Is your baby a problem sleeper? Then I have a great baby sleep hack for you to try out.
Expectant moms often hear that all babies do is eat, poop and sleep.
Although this may be true for most, some babies just refuse to snooze, leaving you frustrated and utterly exhausted. These babies might need some help falling asleep.
So here’s a baby sleep hack I used to help my newborn fall asleep.
Crap Naps, FOMO, and Other Sleep Issues
When my daughter was born, I quickly discovered that she was a troubled sleeper. Nothing seemed to knock that baby out! It’s like she was born with a severe case of FOMO.
If she was in a stroller or in a baby carrier, she had to be facing out or she’d start fussing immediately. FOMO!
What other parents took for granted (like the baby sleeping in the car or the stroller) were impossible dreams for me.
She slept OK at night but day naps were a constant battle between my baby and my sanity, and sanity was losing.
Not only did she have a hard time falling asleep, but she also wouldn’t stay asleep! She’d wake up just 5-10 later and be wide awake. I called it a “crap nap.”
And since she’d wake up from the slightest movement or noise, someone (usually me) would have to sit and hold her while she was sleeping (sometimes for hours at a time!), or crap nap was guaranteed.
So you can imagine my mental state at this point!
Everyone else’s baby seemed to be falling asleep at the drop of the hat – in the car, in the stroller, in the bouncer, and even in the crib by themselves!
I envied those well-rested moms. They seemed to enjoy motherhood way more than I did.
What’s worse, I felt like it was all my fault. I must be doing something wrong.
My milk must be spiked with adrenaline. My energy must be off – the baby feels my anxiety. I probably have her on the wrong sleep schedule. I probably cuddle her too much, rock her too hard or have a bad singing voice.
The Ferber Method and Other Sleep Training Advice
And of course, you have everybody in your ear – from your mother-in-law to a clerk at the store – telling you what you should do.
“Formula babies sleep better. Maybe you should use formula in addition to breastfeeding.”
“She must be hungry, poor thing. Are you sure she’s getting enough milk?”
“Just put her in a stroller. She’ll fall asleep eventually.”
And then there are “Ferber moms.” This is a special category of moms who believe that their divine mission in life is to preach the gospel of Ferberization to other moms.
They will tell you that you’re doing everything wrong. Not only that, they’ll tell you that it’s too late to fix anything. You’ve already ruined your baby! You should have left her alone to cry herself to sleep the day she was born. Now she’s a junkie addicted to you!
(If you Ferberized your baby, kudos! Congratulations on your iron will. I’m sure this method works wonders, but it just wasn’t for me.)
Besides the Ferber method, I’ve tried it all: singing a lullaby, rocking, swinging, white noise machine, walks, walks with a baby sling, whiteout curtains, chanting, praying, and promising my next baby to Satan if he helps me put this one to sleep.
But what about breastfeeding to sleep?
Yeah, that worked, except the baby wouldn’t let go of my nipple even in her sleep, and considering I was feeding her every 2-3 hours, I was already sore to the max.
One Baby Sleep Hack That Worked Wonders
So we discovered one neat hack that helped our daughter fall asleep in just a few minutes. It happened by accident, like all great discoveries.
My husband was rocking the baby to sleep and she was fussing a lot. So he came into the bathroom where I was taking a shower while still rocking her.
The sound of the running water seemed to soothe her and she dozed off to sleep a minute later.
We repeated the experiment many times after that, only instead of the shower we’d turn on the sink faucet in the bathroom and close the door so it’s dark. After just a few minutes of rocking, our baby would go to sleep, which was unbelievable!
We still had to deal with crap naps though, but it was easier because I could take her back to the bathroom, turn on the water, and a few minutes later she was asleep again. (She did grow out of the crap naps eventually.)
Oh, and in case you’re wondering why I didn’t just use a white noise machine for the water sound – I did, but somehow she knew the difference. Only the sound of actual water running could put her to sleep.
If you, like me, have a FOMO baby on your hands, I hope this little trick works for you too. And even if it doesn’t, keep searching and trying. Eventually, you’ll find something that does.
Here are more baby sleep hacks that are recommended by pediatricians and experienced moms.
More Baby Sleep Hacks
This isn’t about finding a “magic trick.” It’s more about a combination of factors that can improve your baby’s sleeping habits and help you get the much-needed rest.
All of the following worked well for my baby to some degree:
- Avoiding eye contact. Eye contact is like coffee for babies. It excites them, and it keeps them awake.
- Swaddling. Babies love a tight wrap, it comforts them. So swaddling is a must. I used adjustable Velcro swaddles that even a monkey can use. They teach you how to swaddle in baby classes, but you don’t need a class for this one!
- Having a routine. Like dogs, babies respond well to a structured environment. Routine helps the baby feel secure and prevents overtiredness.
- Keeping the room dark. Use blackout shades so the baby knows that it’s “nighttime” and goes to sleep easier.
- Following the eat-sleep-wake cycle. Feed your baby as soon as she wakes up. If you feed your baby before sleep, there’s a chance she’ll fall asleep before she’s full. So on top of a sleep-deprived baby, you’ll be dealing with a chronically hungry baby.
- Early bedtime. Babies under 1 year should go to bed between 6:30 and 7 p.m. If the baby isn’t getting enough sleep during the night, she’ll be overtired during the day, and an overtired baby has the hardest time falling asleep.
I hope at least one of these tips works for you! And remember: most of these baby sleep issues are temporary. Kids grow out of them, and we forget how exhausted we were, and only remember how cute they were 🙂
Do you have a cool baby sleep hack to share?
Lana is a San Diego-based copywriter, blogger, book author, and WAHM. Her super powers are sarcasm and making chocolate disappear. When she’s not working on her blogs or completing her doctorate in psychology, Lana enjoys crime mysteries, travel, and, regrettably, reality TV.