Call Me Mrs. A: How I sleep trained Milly

Monday, January 19, 2015

How I sleep trained Milly

I am one of the lucky moms out there because Milly's sleeping pattern adjusted so easily. She sleeps through the night, and wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning. I am lucky because during rest days, I am able to sleep beside her and during day time, she also takes a nap so I get to sleep with her.

Here are some of my tips how I trained her to sleep through the night.

1. Use a swaddle - this is very useful most especially that babies have the startle reflex. By using swaddle, they're arms and legs are wrapped for warmth and security. I started wrapping her on swaddle when she was only a few weeks old. Every time I wrap her inside the swaddle, she already knows that it is sleeping time.

2 Turn off the lights - turning off the lights during the night may be useful, however if you are not that confident with ligths off, using a night lamp will do. During Milly's first few weeks, I always keep the lights on so I can always keep an eye on her. Dim lights will make your baby realize that is still still night time.

3. Change night time clothes - When I was still on maternity leave, I change her day clothes to jammies every 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon. I would give her some sponge bath, put some powder and cologne. Whenever we do this during the afternoon, she already knows that it is near sleeping time.

4. Use night lights with musical tones - This was useful for me, because every time I turn off the lights and turn on her Sky the Seahorse, she already knows that its sleeping time.

Those 4 steps helped me how to train her to sleep. These tips worked for me, because she's a night sleeper already. :D She doesn't even want to be cradled before sleeping. Right now, Milly usually sleeps from 3PM to 3AM. She only wakes up for feeding, but sleeps after that.

I've captured some pictures of Milly while sleeping. Cute, eh?