Baby 2 Sleep

Top Bedtime Tips from Baby2Sleep Village

I have two Facebook groups, where mums who are working with me can ask questions and I do my best to help with their problems. The first group is called Baby2SleepVillage and it is open to anyone who is struggling with getting their baby or toddler off to sleep, so if that’s you, please do come and join us. The second group is my private support group for those people who have purchased one of my online sleep plans

In both groups I get asked all sorts of questions, and so I thought I would share some of the recent ones, around the subject of bedtime:

What story should I read to my baby?

.My favourite bedtime stories for younger babies are Goodnight Moon and Time for Bed. Short, bedtime-related, calm and rhyming, and easy enough to memorise should you ever feel you need to read to them when it is dark, or need to put the book out of baby’s reach if you have a page grabber. This is especially useful if you wear reading glasses and your baby just wants to grab them off your face so you can’t read the words.

How and when do I brush my baby’s teeth?

I do have a tip to help with the page grabbing though, and it links nicely with cleaning their little peggys. I know from personal experience how difficult it can be to brush those little teeth while your baby spins in every direction to avoid the toothbrush. Alyssia is now 1, and she just laughs at me when I come near her with the toothbrush and knocks it flying out of my hand. If you offer a milk feed after the bath, you may also want to brush those teeth after they have fed so here’s my 2 birds with 1 stone tip. Add a tiny smear of toothpaste to a teething toothbrush for your baby to chew on while you read their story. Clean teeth and a distracted baby meaning the book is safe in your hands. You may still wish to attempt to brush their teeth prior to bedtime to help create the habit of brushing teeth before bed, but don’t worry if this isn’t successful. This is my favourite item a

nd I used this with both Sofia and Alyssia, the Brush Baby, My First Toothbrush and Teether set

What is the best blackout blind?

As we approach Summer, the mornings and evenings get lighter, so how can we stop our little one rising early and fighting us at bedtime thinking it is time to get up or stay up because it is light? I have used various blackout blinds over the years and these are my favourite. The Easynight blackout blinds. You attach the velcro to the back of the fabric, stick the other side of the velcro to the window frame and line them up. Easy on and easy off for easy window opening, and fantastic for blocking out the slithers of light that love to shine through the blinds with suckers, holes, or above the curtains.

How can I stop my child shouting to me at 5am thinking it’s morning?

Sleep clocks are something I am asked about regularly as there are increasingly more on the market. Depending on your child’s age, you may find some are more suitable than others as a baby as young as 19/20 months can understand the simplest of clocks, which is why the Claessons Kids Sleep Clock www.kid-sleep.com (for some reason this isn’t on Amazon anymore) is one of my favourites. It is as simple as the rabbit being awake or being asleep. It has been developed over the last few years and they have added additional features to help the older child up to the age of 6 to still be able to get use from it helping them understand how long is left until morning, not dissimilar to a Gro Clock.

So what about Gro Clocks you may ask? The biggest brand there is, so why am I not shouting about it. Personally, I feel the clock is too bright. It is a bright blue light that lights the room up, and also, a younger child may not understand the concept of counting down the stars until morning, however, I have a hack for you. This is what I do with Sofia’s Gro Clock. I bought some red lighting gel, the sort that is used on theatre and photographers’ lights, and sellotaped it to the clock. This creates a nice red filter and means that the room isn’t lit up like a Christmas tree at 3 am. The only issue is that you can’t see the numbers or stars through it so it becomes more of a ‘blue is night and the sun with orange is morning’, but this does mean you can use it from a younger age as well as it becomes simple as the clock mentioned earlier.

Don’t forget, little ones can’t tell the time so if they wake at 5am they won’t know it is still night time and to go to sleep so sleep clocks can be so useful if they are used right.

I hope you like some of my quick tips and ideas and feel free to share with anyone you think may find them helpful. If you need further help with sleep, you can read more about the online sleep plans for babies between 6 and 24 months, or Join us in Baby2Sleep Village and if you have an older child, you can watch last weeks session on my Facebook page on toddler and preschool behavioural sleep strategies.

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