Freshstartsleep

Do you have a toddler who challenges you every night at bedtime? 🛌

Our LOs who are no longer in a crib (transitioning to a bed at around 3 is the best time) & who don’t want to stay in their new “big bed” can really give us a hard time at bedtime!

The best thing you can do to calm down your nights & get your little one staying in bed all night (yes it CAN happen!) is your new best friend, the family meeting!

Here are some steps to have the most productive family meeting:

1.Have your whole family gather together & tell them you are having a family meeting so everyone in the house can be great sleepers👩‍👩‍👧‍👦

2.Get a poster board & put their bedtime routine on it. Have them decorate it so they feel like they are a big part of these new rules. When our children feel like they are a part of something they are more apt to listen and go along with it🖍

3.Once you have your poster with the routine you can talk to them about the sleep rules & what is expected of them. For example “You make sure that your body stays inside of your room all night until the light turns green. When you are in bed it is your job to let your body sleep.”
- Getting an “okay to wake” clock is a really great idea so that they have a clock that will be red when we have to stay in our room & turn green when it's time to get up (or whatever colors they choose). Children are very visual & this can be a very helpful tool⏰

4.Go over exactly what is going to happen at night. Give them a run down of the routine. For example “We will have a bath & put on our lotion and pjs. Then we'll snuggle up together on the bed and read 2 books. After that I will give you 4 kisses & 5 hugs, say goodnight, & I will see you in the morning. I can’t wait to see how much you will have grown once you wake up!”😴

5.Explain to them that you will be in your room doing your job to sleep and rest your body to use it the next day. Share that everyone in the home needs to get rest every night so that you all have tons of energy to jump, play, work, & have fun during the daytime☀️

6.End the meeting on a positive note. It can be something really easy and small like watch a family movie, talk a walk together, or bake cookies🍪

Let’s talk about flat spots!

Babies are born with soft skulls. If we are consistently placing our little ones in the same position on their backs then a flat spot can develop.

Here are some great tips to help reduce flat spots:

🔴Alternate sides when feeding your baby. For one feed place them on your left side and then for the next place them on your right side. Switch these positions consistently through-out the day.

🟠Offer your baby tummy time during the day. Tummy time is not only good for preventing flat spots but it is also great for helping your little one build up strength in their muscles and encourages them to learn and discover what's around them.

🟡Try baby wearing your baby or using a baby carrier. You can wear them when you are getting things done around the house or if you have some errands to run. If you don’t like baby wearing then you can just hold your little one and go for a little walk with them around the house or outside if the weather is nice.

🟢Keep the amount of time your baby sits in strollers, swings, and seats to a minimum. When they are laying in there their heads are staying in the same position the entire time. If your baby falls asleep in the car seat make sure to take them out of it when you get home and don’t leave them in it. It’s not a safe place for them to sleep and it will also reduce flat spots.

🔵Switch where you put your baby's head every night. If you put their head on the left side of the crib on Monday then you should put their head on the right side of the crib on Tuesday and so on. This will take the pressure off the spot on the head that would be constantly flat every single night if you didn’t switch off.

🟣Some babies use physical therapy and a home exercise program to treat their flat spots. If you are concerned about a flat spot your little one has please reach out to their doctor and talk over a treatment plan with them.

If your baby does have a flat spot already, that's okay! It will improve with time and growth. As our little ones grow bigger they are more able to move around in different positions for night sleep so the head won’t be staying in one spot all night long. The same goes for more movement during the day! 👍🏻

Our newborns don’t stay up for long in between sleep. Their little brains are developing at a rapid rate and they need all the rest they are getting so they can continue to grow and develop! 👶🏽

It is always helpful to keep the average awake times in mind. Swipe to the left to see a chart of average wake times and the ages that go along with them 👍🏻

As always these times are just an average and every baby is different and these times can vary a little bit for everyone!

Tag a new parent/caregiver who would find this information helpful! 😊

Let's talk about swaddling!

Swaddling is so important in the first few months of your baby's life 👶🏽

There is something called the Moro Reflex sometimes known as the startle reflex. The definition of it is “a reflex reaction of infants upon being startled (as by a loud noise or bright light) that is characterized by extension of the arms and legs away from the body and to the side and then by drawing them together as if in an embrace.”

When they wear a swaddle this helps keep them asleep during the moro reflex. If their arms were free, the reflex would consistently wake them up 🥱

When swaddling our little ones we want to keep these things in mind:

• Make sure the swaddle is not too tight across the chest
• The arms stay down by their side
• Their elbows are straight
• The swaddle is snug across their elbows
• Legs are able to kick and move about freely

Our favorite swaddle blankets are the Aden and Anais Cotton Muslin Swaddles if you want to swaddle your baby your own way. The SwaddleMe Pod Zip-Up Compression Swaddle is another favorite if you are looking for something more user friendly, as this one just has an easy zipper up the front of it 👍🏻

There is no right or wrong kind of swaddle. As long as your baby is safely swaddled and swaddled properly. All babies are different and what may work for one baby may not work for another so try out a few different ones and see what feels best for you and your baby! 😊

Happy baby burrito-ing 🌯

Our number one tip when it comes to night nursing twins is when you feed one, feed the other too! 🍼🍼

They will always try to divide and conquer, one will cry and the other won’t until an hour later but don’t let them fool you.

Having twins on opposite feeding schedules is not fun for anyone and it means much less down time for mom, dad, and/or caregiver if you are basically feeding every hour with separate schedules! ⏰

If one baby is wanting to eat earlier than the other, just try to hold them off for a bit. Sometimes you will have to feed them separately and that’s okay! You can usually get them back on the same schedule in a couple of feedings while slowly moving them back on the same track. 📅

Sometimes feeding at the same time doesn’t work for parents/caregivers and that’s okay! There may not be as much help or you may have come home with medical needs for one or both twins that makes the feeding schedules trickier.

At the end of the day they are YOUR babies and the choices you make that work best for you and your family are always the right ones! 👍🏻

We love you parents and caregivers of multiples! Hang in there 🤍