Anyone who knows me personally, knows that Baylee's sleep situation has been a roller coaster since day one. We would have days and weeks of "Yasss! Our kid is a great sleeper finally!", and then suddenly we would be back to night-waking and early rising; and they just don't make enough hazelnut coffee for that nonsense.
Well, I'm proud to announce that, after begging all you mamas for advice, and reading every article and book I could find, we have finally found the perfect bed-time routine for Baylee! We are 3 months strong with sleeping all night long (no night waking at all) from 8:30pm until sometime between 7:00-8:30am, and it. is. wonderful! Don't worry, you know I'm not going to be greedy and keep the secrets to myself. ;) Here are the sleep tricks that we tried that actually worked for us...
1. Consistent bedtime. We had to play around with bed times a little because we were having a problem with Baylee getting up between 5:00-5:30am. That's way too damn early for this mama! At the time, she was going down around 9:00pm, sometimes later in our effort to help her sleep later (always back-fired). We had a suggestion from a friend to "reset" her by putting her to bed way earlier than normal. I was desperate to try anything so the next night we put her to bed at 7:00pm and she was up at 5:30am like normal, but way more rested and pleasant. So, we worked her up a half hour each night until finally we found the sweet spot of 8:30pm. She started sleeping around 11 hours per night again, and it made a total difference in her behavior! Now, we go to bed at exactly 8:30 every single night, and I really believe that the consistence has helped her internal clock immensely.
2. Darkness and white noise. I'm sure that it was no coincidence that Baylee's early rising began right when spring was ending and the sun was coming out earlier. We invested in some black-out curtains for her room, and the lack of light helped tons. We also used to run a fan in her room for noise, but it recently died, so we got this white noise machine for her and I will literally never use anything else again. You can control the volume of the noise and it completely drowns out any other sounds in our house.
3. Later dinners. Baylee used to wake up hungry in the middle of the night and/or early in the morning, so we moved our dinner time from 5:00pm to 6:00-6:30pm on most nights. It has really helped keep her tummy full overnight when shes going to bed only about 2 hours after eating dinner.
4. Cozy blanket and pillow. Baylee used to sleep in a sleep sack, but I had a feeling that she was ready for a blanket and a toddler pillow. It really helped her, especially for the going to bed process, because she loves to cozy up with her big fluffy blanket. I got this twin-sized fuzzy blanket from Target that way it's always covering her and she doesn't get cold.
5. Lavender oil. I saved the best for last, because using essential oils was a total game changer for us. I got some lavender oil, and added it to some coconut oil, and now we rub it on her feet and chest every single night. It helps her go to sleep and stay asleep. She even reminds me at night now that we have to "do my oil mama"...it's the sweetest thing!
Any other tips or tricks that worked for your toddler? Comment, and I will add them to the list!
Until next time! XoXoXo
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