Belly to Bean, Sleep Co.

PSA!!!🚨 Your baby will love a routine before sleep but you do not need to be constantly watching the clock.❌ ⏰

So how do you get your precious Lil’Bean to sleep without having to be so strict?

1️⃣Wake baby up roughly the same time each morning. I like between 6:30-7:00. Choose what time works best for your entire day of naps. .

2️⃣If you have to do one nap on the go that’s okay! It is true that the first nap of the day is the easiest one to achieve so if naps are a struggle stay home for nap 1 and let the other nap be a motion nap if needed. Flexibility!

3️⃣Keep bedtime around the same time each night. Most babies and toddlers have a slow down period around 6:30-7 so this is a great time to start a wind down routine before sleep. If they seem wired once in bed scale back and try earlier next time.

4️⃣Follow wake windows instead of a rigid sleep schedule. See my sleep chart on wake windows a few posts back. .
Try not to worry about exact times and perfecting sleep because it will never happen. Save yourself the trouble and stress and trust me here. A child’s sleep is full of peaks and valleys. Even the best sleepers have off days and nights.

PS - if no one told you today...You’re doing such a great job at this mom thing.🤍



Photo credit 📸

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Sleep tip:
If your child stays up too late then get them to bed extra early for the next 1-2 days to get them caught up on that sleep debt.

Tell me I’m not alone here.

Oh the mid-nap p**p 💩

This happens to many newborns and babies eating solid foods. If naps keep getting cut short here are some areas to look into:

🍐 Are you feeding baby p**p inducing foods such as pears, prunes, pineapple and peaches prior to naps? These are high fiber foods so move them to after nap of this may be the culprit.

You may need to eliminate these foods temporarily and bring them back in later. 🍑 🍐 🍍

🍠 Consider feeding baby starchy foods at dinner.

🧑‍🍼 Breastfeeding mamas if none of the above helps consider looking into your own diet changes.

Multiple night wakings with a baby over 5 months old? I’ve got you! Reach out for sleep support from a mom who’s walked in your sleep deprived shoes.

Over 2 and waking more than once at night? Don’t worry it’s never too late to teach healthy sleep habits.
Look into these areas to see where some improvement can take place:

➕Is he/she napping midday?
If the nap is happening before 12pm your toddler is likely staying up way too long before bed thus causing an overtired cycle making it hard to stay down at night. Midday naps starting at 12-1 are best for this age. Make sure the nap isn’t more than 2 hours and naps are done by 3.

➕Is your toddler getting enough outside time? Just going outside and walking around the house is a lot of stimulation for a toddler this age. Get out as much as you can before nap time.

➕Keep nap and wake times fairly consistent for toddlers who are struggling with night sleep.

➕Encourage a protein fueled lunch and snack. This can be a hard age for little ones to be interested in meals but remember they don’t need a lot. 1 tablespoon per year of age.

➕Don’t forget a short wind down before nap time. Keep it simple such as diaper change, read one book and lay down for nap in a dark room with some form of white noise going.

Just popping in sharing this adorable little one to brighten your day. I’ve been MIA online lately spending more connecting time with the kids but still helping families with sleep as usual.

What is your current sleep struggle?

Taking your Lil’Bean outside upon waking can truly help. This article shares why.

https://www.romper.com/parenting/babies-sleep-better-after-being-outside-experts?fbclid=IwAR0R2DkY87DjrOWd3ohB_1RKix_N7u2GZ2qSwkEJ4tStN9yZd3KPbXFjyr8

Here's Why Your Baby Sleeps Better After Being Outside Taking your baby outside frequently can keep their circadian rhythm in check, which means they might be become better nighttime sleepers.

❓Did you know that sleep improves your baby’s memory?

✨It has been long known that sleep helps memories move from short term to long term and helps new nerves grow, but scientists recently proved just how this process works.

✨ Basically, when your child is getting adequate sleep they have an easier time mastering a skill such as crawling. They’re producing “spines” in their brains constantly as they continue to learn the new skill. It’s like when you can not stop thinking about something, same process for babies learning. Which is also why sometimes sleep is disrupted during a milestone leap.

✨ Scientists from the New York School of Medicine have found that sleep causes the number of spines to produce in the brain and not eliminated even when multiple skills were being learned.

➡️When your child is sleep deprived fewer spines are formed and spines even eliminate when a new skill was learned. This unfortunate process causes no short term memories to move into long term.

➡️This is because the brain reviews a new skill repeatedly. The same neurons are activated while in non REM sleep following the learning of that new task. As the brain goes over these new skills new spines are formed and the synapses are strengthened.

🖤It’s not uncommon to get word back from a family I’ve worked with letting me know that baby is now running circles around them or is now babbling happily whereas before they weren’t able to. Sleep deprivation can start accumulating just after one rough night. If you are struggling with lack of sleep please reach out. [email protected]