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 Sleep

• Newborn wakes up whenever he's put in the moses basket? Use the warming qualities of your bottom: take out the mattress and sit on it for a few minutes before you put the baby down. (JimmyMcNulty)
• Don't quieten down when your baby sleeps. The radio - or Hoover - was always on when my two were tiny. Now they sleep through nearly anything. (Rainbow)
• Keep a pile of books by the bed from an early age - my three year old wakes up and happily "reads" for half an hour or more before calling out for us. (mamasaid)
• If your baby falls asleep during feeding, but always wakes when you put him in his cot/pram, put a muslin under him during the feed and transfer this with him. Then he'll still have some of Mummy's warmth and smell with him when you put him down. (Mo2)
• I relax bedtime and bathtime rules for my school age children at weekends. It makes them realise I am strict for a reason on schoolnight rather than just being strict. (tigermoth)
• At the end of the day, get ready for bed before logging on to mumsnet. It's so much nicer to get straight into bed when you realise how late it is! (flibertyplus2)
• Once a week, go to bed at the same time as your children. (Smellen)
• Always sing the same lullaby before leaving a child's room. They soon learn that this song means you are about to go and that they need to settle down to sleep. I used this until my girls were 8 and it never failed! (stressed out)
• If your child has managed to master unzipping their Grobag and escaping, turn the Grobag inside out. It's a bit trickier zipping it up, but next to impossible for little ones to undo! (Susanlamb)
• If your child's constantly waking because their duvet's fallen off and they're cold, try laying the duvet across the bed, rather than lengthways, and tucking it in tight. Then they stay warm all night (unless they're very tall, in which case they may complain of cold feet!) (Cll)
• Having trouble swaddling effectively? Wrap them up nice and tight and secure with a nappy nippa! Escapologists will be foiled. (PomsMum)
• Invest in blackout curtains. They meant we got a bit of extra sleep, especially in the first few months. (elbereth73)
• Buy a bigger duvet for your bed. That way, when little one's get in the middle and you get shunted to the edge of the mattress, you'll have some extra covers (hotchocscot)
• To get your children to go to bed at a reasonable time, tell them that whoever has finished their bath, teeth & pajamas first will get more 'reading time' in bed, whilst the others subsequently get themselves done. (PestoMonster)
• keep a plastic cup upstairs at night ready for those midnight drink requests from your children. Got to be better than trailing downstairs! (Yorkiegirl)
• If your baby is unable to get to sleep, try leaving the radio on low in their room - classic FM is ideal. (Monty)
• A red light bulb is great for middle of the night changes and feeds. Bright enough to see what you are doing but dim enough to avoid the startle factor! (MrsApron)
• Put a pillowcase over the top half of the cot mattress. This saves changing the sheets every time baby's sick, you just change the pillowcase instead. (pandagirl03)
• If your child has trouble getting to sleep, give them a tape-recorder to listen to stories or songs. They'll be asleep long before the tape is finished! (katiemum)
• Put a shaving mirror over your baby's cot. It kept our 6 month old amused in the mornings and provided a few extra minutes lie-in time. (Nancy)
• A magic lantern that projects images on the walls and ceiling instantly creates the perfect 'winding down' atmosphere at bedtime and creates a home-link environment when we're on holiday. (charliemouse2)
• If your baby is unhappy to settle in their own room, try using a portable TV or radio upstairs. Have it on the same programme that you were listening to downstairs so the sound is familiar. (giddy1)
• If your children are early rises and you tend to sit them in front of the TV until you come round, as hard as it may seem, try banning morning TV. My kids immediately started sleeping in longer! (bon)
• To get a new-born off to sleep, it's worth trying things even if they seem a bit daft: try some 'white' noise in the background. Vacuum cleaner works but hairdryer is more portable. (alLIOluia)
• For children suffering from nightmares, ask them what they are about and then make a sign for their door saying e.g. NO snakes allowed! (lmao24x7)
