5 tricks to get your baby to sleep longer

January 15, 2019

The festive season has drawn to an end. For lots of moms and dads it's a bit of a relief to be honest. It's brilliant to see friends and family, to share your baby's first Christmas together, to eat and drink and laugh and play. And especially to dress your baby up in adorable outfits and take lots of photos to embarrass them with when they are teenagers.

But for new parents it's pretty exhausting. Perhaps you stayed somewhere else, you might have been out of your baby's normal environment. Or maybe you had people staying with you bringing their extra noises, later nights and breaks to your carefully set routine.

It's wonderful and fantastic and the holiday season sure is fun. There is absolutely no denying that and we embrace it and love it. But now, I guess, you're keen to get back into your routine again and get some much needed sleep both for you and your baby.

Never fear, your Organic Baby Food Shop is here! We have discussed and narrowed down 5 tricks to get baby to sleep longer.

1) Baby formula with cereal in it

Do you know that only 1 or 2 generations ago parents used to put corn flour in baby milk? The idea behind this was that it thickens up the formula. It fills up your baby's tummy and helps them feel satisfied and sleep for longer. Luckily for us now we have cereal in formula to help our baby sleep longer. There are some great cereal products from Holle and lots of other great organic brands with nutrients that are wonderful for your baby’s growth and development while at the same time giving them that satisfied full tummy feeling. And we all love that feeling… right?

2) A warm bath before bed

Yes this really does help baby sleep longer. There's a bunch of reasons why:

It's soothing, relaxing and tiring for baby. The water stimulates them and they often like to splash around and play and make those lovely little gurgles that we all adore so much.
It gets their digestion moving. With a little tummy time after their nice warm bath often they'll get out a really good poop making them comfy and ready to relax.
It gets any scratchy sweaty yuckiness off from the day so they're clean and smelling all yummy. There is nothing on earth quite as delicious as that clean baby smell!

3) Room temperature - not too cold but also not too hot.

Experts say between 68-72°F is the optimum temperature for your baby to get a good night’s sleep. You may wish to put a thermostat in the room to keep an eye on this especially if you live somewhere chilly and have to deal with central heating.

4) Baby's bedding

Ok, this sounds pretty obvious. But there's a lot of options out there. That’s not to mention the great to swaddle or not to swaddle debate. One of our staff had a baby that simply refused to be swaddled. She would wriggle and squiggle and kick and move until her little arms were free and only then would she sleep. Secretly we admire her spirit. But some babies love the comfort of being wrapped in their little cocoon.

Having a nice soft breathable muslin as the bottom layer is a great idea. And some snuggly sleeping bags or pajamas with booties are also great.

5) Love

Yes it's cheesy. But lavish your baby with love. Especially that last feed before they go to bed. Don't sit there feeding and using your phone. Concentrate on your love for your baby and send that soothing energy out to them. Your partner can do this while bottle feeding too. Babies, in a way, are like animals. They feel and sense your emotions. So during that last night feed love them and cuddle them and give them every sense of security that you have. Send them off to sleep secure and wrapped in your adoration.