Baby Tips - Sleep - Playdays and Runways

Last month I became an Aunty for the very first time, its so exciting. Baby A is absolutely gorgeous and I knew as soon as I saw my little nephew I would become all broody and want another baby. I love babies and I would have lots if I could but for now I am going to concentrate on being the best Aunty ever. When you hold a new baby you can never remember your own being 'that small'. Little J looked huge compared to Baby A and it made me smile because it really wasn't that long ago that he was just a baby. I started thinking back to the first few days we brought little J home. He was such a good baby and was never any trouble at all really. He was such a routined baby right from the start, he loved his sleep. Thinking back I know that made the first few months so much easier than we could ever of hoped for. When we had big J almost 13 years ago now we didn't really have a clue what we were doing. He had no routine really and because we were working, trying to save for a house we used to try and squeeze in as much time as possible so we didn't miss out seeing him. Looking back now it was a tough time with very little sleep but we did okay and he did grow out of it eventually. I think being a parent for the second time you do learn from your mistakes and we made sure with little J that we were well prepared. Here are a few things we used. Although he was a perfect little sleeper I'm sure these helped get him in to a routine and have full nights sleep .
Poddle Pod

I stumbled across the Poddle Pod whilst on Facebook a few years ago. I had no idea what one was but it looked interesting. The idea of the pod is somewhere to put your baby down for a nap. Sounds good but it really is more than that. The Poddle Pod design makes your baby feel like they are being cuddled. We used to put ours in the moses basket and then the cot and little J would sleep soundly all night. He was safe and snug and he loved it.

During the day I would put it on the sofa so when little J was napping or just resting I could do the housework or other little jobs. Its so secure and there was no chance of him rolling off.

Once he outgrew the paddle pod we upgraded to a toddle pod. This was great for tummy time and also naps. Ewan the Dream Sheep

Again this was just something we stumbled upon. Little J had this in his cot since he was born and it would definitely help soothe him to sleep. Ewan plays a heartbeat sound whilst glowing pink. Its so calming and peaceful. It also plays sounds that the baby would have heard inside the womb. I would love listening to this each night. It was so relaxing and got me off to sleep too. Taggy

Little J has had his Winnie The Pooh taggy since he was a few weeks old. We give it to him at bedtime and he just associates taggy with going to sleep. In the above photo taggy is on holiday with us and looks clean and new. Unfortunately taggy doesn't look like that anymore. He is discoloured and chewed but little J still loves him the same as he did back then.

He will cuddle taggy to sleep each night and it comforts him and soothes him to know he is close by.

As well as the above we always made sure that during night time feeds we kept the lights low and we didn't interact much with little J. We would change his nappy and feed then straight back into the cot or moses basket. This is really hard because you just wanna have lots of kisses and cuddles but it really did work. Looking back now I think all of these helped him become the perfect little sleeper that he still is today.

Do you have any sleep tips?

15 comments

Single Mother Ahoy4 March 2015 at 12:13
I wanted a poddle pod for S, but never got around to getting one. As it was, she ended up sleeping in the centre of my bed, where she still is now, almost 3 years later!
Thanks for linking up with the #WeekendBlogHop!
Natasha Mairs - Serenity You5 March 2015 at 12:31
they really do grow so quick don't they? my eldest was 10 last weekend and I can remember the day he was born like it was just yesterday
Unknown5 March 2015 at 14:09
I'm not a mum, so can't really help, however, I was 13 when my youngest sister was born. After a few months my mum basically just did all her feeds throughout the day and then she'd never wake up at night.
Queen Bee Becca5 March 2015 at 14:31
Not being a mummy myself, can't say I've ever heard of most of these products haha! I will however now have a bit for information for my mummy friends!

Becca
www.QueenBeeBeccca.com
Louise5 March 2015 at 21:00
Aww, it's so nice to find someone else who have children with such a big age gap! All my friends had babies really close together in age.

These are such great baby sleep tips. We had no trouble with either of ours, but Oscar (who is almost 2) has started waking in the middle of the night now, which is a bit of nightmare. I'm hoping he'll grow out of it again soon!

Louise x

With love from Lou
Let's Talk Mommy6 March 2015 at 20:44
Ahh so cute. We love Shaun the Sheep and just saw the movie. Loved it. Great baby tips. Just made me all broody. Lovely photos too. Thank you so much for linking up to Share With Me #sharewithme
Gem8 March 2015 at 21:24
Some great tips here, I'll share this with my friend who is expecting.
Mummys little blog8 March 2015 at 21:31
Thanks for all the tips deffo never leaves you and as soon as you hold a little baby it all comes flooding back!
Unknown9 March 2015 at 01:02
We did everything wrong with our first, cuddled her to sleep every night, and carefully rocking her into the cot and then rocking the cot carefully anything just to get her to stay asleep - she is a great sleeper now though - my 2nd was amazing, super easy, self settler, no special things just LOVED to sleep, third one a little bit of both, he has a comfort blanket and will self settle but still gets up in the night - he has had terrible eczema so we aren't sure if that has made him unsettled as he used to wake from the scratching and maybe got into a routine of waking, but he is getting much better now.

My only other tip is not to rock them to sleep at that last feed, and try not to let them fall asleep whilst feeding. Whatever babies go to sleep doing they will want again if they wake in the night, if they self settle - they will self settle at night. Worked perfect for my last two!
Lisa (mummascribbles)10 March 2015 at 20:45
I didn't see the paddle pod when I was pregnant but I so wish I had...I think Zach would have loved it! My sister bought us Ewan to try and help him sleep better and now at 2.5 he's upstairs in bed with him still! Only 2 of his feet work but he adores him! I have bought Ewan for two of my friends who had babies! Thanks for linking up to #twinklytuesday
Ashley Beolens21 May 2015 at 09:09
Kids are all so different it amazes me how all three of my kids had different sleeping routines and ways to get them to sleep.
Anonymous21 May 2015 at 11:48
Ah I am so jealous of you having a good sleeper! My now two years old has always been a bit hit and miss with her sleep and now we've had to take the sides of her cot off, it's quite challenging, to say the least!! My eldest was a great sleeper so it was a bit of a shock when number two came along! We really rate the Gro Clock for helping them stay in bed until a fairly reasonable hour - it worked a treat with my eldest and seems to be gradually working with the younger one but you have to read the story every night! I hope your good sleep continues :-) #ToddlersAndTeens
jeremy@thirstydaddy21 May 2015 at 14:31
I just wrote a similar post about sleeping. Having a routine and sticking to it really is crucial
ERFmama21 May 2015 at 15:01
Babywearing. :) Wear your baby, that's my tip. Get a good simple sling and wear that baby and you can do all the housework and cooking you want with two hands free and baby on your back for example. :)
That's how we do it! :D
Ali 21 May 2015 at 15:52
I totally agree with all of them as they've helped with my son, we had a Sleepyhead which is similar to the pod and it was a lifesaver as my son settled so well. #toddlerstoteens x Ali from Mum in a Nutshell