Living and Loving – August 2019

6

40 | AUGUST 2019 | L&L

SLEEP TRICKS

THAT WORK

When you’ve tried everything else, here’s how to

soothe your baby back to sleep, says Lucy Shrimpton,

sleep expert and author of The Sleep Nanny System.

I

t’s the small hours, your baby is

awake and so are you. Sound

familiar? At first, your baby has

no idea how to get himself

back to sleep when he naturally

rouses at intervals through the night,

which is why you might regularly

find yourself up at midnight and

2am. That’s when you need these

tricks to help him, and you, get

back to sleep gently and quickly.

The key is to re-create your baby’s

first home – your womb. When you

were carrying him, he was encased

in a unique world. The beat of your

heart, the swoosh of your amniotic

fluid and the complete darkness

all triggered a reflex in his body

that helped keep him relaxed. By

creating these womb-mimicking

sensations, you can let your baby’s

brain know that it’s time to relax and

settle back to sleep. So if you’ve

worked through your checklist and

know he isn’t hungry, wet, or too

hot or cold, this is what to do...

in the middle of the night

The shush-a-bye-baby 1

In your womb, the sound of your amniotic fluid and

blood flow was quite loud. Your baby lived in a far

noisier environment than the hush of your house. But

it’s not just about making more noise – it’s the type of

noise that’s important, which is why sound machines

or recordings don’t always cut it. A strong “shushing”

sound from you can easily replicate the pulsing “whoosh”

of your amniotic fluid. Hold your baby against your chest, so he’s

facing you, with his cheek against yours. Make a “shushing” noise

across, but not into, his ear. If he’s crying, make your shush louder.

It’s OK if it’s a big noise at first, but then smoothly lower the volume

of your shush as he calms, until it becomes a very soft sound.