• If your baby won't settle, try switching the hairdryer on. My baby stops crying immediately. (Erinjanesmum)
• If your baby falls asleep while feeding, wake them up slightly before putting them down to sleep so they learn how to put themselves to sleep with out any props. It saves the trauma of controlled crying later on. (LoubiLou04)
• Always follow a good night-time routine, eg bath, milk, story, bed. I didn't do this with my son and paid the price, but with my daughter we have stuck to this routine and she has(so far) always slept through the night. (ginastitch)
• If your child is reluctant to sleep in his bed, try putting his matress on the floor and let him sleep there instead - it makes bedtime seem more like an adventure. (gtyrell)
• Place a ticking clock in close (but safe) proximity of a crying baby - the rythmic tick tock helps soothe him/ her to sleep. (Jampot)
• For stopping night-time fears, I've found the Tweenies video 'Night Time Magic' absolutely wonderful. It goes through different imagined problems and has some great songs. (nmd)
• For babies that wake at night because they've lost a dummy invest in a dummy strap. This attaches to the dummy at one end and to the baby's clothes/ sleeping bag at the other and stops all the scrabbling about in the dark. (Lyndap)
• If you are constantly being disturbed by telesales people disturb when you're trying to put the kids to bed, register your UK landline or mobile with the Telephone Preference Service (http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/) to get put on the Don't Call List. Peaceful evenings at last! (GeorginaA)
• Invest in a 'swaddleme', a fleece wrap for newborn babies - they truly are a lifesaver when your baby won't settle. They are available from the PHP catalogue(Perfectly Happy People) (Happy1)
• In the hot weather, you can keep your children (and yourself) cool by taking a cold water bottle to bed - if your feet are cool so will be the rest of you. (jampot)
• If your baby won't go to sleep, try playing a recording of the washing machine... it worked for us! (Ixel)
• If your baby is soothed to sleep by white noise such as the sound of the hoover or the tumble dryer, make a tape-recording of the sound so that you can still play it at times when it's not convenient to have the hoover or tumble-dryer on. (Dinosaur)
• If you're struggling to soothe a newborn baby that's crying - try turning on the vacuum cleaner. Don't ask me why this stops them crying, but more often than not it worked for us. (juanita)
• If your newborn always falls asleep halfway through feeding, try changing them. This usually wakes them up enough to finish the feed. (chrissmith89)
• Gently stroking a baby who won't sleep on the nose downwards encourages the baby to close his/ her eyes and fall asleep. (Sexgoddess)
• I have plugged a digital timer, into a socket with a night light in it. When the light comes on in the morning, my girls know that they can get up and come into our room. What they don't know yet, is that it's set for a later time at weekends! (Littlemissbusy)
• My toddler was often waking up really early, not knowing whether it was time to get up. I've solved this by putting a lamp in the hall onto a time switch. We leave the lamp on all night and he knows that if it is still on it's not time to get up and so goes back to his bed. (ScotDot)
• Invest in a baby sleeping bag - they're brilliant for night-time feeds as the baby stays warm & doen't get put back into cold sheets afterwards. (Tetley)
• Put a t-shirt that smells of you in the cot with your newborn. It helps them to fall alseep. (Heleen)
• To assist a speedy transfer from bath to bed the first one who is ready in pyjamas with teeth brushed gets to choose the first story. (mellie)
• To keep my constantly re-appearing toddler in his room at bedtime, I simply apply a coating of olive oil to the back of the door handle. He can't open the door, and means I can avoid 'locking' him in the room. (mumof2toddlers)
• A recent survey revealed that on average, new mothers sleep for only four hours a night in the first four months of their child's life. (The Times)
• It may sound obvious but try singing to your baby at bedtime. Something soothing can help calm them down and therefore learn to fall asleep on their own. I found this out accidentally when my child was about six months old! (Rosy)
• Six percent of three year olds regularly sleep in their parents beds. (The Daily Mirror)
