Kim West’s Best Baby Sleep Tips

Mon, 5 Dec 16

We here at Evoz have been working with Kim West LCSW-C, The Sleep Lady® for over five years. And we often get the question, why Kim? Here’s why: so much of the parenting advice out there is prescriptive and judgmental. If you find a particular method or parenting guru that works for your family, fabulous!! But Kim’s core motivation is to help parents, not push a particular philosophy. She offers practical, well-researched, grounded advice – much of it available for free on her website – and, recognizing that broad advice just doesn’t cover every situation, a personalized sleep coaching service to get you and your baby through rough patches and sleeping soundly again. Because good sleep leads to happy parents and healthy kids! And what could be better than that?

Here are some of Kim’s best tips on baby sleep:

Get to know your baby

Of course, right? But in our sincere efforts to be follow the barrage of advice that comes with parenting and to be “good” parents, it’s remarkably easy to fall into the trap of trying to make things work for our kids that just…don’t suit them. Even newborns can have strong personalities! Observe your baby and consider:

• Does your baby self-soothe easily, or prefer using a pacifier or snuggling up to a lovey? If it’s a special toy or pacifier, do you have a backup (or maybe two) “just in case”?
• What does your baby find calming before bed? A warm bath? A song? A quiet rock and cuddle? These are the things you’ll want in your bedtime routine!
• What does your baby find particularly stimulating? Touch? Noise? Light? Bright colors? Try to avoid stimulating things in the bedroom and especially before bedtime.
• What kind of environment helps your baby fall asleep? Does she like things completely dark and quiet? Or perhaps a very dim nightlight, or a little parental noise drifting in from the next room, helps her feel that she isn’t alone?
• What temperature does he like? Does he often get fussy or wake easily when he’s too bundled up – or when the room is too cool?
• What do her sleep cues look like? When she’s tired, does she tend to get fussy? Quiet? Needy?
• When does he naturally get sleepy? When is he naturally awake and alert in the morning?

Armed with this information you’ll be ready to establish routines that work well because they work with your child’s natural preferences, not against them.

More sleep is often the answer

According to Kim, the number one cause of sleep problems is that kids simply aren’t getting the amount of sleep appropriate to their age. Their brains are developing, and developing brains need lots of sleep!

So if he’s waking too early? Try moving bedtime earlier. Won’t go to sleep at night? Make sure she’s getting a long enough nap. Seems counterintuitive, right? But often, more sleep is exactly what’s needed. And remember, both quantity and quality are important. Do your best to make sure both naps and nighttime sleep take place in a calm environment, without interruptions.

Babies can learn to fall asleep on their own

The centrepiece of Kim’s book Good Night, Sleep Tight is her gentle method for sleep training. But whether you use hers or some other method, she firmly believes: once babies are ready (usually by 8 months old, sometimes as early as 6 months), they can learn to fall asleep on their own.

Why is this so important? It’s actually not primarily about bedtime, it’s about those dreaded middle-of-the-night wakings. Simply put, babies need reassurance that it’s ok to be awake and alone in the crib, and perfectly safe to drift off to sleep from there. Once they have that security, when they wake in the middle of the night (which they often do, in between natural sleep cycles), they can – you guessed it – fall back asleep on their own. Which is so much better for all involved than a panicked child who needs a parent to wake up and soothe him back to sleep several times a night.

The key is to put your baby down in her crib when she is “drowsy but awake” – and let her do the rest from there. Will this work the first time? Probably not. But you’ll be there to provide reassurance. Is it worth the effort? Kim definitely thinks so, and many of her clients would agree.

Good sleep leads to happy parents and healthy kids! And what could be better than that?

Kids thrive on routine

Establishing a bedtime routine is one of the best things you can do to help your child get ready for sleep. It’s the way you signal to your baby, even before they can understand language: sleepy time is coming. Kim suggests keeping before-bed activities short – 20 to 30 minutes – and as consistent as possible. Choose relaxing activities like a bath, changing into soft pajamas, or a bedtime story. This isn’t the best place time for screen time or games, which tend to be stimulating rather than relaxing.

Beyond the bedtime routine, establishing a predictable daily schedule, including naps, also helps your child feel confident and secure: simply put, it’s nice when we know what to expect, especially when we aren’t yet capable of making our own choices!

Life happens

Of course, nothing ever goes exactly to plan. Sometimes despite your best intentions, the schedule goes awry and naps go out the window. Sometimes despite diligent sleep training, baby wakes up screaming at 3 am. The relaxing bedtime routine with Daddy is disrupted when he has to go out of town. Dinner is a mess. Every family has bad days. When things calm down (and don’t worry, they will!), take a deep breath and relax. Tomorrow is another day.

Remember, too, that it’s very common for developmental milestones to interrupt sleep – celebrate your child’s new skills and stay the course. But as your baby grows, her sleep needs will change. If things are regularly going awry, consider whether a permanent routine change might help.

How can Evoz help?

Parenting can be an all-consuming endeavor. We designed the Evoz Smart Baby Monitor to give you confidence that your baby is safe and sleeping soundly so you can catch up with the rest of your life. With unlimited range, a clear video signal and real cry alerts, there’s no struggle to figure out whether baby is awake or not. And you can also use our intuitive app on your iOS and Android devices to keep track of your baby’s sleep, feedings, diaper changes, and more – a great source of information for you, your pediatrician, and your sleep coach.

Sweet dreams,

Evoz

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