, but you do not need to leave your baby to cry themselves to sleep.
Little Winks has 4 amazing courses to help you in each stage of babyhood depending on where you and your baby are at:
Nurturing Newborn Sleep (0 – 12 Week Olds)
Sleep Sleep Baby Hybrid (12 – 16 Week Olds)
Sleep Sleep Baby (4 – 18 Months)
Taking On Toddler Sleep (18 Months – 5 Years Old)
You can learn more about what each of these courses has to offer in my blog post, Teaching Your Little One to Sleep.
If you do decide to take one of these amazing courses, which I highly suggest if you are struggling with sleep in any of these baby stages like I was, then please use my discount code ALISON10 to make sure you get 10% off the price! I believe investing in a course to help your baby sleep better is worth every single penny because good sleep is priceless.
I hope these baby sleep tips were useful and help you get more precious sleep!
