Tips For Getting Your Baby To Sleep Through The Night From Dads Who’ve Been There

It’s the father of all parenting advice blog posts: Tips For Getting Your Infant To Sleep Through The Night, from dads who have been there and done it.

Ryan Hobson: Show them all the love you have for them and be patient man. There will be times that you want to lose it but just remember you want to keep your little ones comfy and happy. My daughter is 5 now and the bed time game is frustrating but I know she is not trying to upset me. She’s just doing what children do. So be the parent and love and nurture your kid. Most nights you will have to go out of your way to get them to bed. This is fact. And that’s okay. For those nights when it’s really tough to get my child to sleep, I often get back to the effectiveness of ferber method in sleeping.

Ben Paris: Routine. Put them to bed at the same time and get them up at the same time. If they wake up just walk in and calm them but leave before they go back to sleep. They’ll get used to putting themselves back to sleep.

Russ Reid: I’m new to this, our son is about 5 weeks old but he’s been sleeping through the night for the past 2 weeks. We do our best to keep him active during the day, walks, tummy time, etc. Then when it gets closer to bed time we feed him slightly more frequently. Maybe every 2 hours instead of 3 hours (8pm and 10pm) his 10pm feeding we give him 2.5oz instead of 2. I feel like having a full belly stops him from waking up in the middle of the night. One of the things that also helps us get our son to sleep through the night is by wrapping him in Swaddling Blankets for extra comfort and longer sleep.

Roger Larochelle Jr.: Every kid is different man. For us in particular, my kid slept in her rock n play next to our bed till 6 months. Then a bassinet till 7 months when she grew out of it and began waking up because she was punching the side walls. We decided the infantcore crib (with a colorful light etc on the side and with no blankets etc) would be the best bet. Wife was freaked out when she decided to be a belly sleeper. But a couple nights of letting her cry for 5-10 mins she would tucker out and flip on her belly and has slept 8-10 hours every single night now.

Brian D Green Sr.: Like others have said: Routine. That’s the only advise I can give because that’s the only conscious thing we have always done with our now 3 month and he sleeps like a champ every night. Oh that and feeding immediately before bed. From talking with others though, sadly I feel it’s very dependent on the baby, some sleep well, while some parents just strike out.

Eric Franklin: Digestion is a lot harder for newborns, especially at night the digestive system slows down and they get more gas. Try to keep them propped up on your chest or a safe rated incline (12 degrees) is recommended. This will help with tummy pains and any acid reflux. Many babies have this issue. Dad with a 5 week old here. Most of my night is spent holding baby in my arms and helping her pass gas. Gripe water has helped us tremendously but every baby is different. You can do it! Try to sleep in the day if you can, my wife and I take shifts, it’s hard but it won’t be forever. Try your best not to lie them down right away after feeding to give them time to digest. Then attempt to put them asleep in their bed.

Scott Johnson: Warm bath before bed
Milk before bed
White noise all night (was good for us)
Lavender baby wash
Warm room
If they’re little yet, swaddle.

Charles Moose Myers: I have this VTech projector in my sons room that puts hit right out. Has a sensor on it so if he wakes up crying in the middle of the night it will kick on and usually put him back to sleep. Other than that it’s just routine.

Phillip Williams: Consistent sleep schedule, keep some sort of noise going, you DO NOT want your baby to require complete silence to sleep.

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flicky photo by Richard Leeming, used under Creative Commons license.