Our sweet Georgia is officially 7 weeks old today and I cannot believe it. Part of me feels like she has been her SO much longer, and part of me feels like I was still pregnant yesterday;) She is a really sweet baby, having good and bad days of course, but overall great!
With each kid, my philosophy has changed a little bit. With Braylen I was a firm believer in the Babywise Method. I read that book like it was my Bible {no offense Jesus}! I followed a schedule with him to a freaking T. I had a hard time getting out of the house in the early days because I felt like all I did was follow his schedule, and if something didn’t fit in that schedule, well then it didn’t happen. At the time I thought that that was the only way to get a good sleeper. We didn’t do cry-it-out, but man we were strict to that schedule. Bray was a good sleeper. He was sleeping from his Dreamfeed till 7am by about 13 weeks.
With Winston, I knew I would have to relax a little on it since I had another kid already who still wanted to go places, do things, etc. And so I did, and I realized that the world still spun even if we missed a nap at home;) He took a little longer than Bray did to be truly consistent and predictable on sleeping through the night, but he was still good.
When pregnant with Georgia, I KNEW I would have to be EVEN more relaxed, and more so follow a routine rather than a schedule because..hello- I have two other kids! One in school, the other with more energy in one day than I have in a week;) But with that said, I also knew I would need to try and be as rested as humanly possible in order to keep up with life. So in preparation I attended a Taking Cara Babies class at Modern Milk. She was perfect for me because she teaches the importance of a routine more than anything else. She reminded me of the EASY method {eat, awake time, sleep, you time} and gave me great tips for how to accomplish a somewhat scheduled day while still being able to be on the go. I mean, hello- we took Georgia to a 5 year old Birthday party the morning we got home from the hospital!
Mix following that method with some sleep accessories- and I am so happy to report that we have a baby who has been giving me at least a 6 hour stretch at night since week one! I have one friend who swears by a few of these products, and she always seems so awake! She suggested to me the best recliners for sleeping, saying that she’ll often read her little one a bedtime story sat in a recliner, lean back and they’ll both fall asleep easy as that! Honestly, if she has any more tricks up her sleeve like that then I’d love to hear them. Anyway, here are my most used products- and WHY I love them!
–Dockatot– I just got this bad boy for the first time with Georgia and OH MY GOSH I am in love! While some may think its a glorified pillow, they are so wrong. Dockatot is a portable bed for baby, that creates a womb like feel for them, prevents flat head syndrome, allows for tummy time, is hypoallergenic, etc. The second night we had Georgia sleep in this she SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT. What?!?!?!? She went from her Dreamfeed at 10:30pm to 7am! She wasn’t even 7 weeks yet. INCREDIBLE. I grabbed a Dockatot this time around specifically because we have a two story house, and while eventually Georgia will take over Winston’s room, currently he is still in it and she is in our room. Ours is upstairs, so any time I wanted to put her to sleep downstairs I had no place for her! Insert the Dockatot plopped right down on any flat surface. Oftentimes, on Winston’s floor:) If you are wanting to grab yourself a Dockatot- use this link to get $10 off!
-Swaddles. Everyone seems to have a different preference on this one, but my favorites tend to be the SwaddleMe swaddles. They are idiot proof- which is kinda my jam:) They velcro closed, and we even have some swaddles that I use on Georgia that were from Braylen {hence the one she is wearing in the photos above-poor third baby!} A lot of people also love the Ollie Swaddle, but i’ve just stuck to what I know and love already.
-Pacis. Yes, I am a lover of pacis. Some people are afraid to give it to their babes for fear of nipple confusion, or for fear of them getting so attached that its hard to break {umm, I know that one all too well}. BUT pacis are lifesavers. Not only do they help soothe a fussy little babe, but once your baby is sleeping and gaining great, and you are ready to try and help them stretch out their feedings at night a little, pacis will be your BFF for that. I only give Georgia a paci once or twice before getting her up to eat, but sometimes that one or two times of putting a paci in gets her to sleep another hour or MORE! So yes, I love pacis! {Don’t stretch their feedings at night until they have gained enough weight for it to be ok}
-White noise maker. Every nap and during the night we have a white noise maker running. On her car seat we have a little portable one which is incredible since she takes usually at least one of her naps in there daily. And then at night we use this one. Now, our girl definitely can sleep through some loud chaos, but a white noise is nice to drown some of it out- and if for nothing else, sets the tone that its sleepy time:)
Hope these tips help you guys! I know how precious sleep is, so lets all get some more of it!
Disclosure: I was given a Dockatot to post about, but all opinions and words are my own.
Great tips! We, too, did the EASY schedule a mostly followed the Baby Whisperer methods, which I hear are pretty similar to Babywise. We FINALLY just got our little guy sleeping in his crib at naps and he’s 6 months old. He thankfully has always done pretty well at night and was sleeping through the night at about 4.5 months. It makes such a world of difference when you are able to get a full night of sleep to function, am I right or what? Your little girl is adorable. Keep on keepin’ on! 🙂