Share your pearls of wisdom about babies' sleep with Pampers and you could win a £200 John Lewis voucher NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

We’ve been asked by Pampers to find out what Mumsnetters’ pearls of wisdom are for getting your little one to sleep as much as they need.

Pampers say “Getting your baby to sleep as much as they need is the holy grail for parents, and everyone loves hearing their baby wake up in the morning with a giggle. Whether it’s teething, wind, or a damp nappy that’s disrupting those golden hours, every parent has their own tried and tested methods to help guarantee their little one has a restful slumber. Pampers Baby-Dry nappies with Micro PearlsTM stay up to 2 times drier than ordinary nappies, giving your baby the sleep they need to wake up giggling.”

Pampers are asking Mumsnetters to share their own pearls of wisdom for babies' sleep. They want you to post the useful nuggets of advice, the most valuable tips, which worked for your baby and which could help another baby to get a bit more shut-eye.

Whatever your top baby sleep tips are, Pampers would love to hear them.

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will receive a £200 John Lewis voucher.

Please note your comments may be included on Pampers social media channels, and possibly elsewhere, so please only post if you're comfortable with this.

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

PS: To be in with the chance of winning a pack of Pampers Baby-Dry visit facebook.com/PampersUKIre or tweet @Pampers_UK and use #BabySleep and nominate another parent to do the same to help more babies get enough sleep! See facebook.com/PampersUKIre for T&Cs.

Understanding your baby is unique and watching to see what soothes them best... then matching that with a routine so they know what's coming next. I sing my DD to sleep and she is the only person in the world who likes my singing... Started with lullabies, but it's mainly the Spiderman theme tune that works best!

Patience. From what I can tell so far, a lot of parenting is about patience and sleep is no different.

It is random. Some sleep and some don't. Do whatever you need to do to stay sane until they get older and the thought of snuggling up next to you to go to sleep is abhorant to them...... and then you will miss their snuggly cuddles.
COI mum of 4 boys. 2 who slept and 2 who didn't and I have no idea why.

Have a routine, it seriously helps. If the routine is upset for a prolonged period, I find this is the main cause of lack of sleep in my kids.

All babies need is love and plenty of hugs. You can't spoil them. Every baby is so different. Try and relax at bed time and do what feels natural to you. My 2 are such different sleepers I don't think there's one single sure way of getting babies to sleep!

A gentle pat to the dog, a kiss to daddy (if he's not giving the bath tonight) and upstairs we go. Bath, massage and that's both mummy and baby in their respective pyjamas. A final feed with dim lights, white noises and his soft toy in his hand, he soon dozes off and I release him from my arms into his bed.
Based on how long this all takes, I may or not go back downstairs. It's usually my chance to relax with a book before falling asleep.
It doesn't matter how many times I will wake up during the night (feed, nappy, wind and everything all over again), if I get to sleep between 8:00 and 9:00 am the following morning : I'm a happy mummy.

like fish88 I feed to sleep but then rock baby whilst asleep to dislodge any trapped wind which would otherwise awaken him an hour later. Sometimes we just cuddle to sleep, it depends how tired he is.

Keep repeating the mantra 'this too shall pass'. They aren't going to be terrible sleepers when they are teenagers are they?

We started a sleep routine with DD1 when she's about 1. She was a fantastic sleeper before even though she didn't go to bed as a baby until we do. DD2 is 4mo and she goes to bed with a routine with DD1. She didn't sleep as well as DD2. It's just how they are. Nothing to do with me or routine. DD2 sleeps through occasionally, but most nights she wakes up once, some twice. But I know she won't be like this forever.

Not so much a tip about getting a baby to sleep, but keeping them asleep I would definitely say not to try and block out all the background noise. No creeping around and having the TV turned down, keep the noise there and they will get used to it - handy if you've got three sharing a room!

Also not to go in every time they stir. DD1 always woke at around 5am and I would hear her on the monitor snuffling around. If I went in she would wake properly and that would be it for the day, if I left her after about 15 minutes she'd drift back off to sleep and go through till 7. I realise this doesn't work with all children! But I do think sometimes we jump in to quickly and wake them fully.

DD would NOT be put down awake, Would have to fall asleep being held but would always wake as you transferred her to moses basket/cot.....Until someone gave me the tip of warming up her bed with a hot water bottle then putting her down, Worked like a charm.

Some babies will sleep, whatever you do.
Some babies can be trained to sleep
Some babies WILL NOT sleep, whatever you do/don't do.

If you have one of the last type, never dispair - it WILL get better, do what you need to do to get through it.

Be realistic. A baby is most definitely going to wake at some point in the night whereas a kid might sleep through and just wake up to go to the toilet. So I base my routine around that and make sure I get enough sleep too. A grouchy sleep-deprived mum is not the best person to talk to haha.

I find the best thing to do is be strict with rules and also make sure that they take naps if they need to during the day.

I find nap time very very important and it surprises me when other mothers don't take it as seriously as I do. Kids naturally take a while to go to sleep and this always changes. So DS might go to sleep at 8.30pm today, but this may take until 9pm tomorrow. It's not set in stone. Nap-time is a very important part in my routine for the kids.

smae routine for different children. one was a sleeper, the other not. nothing worked for the non sleeper other than boob and co-sleeping when she was old enough. we often accidently coslept, with her across my knees while I slept sitting up in bed having fallen asleep feeding her.

A bath before bed, clean nappy and pyjamas then a dark room, a lovely snuggle to relax baby and then let them settle themselves to sleep. I found if I rocked my dc to sleep they couldn't settle themselves when they inevitably woke later. However, when they had gone to sleep naturally they would wake, have a stretch and settle again.

Naps naps naps. And food

I followed my baby's cues and learnt how to recognise her early tired signs, so I could put her to bed easily. I think it makes sense to respond to their emotions/ moods, rather than force a routine on them.

Breastfeeding is such an easy way to calm an over tired baby.

The Troll bedside cot is really useful for co sleeping and breastfeeding.

Let your baby sleep when she wants to sleep. She'll get into her own routine and eventually sleep through without needing any sleep training.

Make sure she is dressed appropriately and try different things. Not all babies like grobags or quilts for example. Mine loves to move around in her sleep and needs to be in a fleecesuit instead of using quilts or blankets.

Spending time relaxing together at bedtime helps. A nice soothing bath, followed by milk, a cuddle and a story. It's good for Mummy too!

A massage before bed always meant a good sleep for our baby.

Do whatever it takes to get everyone to sleep. Feeding to sleep is not a life sentence, and change baby's nappy before the dream feed!

Some sort of no-fuss routine worked well with my two. Usually stories, jimmies, milk and lights out.

I'd recommend just accepting that babies and small children wake up and usually need a bit of help getting back to bed or sleep.

Routine. Book, feed and bed all done in bedroom so baby knows its bedtime.