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.

I think accepting that the baby won't always sleep or will be up several times in a night was the best way for me to cope. Of course I do everything I can to make her comfortable and we ensured we had a bedtime routine from about 8 weeks but recognising all babies are different and trying not to worry were key to me relaxing and not worrying other children were sleeping better

Co sleeping was the only thing that kept/keeps me sane with DC's 2 (6) and 3(18 months). A shock after having DC 1 who slept through from 6 weeks.

Routine - bath then into pjs, milk and a story and down into a warm, quiet, darkened room. Still wake up at 6am though!

Swaddling has been amazing for DS3. Swaddle, dummy - and he's out for the count.

Without the swaddle he repeatedly pulls his ears / hair/ lamps himself in the face and makes himself cry. He is 6 months and I still swaddle him every night

Realise that this stage is so short in the scheme of things and one day soon they won't be babies and won't need you there all the time. Let your baby sleep on you, be there as let them be with you as much as they need you.

As with most things baby related - remember, baby hasn't read the manual! Every child is different so don't feel bad if something doesn't work. The only thing which helped with DD (who at 4 still doesn't sleep through, some kids just don't) is quiet time before bed, stories and us relaxing.

Oh and if you do by any chance have a baby who sleeps, please don't brag about it, some of us may have to put exlax in your coffee just to keep our sanity!!!!!!!

In the very early day - go with it. Your baby will not be a poor sleeper for life if you don't get them sleeping through by 6 weeks old, contrary to how it feels at the time.

Have an evening routine. We had television - In the Night Garden was soporific, then bath, story and bed. we ahd all of these excluding ITNG from a very early age - a few months, so they knew what to expect. When I had the luxury of time with my first I also had a daytime sleep routine. We would snuggle up with a few books, then go for a sleep.

If they are early wakers (as in five o'clock), or the sleep pattern suddenly switches to wake earlier, consider if it is too cold. Putting on the heating half an hour before they usually woke helped for us.

Sleep breeds sleep. Seems to work everytime with us.

Co sleeping has been a saviour with my second DS. He's always reassured by me being right next to him.

Breast-feeding on demand, and co-sleeping. And no routine. I just followed his cues - he slept when he was tired. Far better to just do what his body was telling him as opposed to force an unnatural rhythm on him. I accept I was able to do this as I didn't have to go out to work. Don't expect anything, just go with the flow.

routine, routine routine. Wether its bath stories then bed or whatever just stick to it. And relax

Routine: bath, bottle, bum change, bed. If we put him to bed even half an hour later than his normal bedtime (~6.30pm) he becomes grumpy so maintaining a routine allows him to learn when bedtime is. Additionally we ensure the bedroom is dark and wind the mobile up at night-time bedtime but not for a nap in his cot. DS is 27weeks and has slept through since 7weeks (started routine at 3 weeks), but this method was tried and tested with his half-siblings (8yo and 10yo) and worked (works) with them too.

I used to have a special routine with both of my children feeding, bath, baby massage and then bed with soothing music. They would go to bed at the same time, around 6pm and if they woke up for the last feed I would feed them in the dark, without making noise so they would go back to sleep easily.

I think routine is important - we do the 4 B's : Bath, Boob; Book; Bed!

It hasn't been easy though, DS only started sleeping well from 9 months. DD seems slightly more content and at 4 months will generally go down ok waking every 4 hours for a feed.
We have found white noise helps with her - seems to settle her if she stirs.

Oh and I'd recommend Gro bags!

We use pampers baby dry as they really do keep my daughter dry all night. We stick to a routine of bath, but of a play then books and bed. If she starts to stand up in her cot I stroke her tummy or back and she normally goes off to sleep, I then keep my hand there a bit longer and creep out!

My advice is that there's a lot of advice out there, but your baby hasn't necessarily read it.

My first was sleeping through by 3 months. My second didn't get there until 3 years.

Right from the start we developed a routine. My son would have a warm bath and then a story, even when he was a baby.I Ithink the combination of warmth and a gentle voice helped greatly.

Try a warm bath and putting a worn cotton t shirt or similar on the baby's pillow,the familiar smell will comfort the baby ,thus aiding a good restful sleep .

Routine is KEY! Try and keep it the same everynight and don't deviate or mix it up as they thrive on routine. Bottle, bath, story, lights out. I always start LO's bottle before bath but she never take it all so i take it upstairs with us and it helps her to drift off to sleep by topping her up as she's lying down in her crib.

Don't tiptoe round and keep quiet whilst they're sleeping. They need to be able to accept normal family noise.

Keep to a routine and make bedtime normal and stress free.

Tea, warm bath, little play, story and bed :)

for me it was routine, routine and routine. For the first 11 weeks our Daughter never slept at night, she had terrible collic and we ended up not even bothering to get into bed. On week 11 we realised that she had fallen asleep, she slept for 7 hours straight which was a result for us, so the next night we carefully repeated everything in the same order at the same time and bingo it worked! we stayed with this routine and in the end we found our Daughter remained a good sleeper from 7pm to 9am until she started infant school!

a warm bath and warm milk always do the trick

Try to learn the difference between a hungry cry, and a frustrated, tired cry. Always responding to the latter with milk will leave you with a problem after eleven months.......

Learn about baby sleep patterns. I found the information in Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems so helpful. Knowing what's happening will save your sanity and help you devise a solution, when you can't tell which way is up!

make the environment really calm before bedtime, warm drink, singing to your baby and dark but not too dark.