Getting Baby to Sleep: Our Tricks for Tough Days

Mon, 27 Mar 17

In parenting, as in many things in life, there’s theory, and then there’s practice. Our resident expert Kim West LCSW-C, The Sleep Lady® has tons of great advice available on her website and in her book. And of course her advice is available at your fingertips in the Evoz Smart Baby Monitor app for iOS and Android. In theory, you follow Kim’s advice to the letter and every bedtime is a dream. Your baby drifts quietly off after a calming bedtime routine that ends the day on a special note of parent-child bonding. In practice…well sometimes it happens that way. But then there are those days when the schedule was a mess, you’re tired, they’re tired, and getting baby to sleep still seems far away. Every parent has their tricks for those times. We asked around here at Evoz, and here’s what we heard:

Late-night Show

“Kim talks a lot about the importance of the drowsy-but-awake state – you want to teach your baby to fall asleep on his own, so that nighttime waking isn’t a scary thing. But sometimes my baby won’t go to sleep in a totally dark room. We have one of those toys that projects a little light show onto the ceiling. It seems to be just what he needs to reassure him that he’s not alone. He just sort of zones out and goes to sleep. It’s great!” – Jessica, Evoz Director of Marketing

Bouncing Babies

“My kids are older now – I wish I’d had Kim’s book when they were babies! My son liked being able to hear us moving around the house as he was drifting off but otherwise he was pretty easy. Our daughter was another story…we tried everything with her, and the only thing that seemed to work was regular movement. She loved napping in the baby carrier while I took walks. Before bed, I’d hold her and walk around the room, bouncing her up and down or swaying back and forth or both (!) until she relaxed enough to be put down in the crib. ” – Susie, tech writer at Evoz

Whatever Works

“I’ve heard lots of stories from our customers. There are the standard ways of getting baby to sleep: swaddle blankets, noise machines, binky/pacifier, rocking, singing. Car rides are another common one. And for some reason, singing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah has come up more than once. But my favorite is probably a friend whose baby would calm right down and usually even fall asleep to the tune of the Green Hornet theme!” – Ruwan, Evoz CEO

More tips for getting baby to sleep…

There’s nothing like the internet for bad advice on all imaginable topics, but a good online parenting group can truly be a treasure trove of good ideas. We asked our Facebook friends about their favorite sleep aids and got some great replies! Antoinette recommended lavender bath wash and lotion. Brittney said a box fan in baby’s room worked for her.

If you’ve got your own great trick for getting baby to sleep, share it with us on Facebook or Twitter!

Sweet Dreams,
Evoz

The Ideal Wake, Nap, and Sleep Schedule for Your Child

The 4 Month Sleep Regression

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