• If you have a baby or toddler who is not sleeping very well put two or three drops of lavender oil on their pyjamas or sheet/pillow - it works wonders with my four (and their mum and dad. (Jennyrowan)
• Don't be quiet when your baby sleeps. I always saw nap time as the perfect opportunity to get some housework done even hoovering, when my kids were tiny. Now they sleep through almost anything. My sister turned down the TV and spoke in whispers and her daughter wakes up if a flooboard squeaks. (rainbow)
• When your children are reluctant to go to bed try the race up the stairs event. This involves a "ready, steady, go" a lot of scrambling and, of course, a victory for the children. My son enjoys this so much, he has devised a points system and a league table. (Needless to say I'm up for relegation soon). (Sylvev)
• Blackout blinds are a great way to keep young children asleep for longer especially now that days are getting lighter! (rosa)
• If your pre-schooler wakes you at the crack of dawn invent a toy angel/fairy. Every night, while they are asleep, the toy angel leaves a different toy at the top of their cot/bed and in the morning, they can play with it - while you get a lie in. (Tom)
• If your baby falls asleep during feeding, but always wakes when you put him in his cot/pram, put a muslin/blanket under him during the feed and transfer this with him, then he'll still have some of your warmth and smell with him when you put him down. (Mo2)
• I often find the 'white-out' method is successful for soothing a baby. Basically I hang a white sheet over the hood of the pram/pushchair so that is all that baby can see. Holding baby over your shoulder and standing with your back to a white wall has the same effect and is especially useful when sometimes they seem to become 'overstimulated' and fretful. (Lellie)
• If you decide to do controlled crying treat yourself to a magazine/book, and in the five minute intervals sit up somewhere outside your bedroom and read. It sounds callous, but it's better than just lying awake listening to them cry (MP4)
• When your child first moves into a big bed, or in unfamiliar beds on holiday, use a rolled up towel under the sheet at the side of the mattress to stop them rolling out. (batey)
• If your child uses a dummy, put 3 or 4 around the cot. If she wakes in the night, she is bound to find one and you won't be woken.
• Invest in a baby sleeping bag if you're worried about your child rolling over at night. They can not be kicked off, nor can the baby pull them up over their heads.
• As soon as you have a baby buy a Baby Soother tape - one that supposedly mimics the sounds in the womb. I used one - and have been rewarded with 3 children who've all slept well. I promise I don't have shares in the company! (JaneS)
• Never tiptoe around sleeping babies. Put the radio on, talk normally and keep them used to lots of noise (after all the womb is a noisy environment). Our two kids will sleep through anything now.
• If your new baby won't settle in his/her Moses basket, try putting a worn T shirt with breast milk on it in the basket first. They'll smell you and should feel secure enough to drop off to sleep.
• Buy the Baby Soother tape and use it precisely according to the notes. It makes a strange womb-like noise which soothes your baby to sleep. But it only works up to 10 weeks. (JaneS)
• If your child wakes at night because she has lost her dummy try leaving three or four dummies around the cot. She is bound to find one of them and you might get a few extra hours of precious sleep.
• If you find after a night feed your semi-sleeping baby wakes when being returned to the cot, use a small cloth (muslin) under their head - it means that their head doesn't go back on to a cold sheet in the cot and they are less likely to wake up.
• Invest in a baby sleeping bag if you're worried about your child rolling over at night. They can not be kicked off, nor can the baby pull them up over their heads.
• Don't try to force a toddler to move from a cot to a bed. Set up a bed in the room along with the cot, put some toys on it and make up the bed and wait for your toddler to show an interest in napping on it. It works sooner than you would think.
• Instead of moving a child from a cot to an ordinary bed, buy one of the bed combinations with a ladder to the top and a desk, etc underneath. They can't wait to get out of the cot to climb the ladder.
