24/07/2020
Today we are using your 'Five senses for sleep'.
1. Sight
2. Touch
3. Taste
4. Smell
5. Hearing
1. Sight
Creating ambience
Babies’ bodies are sensitive to light cues. Use this to your advantage in setting the scene as part of your bedtime routine.
Either after your little one's dinner or before you run the bath, do a walk around your house and set the scene, creating an ambient, calm feeling as you prepare your baby's body for sleep and bedtime.
Take it all down a notch by closing all the blinds and curtains and dimming the lights. Prepare your baby's room completely, making sure it's all ready for bedtime so that when you take your little one out of the bath, you have everything you need already set out, such as pj's, nappies, cream, sleeping bag, etc. The room should be dimly lit.
Once you have closed the curtains, the room should be completely dark. If light still streams in, either from street lights outside or daylight, use blackout blinds to make your baby's room darker. Use a rolled-up towel or blanket at the foot of your baby's door to avoid light streaming in from the passage, and you can use a gap-sealing foam to fill large gaps between the door and the frame.
Look around for any additional sources of light such as from the baby monitor, and cover the light with Blu Tack. (Keep Electricals and anything else that transmits WIFI signals out of your little one's room where possible, or if needed in the room, such as your baby monitor, keep as far away from baby's cot as possible.)
In the morning, open all the blinds and curtains letting the sunshine into your home, helping baby differentiate between day and night.
Another reason to use dark and light in your baby's room, Denise O'Dwyer, Feng Shui Specialist writes: "The right levels of light and darkness are important to balance the Feng Shui of your baby’s bedroom. At night, we want the room to be darkened to support the Yin activity of sleep. During the day, pull back the curtains as far as possible to let in maximum Yang daylight. This fills the room with new energy, which restores your baby while she sleeps throughout the night".
2.Touch
Temperature
The ideal temperature for a baby's room is between 18-20°C. Dressing your little one appropriately for their room temperature is crucial for their sleep.
When a baby's room is too warm or they are dressed too warmly, melatonin (the sleep hormone) is inhibited, and your little one may find it much harder to fall asleep and stay asleep.
No one likes to feel stuffy and hot when they are trying to sleep, especially babies who can't move and kick the covers off or stick a leg out of bed to help themselves cool down like we can. Equally, the room should not get too cold either as naturally, that will have an effect on sleep too.
Bedding and cot
We all like to sleep in a comfortable bed on soft bedding. Make sure your baby's sheet is pulled tightly over the mattress and that it's not crumpled up or bunched anywhere. Your baby's cot should be sturdy and stable. Do not place your baby to sleep in a travel cot unless you are travelling.
I had a client I went to see whose baby was sleeping (or not sleeping) in a travel cot. It was unsupportive, unsteady, had a thin sponge mattress and didn't look very comfortable at all. It was the height of summer, and there were lots of thick blankets crumpled up in his cot. The mum folded up a double bed sheet that was actually for her own bed, for a makeshift sheet for his travel cot. The sheet was messy and crumpled, so it's no wonder he didn't sleep very well in it.
Clothing
The best type of material to dress your baby in for sleep is 100% organic cotton. It's breathable and soft on baby's skin. It’s also passed through several processes to remove germs and bacteria helping to prevent dust mite growth.
It helps absorb moisture from your sleeping baby, keeping them dry and comfortable, helps regulate their temperature and gives them a sense of comfort.
Make sure there are no labels which could aggravate sleep. Cut the labels off.
Pain
Pain will affect a baby's sleep. Many babies, especially in the first few weeks and months of life, experience some discomfort or pain. Reflux and digestive issues seem to be the main ones.
Do what you can to help relieve your baby's tummy pain by using massage, looking for signs and symptoms of a lactose intolerance or an allergy and seeking help from your doctor. If you suspect your baby has reflux or silent reflux, you take steps to make your baby feel more comfortable, such as keeping baby upright after a feed and raising his cot but you should also seek medical help immediately. Reflux untreated can cause dysphagia (long-lasting damage to the oesophagus which results in discomfort in swallowing).
If your baby has Exzema you want to get him seen by a specialist as soon as possible to check for allergies and intolerances.
Lovey/ comforter
A lovey is a positive sleep association and a familiar object that can help soothe and comfort your baby and help them to relax and fall asleep. They are invaluable when you're out and about, travelling or going through significant changes such as a house move or the birth of a new sibling; they provide little ones with a physical object that they can use to comfort themselves. I can't recommend introducing one enough. For tips and tricks on how to do this, make sure to join the FaceBook group so we can chat more about it there.
3. Taste
Feed
I recommend doing a feed as part of your naptime and bedtime routine. Feeding your baby before sleep is the most natural thing in the world.
Breastmilk contains a whole concoction of sleep-inducing goodness and hormones. It's no wonder a baby gets sleepy while feeding. Whether or not you breastfeed or bottle feed your little one, he has your love, comfort and undivided attention; he also feels your warmth, skin and closeness and to top it all off sweet, warm, satiating milk.
