Baby Advice or Helpful Suggestions ;-) 3 steps to sleep

First WOW been forever since I blogged

So since my last blog I have had a baby!! Thomas Matthew was born Oct. 29th 2014 at 7:45 pm. His birth can or will be its own blog post (that may take another year lol Queen Procrastinator here) 

I just got him down for a nap and was thinking to myself while doing so "What are my Baby to sleep" must haves?? How can I help another mom possibly get her babies to sleep?? Figured I'd blog about the first few things that came to mind as my "go-to" approaches. 

"Merideth's 3 Steps to Sleep"

First all the typical things must be checked: fed, burped, changed. 

If all three of these things have been done then my next step is 

WHITE NOISE!! 

Every device I have in this house has white noise!! All cell phones have the app and I can do it on our smart tv too if need be ;-) There are a few different apps you can get and I suggest trying the actual white noise sound first!! But there are beach waves, rain, crickets, fan, thunder, etc....... Its just like back in the day when grandma said "Just run the vacuum". You can also go to just about any store like Walmart or Target and get an actual White Noise machine. I think they even make teddy bears you can hang from the side of the crib with a white noise. Our toddler room has a white noise machine for nap time and bedtime. 

Second is wrapping in a light weight blanket covering their eyes in case of over stimulation. I have saved a few hospital blankets for just this reason. Jethro (Thomas' nick name) has a special blanket that I typically wrap him in (babies are already choosing their lovie by this stage). Just so we are understood do NOT cover face with a heavy blanket!! Only the light weight thin ones like the hospital receiving blankets!

Third I bounce him. I sit on the side of my bed (and no joke from doing this with each kid there is a dent in my bed there!!) with him vertical on my chest head on shoulder I sit and bounce gently. I swear to you it works like a champ every time (watch tonight it wont work).

I have also found that a schedule is a HUGE help!! Not just for sleeping and napping but everything baby. Since baby can not tell you what is wrong I find it helpful to get on a schedule. So if it is 11 and baby is fussing you will have a round about idea of oh its feeding time or oh its nursing time. Does that make sense? I like to get mine on an every 3-4 hour nursing schedule. Then I follow the Eat, Play, Sleep routine I picked up in one of those baby instruction manuals they gave me when Jacob was born!! YES I am just kidding!! It was a book titled "Baby Wise" I believe. You feed baby then keep baby up to play as long as you can then put them to sleep/nap. Then repeat except for in the middle of the night which is another process. Keep the room as dimly lit as you can, no eye contact or talking to baby, feed change diaper and get back to sleep ASAP hahahaha

Day/Night confusion: most of my newborns have had this (all but 2 of mine) and the best thing for this is to keep them up as much as you can during the day. I know it is impossible with a newborn to keep them awake but it helps. 

Now if there is a fever involved or sickness these things may not work!! But if its just cranky baby, then these ideas should work in any order ;-) 

I have tried gripe water for when I just do not know what it could be (i.e. upset belly, gas, teething, etc....) 

Warm Lavender baths are also very soothing for baby or YOU!! LOL 

And in all honesty sometimes you could be the culprit for their fussing!! If you are stressed out and miserable due to excessive fussing!! Put baby down in crib. Get out of ear shot of crying and take a breather for yourself! Get yourself calmed down and then try again with baby. I have had to do this a time or two and it is so hard I know!! But it is best to get yourself calm!! You will NOT be able to calm a baby if you are stressed out.