Top 10 tips for settling your baby to sleep

"Watch for early tired signs or cues. This can include yawning, grizzling, frowning, fist clenching and rubbing at the eyes or pulling at ears. If you miss these early cues, your baby will become overtired and much harder to settle.” – Jane Lawless, mum to Frankie, age 13 months. 
 

"Don't be tempted to let your baby cry it out. Babies cry to communicate so how you respond to them is key, especially in the early months. Feed, pat, rock, play music, walk the pram - whatever works, but most of all don't have huge expectations on your bub to sleep through the night early on as it takes time. Every baby is different but remember they need our help and even though it's tiring it’s not a life sentence. Parenting by Heart by Pinky McKay or Baby on Board by Dr Howard Chilton's are great resources." - Natalie Hudson, prenatal yoga teacher and mum to Milla, 2.
 

"Whole books are written on settling techniques and I’m no expert but there are a couple of golden rules. The routine for a newborn is basically feed (about one hour initially), play (about 15-30 minutes in the early weeks), then sleep. They should only be up for a total of one hour at a time during the day and straight back to bed after a feed at night. The one really important thing I got wrong initially was that I would try and feed or rock the baby to sleep. Bad move. You have to put them down to bed awake so they can learn how to put themselves to sleep." - Gail Virgona, mum to Luca, 5 and Leo, 2.
 

"Establish an evening routine with your bub so they start to recognise when it’s getting close to bedtime. Start winding them down gently with a feed, warm bath, a massage, some bedtime stories and a few lullabies. Babies love familiarity and they like to know what to expect.” – Hazel Johnston, mum to Ella, 7.  
 

'Someone once gave me this piece of advice on babies and sleeping:It’s only a sleeping problem if you’re unhappy with the sleeping situation’. When you’re deprived of sleep, it’s very easy to become slightly obsessed about how much your baby is sleeping. Lots of people have views on where baby should sleep, how long baby should sleep and when baby should start sleeping through the night. In reality, I don’t believe there is any one ‘right’ way to approach baby’s sleep. Don’t worry what other people think: if you’re happy with how you and baby are sleeping, don’t feel pressured to change." - Nicole Avery, blogger at planningwithkids.com and mum of five.
 

“Don’t try too many settling techniques at once. If you’re trying to rock your baby to sleep, for instance, give it 10 minutes and if it’s not working, then have a little break and try something else, such as walking up and down or singing. If you try lots of different techniques within a short space of time you may overstimulate your baby and cause them to become even more wound up.” – Vicky Hall, mum to Gemma, 8, and Alexandra, 3.
 

“Use process of elimination when trying to determine what might be wrong with your bub. Are they too hot or cold? Do they have a wet nappy? Babies cry to let you know that something is wrong. It may just be that your baby is feeling lonely and wants to know you’re near. When my daughter was upset and wouldn’t settle, my husband would place her skin-to-skin on his chest and lie back and watch television with the sound down low, and she would fall asleep on him every time.” – Carole Seidlitz, mum to Gillian, 9.
 

“Try not to get hung up on routines. Babies change so fast in the first year that I found it was always best to go with the flow. Sometimes my son would have a few days of really unsettled sleep and in hindsight it was usually because he was teething, had had his vaccinations, was going through a new developmental stage or was just getting a little older and falling into a new pattern. I always let him lead the way and eventually he fell into his own routines. I worked my schedule around him too – if he wanted to sleep, I let him sleep til he woke. I didn’t wake him up so I could go to an appointment or the shops. He was a very happy and relaxed baby as a result.” - Denise McGrath, mum to Cedar, 3.
 

“White noise can really help a baby to sleep. You can buy CDs or download them from iTunes. Setting the radio so it’s tuned between stations also works well, as does a fan. Babies are used to hearing a loud whooshing sound in the womb and I think this reminds them of it. It also has the added bonus of blocking out noise outside their room.” – Geraldine Beauman, mum to Robbie, 14, and Liam, 7.
 

"When all the tips and tricks don't work - and sometimes they just don't - relax and enjoy your baby!" - Vanessa Colyer-Tay, mum to Meika, 16 months.