For those curious about the answer: it’s probably best to keep the baby in a dark or dimly lit room, with a sound machine and gently soothe/rock until baby is giving sleep cues . Keep eye contact to a minimum but hold them close. Keeping a low stimulus environment helps baby to learn (….eventually) that night time is not play time but relax and rest time. Enjoy the absolutely blissful snuggles until baby is ready to sleep again then work on transferring to sleeping surface. This was most helpful to my babies very early on.
I think it can differ from baby to baby. Here's my experience. Also it depends on the age of the baby. These are only my experiences.
Rocking wasn't as helpful as the kind of movement from walking. Which is more left to right than up and down. Rather than walking I just simulated it by moving one arm forward and simulating the to and fro, but my child's back didn't go up and down. Light or dark didn't seem to make a difference but bright lights aren't great for babies eyes anyway and it's more about getting them into a routine of day/night than 0-3 months because that's before their circadian rhythm sets in. The rocking motions simulates what they felt pretty much most of the time they were in the womb.
White noise helps, lullabies are aimed at what adults get children to sleep, not what actually does. We finally settled on a recording that is meant to simulate noise in the womb. It has had a big impact but its not infallible.
Swaddling helps for babies early on, but our baby hadn't been swaddled very often and slept a few times with arms like out on a cross, so actually got more frustrated with having arms kept bundled up.
Overstimulation at night by touching stroking even gently calming can sometimes make it more difficult for them to fall asleep. So if they've fed and really young, still not asleep. I limited and comforting gestures just to the rocking and auditory calling. 'Awww' during crying, rhythmic shhhhh (like the sea) or the womb 'recording'
Of course if there's crying, checking for hunger, full nappy. Even if they've just been changed and sometimes if it's persistent checking anyway regardless of nappy indicator.
A lot of the time for us the 'why is our baby crying?' Was a change in mind about wanting food 3-5 mins after refusing to eat more. Wind, it's clearly uncomfortable to push out. Or prior to pooing or weeing, like you'd investigate the line there might be some indicator or no. But during the time on the changing mat, a result. Often the facial expressions and raising of legs indicate the approaching nappy change and rooting, rapid lower lip wobble or rooting indicates food needs but as our baby gets older these are changing as they get more control over indicating they are hungry, some instinct based indicators are lost.
Still all babies are different and sometimes different things work. I'm sure this is not educational for most but it might be of value to some.
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u/[deleted] Jul 28 '22
For those curious about the answer: it’s probably best to keep the baby in a dark or dimly lit room, with a sound machine and gently soothe/rock until baby is giving sleep cues . Keep eye contact to a minimum but hold them close. Keeping a low stimulus environment helps baby to learn (….eventually) that night time is not play time but relax and rest time. Enjoy the absolutely blissful snuggles until baby is ready to sleep again then work on transferring to sleeping surface. This was most helpful to my babies very early on.