For most parents, the two main problems are getting their baby to fall asleep and to stay asleep. Some babies fall asleep easily and stay asleep while others fall asleep easily, but wake up frequently. Some babies go to sleep with difficulty, but stay asleep, while others do not want to go to sleep or stay asleep. Babies that were good sleepers at six months of age may develop sleeping difficulties as they grow older and vice versa. There are all sorts of reasons why babies experience sleep difficulties, but knowing something about the different stages of sleep and what to do if your baby wakes up in the night can be helpful.

The one thing that the sleep experts all agree on is the need for a consistent, predictable, regular bedtime routine. It doesn’t matter what the routine consists of providing the same things happen every night. Your baby will soon learn to associate certain events and situations with bedtime, although it may take a week or two for her to develop new sleep habits. Once a routine has been established, stick with it consistently every night.

What routines have you tried for your baby sleeping routine?

Insomnia is closely linked to how you feel about sleep psychologically – if you start to think that you will only sleep if you have a sleeping pill then effectively you are just enhancing the problem. I had suffered for 3 years and often went 4/5 nights with no sleep at all. The key for me was doing the natural things that allowed my brain to ‘prepare’ for sleep in the right way.Raise your core body temperature before bed, eat lots of trytophan/serotonin inducing rich foods, exercise, relax and most importantly – go to bed when you are tired, not necessarily just because you have been habitually taught that a certain time is ‘bed-time’. It is a gradual process  Psychologically change pillows, bed, position, whatever. i personally would avoid pills altogether

Have you any solutions to help encourage a baby to sleep soundly?

What baby sleep routines do you use?

I would love to hear your thoughts and methods!!

Here are some of mine:

• Allow a quiet wind-down period of about 20 minutes before bedtime.
• Make the bedtime ritual as calm and as relaxed as possible to reduce stress levels – a special night light mobile or dreamshow will help baby to relax and unwind.
• Help baby relax and unwind in a warm bath. When she gets out, the surrounding cooler air will lower her temperature, which will help trigger the sleep mechanism. * Put baby in special clothes such as a sleep suit or sleeping bag that are only used at night.
• Swaddle baby in a cotton swaddle blanket to remind her of the warmth and comfort of the womb. Wrap this firmly around her body and tuck in her arms and legs (baby’s hands can be placed near her face so that she can self-soothe by sucking her fingers).
• Use key words such as ‘Bedtime’ or ‘Night-night’ which are associated with sleep.
• Provide a comforter or special teddy or blanket (that smells like Mummy or Daddy) to help baby to fall asleep without being rocked or held. The smell of Lavender can also help due to its relaxing smell.
• Avoid putting baby down on a very full tummy, as this will increase core body temperature and keep her awake
• Wind baby fully before bedtime.
• Use soft-paced classical sleep inducing music to help calm your baby
• Put baby down while still awake so that she learns to fall asleep on her own.
• Put baby on her back on a firm surface or a sleep positioner to keep her spine as flat as possible and to allow her lungs to expand fully.
• Put baby on a lamb’s wool fleece (cover with a cotton blanket) to promote better sleeping patterns.
• Make sure that baby’s feet are near the end of the cot. This will prevent her from working her way under the covers where she could suffocate. A Sleep T Wrap will also prevent your baby from wriggling around at night time.

HERBAL / OVER THE COUNTER SOLUTIONS?
Some people try mild herbal solutions like Nytol or antihistimines – but in my experience these do not help with long term sleep problems and tolerance to them increases quickly! How have you found them?

PRESCRIPTION SLEEPING PILLS – BENZODIAZEPINES
Has anyone been prescribed any sleeping pills that include Benzodiazepines? If so how have you found these? In my experience, as they help with anxiety they are helpful but they can take hours to kick in and they often leave me feeling very slow in the morning. I have tried Diazepam and Temazepam and I found that I got tolerent to both of them quickly so again, i found them of little use in the long-term. Have you tried any of these and if so how did they work for you?

Other Benzodiazepines products include: Loprazolam, Lormetazepam, Chlordiazepoxide & Lorazepam – i would be interested in your thoughts on any of these if you have experience of them?

PRESCRIPTION SLEEPING PILLS – OTHERS
I have recently tried Zopiclone – which, to date I have found the best so far on the basis that it seems to be faster acting than the benzodiazepine pills i have tried and i felt less groggy the following morning. However, I still only take them if I am on day 3 or 4 without sleep. Other products similar to Zopliclone are Zaleplon and Zolpidem. If you have tried any of these – how have you found them?

Personally, I still believe that sleeping pills should only be used as a last resort. I find that my tolerance increases to all of them very quickly and I never feel quite the same the following day as I do sleeping without them.

I still believe that the best solutions are natural and things you can do yourself such as:
- Go to bed when you are tired. Not before and not after you have worked through the tiredness and have become over-tired! If you feel tired at 9am – go to bed at 9am. If you dont feel tired until 1am then go to bed then!
- Try to increase your body temperature OR reduce the bed room temperature prior to sleep. The quicker your core body temperature drops, the quicker the brain kicks into sleep gear!
- Take a sleep tea or similar before bed time – I drink Mimosa – pschologically it helps me prepare for sleep too.
- Try essential oils before pills. There are many out there that can help, Restful sleep oils, lavender, marjoram, sandalwood, ylang ylang – find out which works for you. Put in your bath or on your pillow!
- Read before bedtime. My insomnia is usually stress “mind is still active” related – i find that reading something totally unconnected to daily life helps me switch off before bedtime.

Let me know what works for you!!!

More sleeping soundly advice and products can be found by visiting http://www.insomniastore.co.uk