Here you are, super tired, ready to pass out because your sweet little newborn baby takes up every bit of your day... You go in to lay him down in his nice quiet nursery bedroom (or if you are like me, in his crib that was RIGHT NEXT TO MY BED!) and...he doesn't go to sleep! Why why why??!!! The thing is,

babies don't like silence!

As a parent, we think, "What would I like when I go to bed?"... silence, right? Well, if you have just been inside of a tight area with lots of movement, voices, and noise, you wouldn't feel comfortable in an environment that is completely quiet, it would be very very strange. We are all creatures of habit, and with this, realize that baby wants to be in an environment he is used to, mommy's tummy! (or something very similar). During the time they were in mommy's tummy, they heard a lot of different sounds from your heartbeat, your voice, all of the other people around you talking, you running the vacuum cleaner when cleaning the house, etc. ... These are all comforting sounds for newborns.

So... you may ask now, "How do I get my baby to sleep!?" With this knowledge, what has worked for me...

Tip #1 - Add Noise!

There are many items out there for sale that make noises that babies love.. They have anything from heartbeat noises to plain old white noise. Get one of these sweet machines in the room next to the crib and turn it on each night! It can be on a timer if you are not wanting it on all night.

Tip #2 - Swaddles are KEY.

The fact that baby has been snug in your tummy for 40 weeks (give or take)! That is a lot of time to get used to being in tight quarters. Now, they are no longer contained, and lets be honest, that is a bit unnerving for a new little person. Something that has worked with my two boys was wrapping them nice and snug in a snug blanket. Swaddle blankets work WONDERS! They have you place baby down with his arms to his sides and wrap the stretch fabric around him perfectly and some have Velcro to keep them in place. If you talk with the nurses that helped you with your new little sweetheart in the hospital, they will tell you that baby sleeps better when he is wrapped up snug. There are some great tutorials out there on how to do this. Or, if you have the ability, ask that friendly nurse to show you just how to do it yourself with a nice stretch blanket. 

Tip #3 - Vibration or slow steady movement.

Lastly, movement... This is something that your newborn has had his entire time in your tummy. When you walked, you swayed side to side. When you were in a car, you had vibration... and I'm sure you remember, every night when it was time for bed, you would roll over on your side with a nice pillow underneath your belly and you would get nice and comfortable (or at least as comfortable as you could with your aches and pains of pregnancy) and then all of the sudden, baby is awake and you aren't getting any sleep with him kicking your insides like the new punter on the football team! So, knowing this, realizing that when you hold baby in those late night hours before bed, this is when movement really gets them sleepy. You may find it helpful to find a vibration mat or something similar that you can use for a small bit of time while baby is getting sleepy.

Now you know the combination of things I did to get my newborn to sleep at night. These are very very useful tools for a new mother and even a photographer like me! Being a newborn and children's photographer (based out of Arizona), there are times when I really need baby to be sleepy when attempting to pose newborns in sweet little positions to look just so. These are times when using these tips and tricks to get baby to sleep really come in handy!

Now, every night, make it your routine. Feed baby, change his diaper, swaddle or wrap him nice and snug, sway him off to sleep while your heartbeat or white noise machine is lulling him to sleep in the background, and just as his eyes start getting heavy, lie him down on his back in his crib and RUN TO BED TO GET SOME REST!!!! YOU ONLY HAVE 2-4 HOURS BEFORE HE IS READY TO EAT AGAIN!!...Good luck mommies! ... and if you have any other tips and tricks too, feel free to list them in the comments below!

Now that you know how to get baby fast asleep, you may think it's time you had some beautiful portraits of this beautiful baby of yours! Click the link below to book with me today!