A feed will help your baby calm, relax and get sleepy. It will also ensure your little one is full before going down for sleep. After your baby has fed and is sleepy, you can gently pick him up and put him down into his cot. Hopefully, at this point, he'll still be sleepy and will easily continue to easily fall asleep in his cot. Gently shush-pat him/stroke his head/hair/cheek to help him carry on falling asleep if you need to.
4. Smell
Aromatherapy and essential oils for sleep
“Studies have shown that specific essential oils used in aromatherapy can help relieve stress, relax the body, and promote better sleep”
- Marlynn Wei, MD, JD.
Seven essential oils for sleep
Ylang Ylang: Floral and fruity smelling; improves quality of sleep
Lavender: Research shows lavender can aid sleep
Vetiver: Rich and earthy smelling; is said to help the brain 'switch off'
Roman Chamomile: Has a light, floral scent and is known for its calming, soothing and relaxing properties
Bergamot: Bergamot is a citrus fruit, and the oil is cold-pressed from the rind or peel; said to be bright, yet calming at the same time
Sandalwood: A rich and woody oil; more expensive, but a little goes a long way
Marjoram: Not only excellent for muscles and joints, but it also excels in creating peaceful sleep
Air Purifier
I highly recommend using an air purifier in your baby's room. A good air purifier removes allergens and pollutants as small as 0.1 microns from the air. They capture pollen, bacteria and pet dander as well as odours and potentially harmful toxins. As it stands, environmentally, with the pollution level being so high, an air purifier is, in my mind, an essential part of a baby's room.
Humidifier
The heating we use in our homes can dry out the air, often making little ones more thirsty during the night. Whereas we can easily reach for a sip of water, babies cant, meaning you may get extra wakings. Having a humidifier in your little one's room will help add moisture to the room which is particularly useful in the winter months if you need to put the heating on during the night.
5. Hearing
We live in a busy world and often expect our babies to be able to sleep through all the hustle and bustle. I think this is unrealistic and a very unfair expectation. Could we, as adults, sleep through what we expect our children to sleep through? I know I certainly couldn't.
Often, I meet parents who want their babies to be able to sleep anywhere and sleep through everything and think there is something wrong or that they are spoiling their babies by having to meet their babies’ specific sleep needs.
Your baby may have spent the first few weeks or months of his life happily asleep in your arms in the lounge while friends visited or while you caught up on your favourite Netflix series. Then, you may have begun to notice that your baby would find it harder to fall asleep with the noise and bright daylight surrounding him. But if we think of babies as miniature versions of ourselves, we can understand that falling asleep and staying asleep with so much going on is difficult for them to do and unrealistic for us to expect them to.
Lullaby
I highly recommend using a lullaby or a calming song of your choice at the beginning of each nap and bedtime before you put your little one down to sleep. A lullaby is an anchor and a positive sleep association. It helps tell your little one what's coming next (sleep).
A lullaby not only works beautifully for everyday use but also works fantastically for travel. Wherever you are, you can prepare your baby for sleep by doing your nap routine or bedtime routine and playing your little one's lullaby. Once your baby hears her track played, she will understand it’s time to sleep. It will help her feel safe and secure in the knowledge that she knows what to expect even though she may be in a place she’s not visited before or visited very often – for example, your parent's house.
White Noise
I highly recommend using white noise for your little one's room to help keep them asleep for longer. White noise replicates the sound of the womb, which helps not only to calm and soothe babies but also to mask sounds by blocking out inside, everyday household noise, which is enough to wake a baby, as well as uncontrollable outside noise such as cars, aeroplanes, sirens, children, dogs, etc.
White Noise is both helpful for naps and to use all the way through the night.
An example of white noise is sounds of a womb, heartbeat, fan, vacuum cleaner, fan, rain, ocean, seashore, shushing or hushing and noise of a hair dryer.
There are lots of apps which you can now download on iTunes and use; some include: 'Sound Sleeper', 'White Noise Baby' and 'Infant Baby Sleep'.
The repetitive and calming nature of White Noise significantly helps to keep little ones asleep for longer. It should be played at a volume which masks outside noise both indoor and outdoor, but it shouldn't be so loud that it disturbs your baby's sleep either.
Play around and 'feel' which sound and volume works best for your baby and stick to this same sound for naps done in his/her cot. Play on a loop all through the night.
Lastly but importantly
Make sure WI-FI is not interfering with your
child’s sleep
Place the baby monitor as far away as possible from your baby, if possible switch your WI-FI off at night.
Make sure there are no WI-FI routers kept in the bedroom, above, below or in the next adjacent rooms. This also applies to boosters.
Switch iPads (or any other devices) playing White Noise etc. in your baby’s room to flight mode. Limit children to maximum 1 hour per day screen time and keep the tablet minimum 20mm away from their bodies.