• If your baby has a blocked up nose and is having trouble sleeping, buy a pipette bottle and some sachets of saline solution from the chemist and squirt a bit up each nostril before bedtime. It loosens everything up and she'll be able to breathe more easily.
• After months of broken sleep - always ending up with our toddler coming into bed with us at some point in the night - we gave in and allowed her to start the night with us. We got a less interrupted sleep and after a few repeats felt able to start the sleep training we'd been dreading.
• When your new baby starts sleeping less and needs a change of scene, try a large basket (e.g. dog basket), and line it with blankets and towels to keep out drafts. It's comfortable enough to sleep in; there is room for toys and she can see older siblings on the same level yet be protected in her own space.
• Never tiptoe around sleeping babies. Put the radio on, talk normally and keep them used to lots of noise (after all the womb is a noisy environment). Our two kids will sleep through anything now.
• My son wouldn't sleep in his own bed and always ended up in ours. In desperation I turned his bed round, so that it was facing the same way as ours and since then he's slept in it without any problems at all. It's worth a try! (Sandy)
• Take a blow up lilo in your bag and produce it for the kids to sleep on in the event of airport delay. Just one of those cheapo ones would have made so much difference. (kia)
• Put a mirror over your baby's cot - those pull out shaving ones work well. We found it kept our 6 month year old amused in the mornings and gave us crucial extra lie-in time. (Nancy)
• Keep a selection of story books by the side of your bed so that early-waking toddlers can be quietly entertained while you snooze. (Minna)
• For early risers, put a timer switch on a lamp. Explain to your kids that they can play quietly if they wake up early, but can only come to your room when the special light comes on. It worked for us. (Zaria)
• If your child's sleeping/eating problems are driving you insane, just keep repeating the mantra, 'it's only a phase'. It's true and it calms you down. (Cc)
• To help with the bedtime routine, read a story that ends with going to bed or having a nap. There are lots to choose from but two of our favourites are Hairy Maclary and Zachery Quack and Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy. (ab)
• To wake up a sleepy older child in the morning, whisper the words 'Pokemon' 'S Club 7' 'Ice cream' or whatever he's into directly in his ear, then keep muttering under your breath as you walk away. Curiosity soon wakes him up. (TigerMoth)
• Try singing to your baby at bedtime. Something soothing can help calm them down and therefore learn to fall asleep on their own. I found this out accidentally when my child was about 6 months old! (Rosy)
• Up to 8-10 weeks old, we had to hold our daughter to get her off to sleep, but she would immediately waken on being laid down. A friend advised that pre-warming her bottom sheet, particularly around the head area, might reduce any cold shock that she experienced - although she occasionally still woke, she quickly settled back to sleep (. Lolita)
• I've found that once you have your toddler in a sleeping routine you're happy with, it's best not to fuss with that routine even once. I let my toddler sleep in my bed one night when I had trouble putting him down, and it took three difficult weeks to get him to sleep on his own again. (KAM)
• When your child goes into a bed instead of a cot and has a duvet, use a sheet underneath it to tuck her/him in. This prevents falls out of bed and, in the winter especially, provides extra warmth. (Cas)
• When my son was ready to move from a cot to a bed, we decided to coincide it with introducing the 'Rabbit Ears' Clock. This taught him to stay in his room in the early mornings playing with his toys until the rabbit's ears popped up. It was a Godsend to us and still works today - he is now five. (JandMsmum)
• Reggae music has a calming effect on children. Every night I dance with my baby daughter in my arms to a favourite album, and she's always asleep by the third track. It also works in the car - it calms everyone down and is so much nicer for parents to listen to than those awful jingly jangly kiddy tapes. (lusardi)
• If your child wakes because she's lost her dummy, put three or four near her in the cot. If her dummy falls out of her mouth during the night she can always find another one. (natjojo)
• Sing the same lullaby every night to your child from an early age. By becoming part of their routine, it will help them to recognise - and accept - that it's bedtime. (miabl2)