HOW TO GET A BABY TO SLEEP, ADVICE ON HAVING A BABY

How to get a baby to sleep, advice on having a baby, sleeping patterns, what to do if your baby cries all the time, why your baby isn't sleeping

4. Cot for bedtime only

We only used the cot after 7pm so that they got used to the fact that was for bed. During the day we used a carry cot or a Jane lie-flat car seat (not a sitting up car seat obviously). That also meant that they got used to going to sleep with noise around them and were therefore less easily disturbed at night time. It definitely seemed to help them get into a good routine early on and the longer term benefits were good too.

Start of article about how to get your baby to sleep.

The Jane car seat was really useful for that, particularly with our first baby. With our second unfortunately our car doesn't fit the Jane seat alongside our Britax seat for our daughter. However we are still getting plenty of use out of the Jane seat around the house. We also use the Jane seat as a carry-cot when visiting others, or one of those Samsonite pop-up beds.

5. Grobags and other sleeping bags

Once we were past the Miracle Blanket stage we used Grobags. I found these great for encouraging a good night's sleep. The fact that the baby's feet are enclosed in the Grobag means that they remain cosy but if they are, like in our case, thumb-suckers then they can get to their thumbs as well!

I have found other sleeping bags to be not as good as Grobag themselves. Grobag have so many different options that there seems to be Grobags for every eventuality. They start at a brilliant 0.5 tog which is designed for over 24 degrees so great for summer nights. We generally use a 1.0 tog Grobag and just add or remove clothing dependant on the room temperature. For those who like it cosy then there are 2.0 togs Grobags as well.

On top of that there are Grobags with side zips, some with front zips and even Grobags which have gaps to enable you to transfer your sleeping child straight to the car seat without having to remove the Grobag.

I know other companies offer a lot of these options too but I haven't come across somewhere where they offer quite the same number of options hence my preference for Grobag over other sleeping bag makes.

Again this is obviously just my personal opinion and are in no way guaranteed to be the right thing for any other child!

Anyway I hope that even if these ideas aren't for you they help give you some food for thought and help you find an idea that works for you. We have two happy souls who are content from have good sleeping patterns. If these ideas don't work for you then it doesn't necessarily mean you're doing something wrong it's just that you need to try something else because that's the thing with babies - they don't all respond to the same things - or stick with what you're trying a little longer! Stick with it - you'll find the right thing for you and your baby in the end.