5 Tips To Get Newborn Sleep Longer

Fortunately, we got hold of ourselves well in time, equipped ourselves with some key newborn sleep realities, tried a few things, and implemented it to the best of our abilities which resulted in sound sleeps at nights and a happier baby during the day.

Tip #1 – Swaddle Your Baby

Till five months, babies have a startle reflex, in which they feel as if they are falling. The vibe of falling jerks them causing them to wake up. Swaddling keeps infants from frightening themselves, helping the baby to rest more. Ensure to swaddle the baby cozily.

I will recommend Muslin Swaddle Wraps & PEUBUD Swaddle Pod. Muslin is a natural fiber and is very soft for a baby’s skin. Further, it is stretchable and breathable. Swaddle Pod is helpful as one doesn’t have to spend time learning how to swaddle a baby.

Regardless of whether your child appears to hate the wrap-up, I would still recommend continuing attempting. Do understand that it is a natural inclination for an infant to appreciate a coziness around them since that’s how they were in the womb.

We quit wrapping up once Aveer could routinely get his arms out and turn over. We kept on utilizing HALO sleep sack which we wrapped up around his body, forgetting about his arms.

Tip #2 – Dream Feed

Exactly as it sounds, dream feed means feeding your newborn when they are still asleep. Along with that, you need to take care to give the feed to the baby just before you go to bed. It is good if both of these things coincide. It helps by ensuring the baby doesn’t get up once you have dozed off.

Isn’t it frustrating, you just went to bed and your baby wakes up?

The dream feed can enable your infant to rest for more while you rest. We utilized it until about age 6 months. After this, it began to disturb the sleep.

By and large, if your baby can sleep for 3-4 hours during the night in the first 6 weeks, it is great! From 6-12 weeks a baby can get a 4-6 hour sleep at a stretch at times for a few babies it can go up till 8-9 hour.

Generally getting newborns to sleep through the night refers to a 6 hour stretch of rest. An infant’s stomach is small hence I used to feed every 2-2.5 hours during the day, bunch feed in the evening, AND dream feed at night. The more calories you can give during the day, the less they may require at night.

One more thing which we did was to express the milk. It gave us a chance to take turns and feed the baby. It was really helpful as this meant one of us was asleep for a min of 5 hours at a stretch. I must admit dream feed along with the help from your better half can work wonders.

I am also mentioning a schedule for the baby, we followed for the first three months:

• 7:00 am – Good Morning, feed, play
• 8:00 am – Bathing and massage
• 8:30 am – Feed, sleep
• 10:00 am – Feed, play
• 11:30 am – Sleep
• 1:00 pm – Feed, play
• 2:30 pm – Sleep
• 4:00 pm – Feed, play
• 5:30 pm – Sleep
• 7:00 – Feed, play
• 8:30 pm – Feed (bunch feed), sleep
• 10:30 pm – Dream feed
• 10:30 pm – 7 am – night feeds as required.

Tip #3 – 2 To 2.5hours Sleep At A Stretch In A Day

I know it’s very difficult to wake an innocent and sleepy newborn, however, sleeping excessively for a long stretch during the day can hamper night sleep. We used to ensure not to let Aveer sleep more than a 2 – 2.5hour mark. I would feel free to wake him up, feed him, keep him awake for some time, and afterward lay him down for another snooze.

If you think your baby needs some more time to sleep and want to increase the time limit to 2.5 hours, please do so. Planning sleeps during the day will enable your baby to rest better around during the night. It additionally empowers you to give more feedings during the day, which is extremely useful.

There were, obviously, times where Aveer was overtired and required a little recuperation snooze. We used to let him be and afterward began refocusing with our day by day schedule.

Tip #4 – White Noise

New noises are attractive to the baby and older noises soothing. Hence, if your baby is tuning in to all the fun going on in the house it tends to be difficult to nod off and stay asleep.

As a newborn photographer, I always had a white noise devise with me which really helped. You can also use white noise, it’s worthwhile investing in one when you see your baby having a sound sleep every time he/she goes to bed. I recommend Baby Shusher. I have used it personally and can vouch for its quality. It is also very portable and sleek and really helps while travelling. You don’t have to tell your friends and relatives to be quiet while making baby sleep. 

You can also place a table fan on medium in the infant’s room. Ensure it’s not straightforwardly close to the baby and it doesn’t blow on him/her or sit excessively near his delicate ears. 

Tip #5 – Feed, Wake, Sleep

This is known as Feed, Wake and Sleep cycle. The newborn wakes up from sleep and takes a feed. Then it plays for a while and has that energy as well. After sometime newborn again returns to sleep…

This cycle is very helpful.

• It energizes the newborn once he/she is awake.
• Baby generally takes a full feed before getting fully awake as there are no other distractions.
• It helps baby not to associate feed with the sleep and only night feed can be associated with sleep.

Obviously, there were times where I fed Aveer before him getting to bed. He required it and you get to know, but generally, I tried not to make it a habit and give a feed before sleep.

Note: Babies require frequent feedings and sleep to ensure good development and growth in the initial months. I would suggest to feed your newborn as and when he/she needs it to ensure solid weight gain.

Along with this cycle, it is always advisable to make a routine. They are an excellent tool to help newborns. Routine can be anything from taking baby to his/her cot, reading bed time stories, a few cuddles, turning on the white noise to a gentle massage. Following the same routine will help your baby to respond and get used to it.

Bonus Tip – Diaper Change Strategy

The strategy is to always change the diaper before giving feed specifically at midnight. This is to ensure that child doesn’t come out of his/her sleep and is not too awake. Actually baby is partially awake while taking a feed and if you change the diaper post that, there are chances he/she may become too awake, making it difficult for you to make him/her sleep again. 

There might be chances of baby pooping right after taking feed but do understand, it happens mostly with under 4 weeks babies. With the time baby’s gut matures and he/she is able to digest the feed. That’s when you will not see any poop post the feed and you definitely know that it’s the time to ahead and change the diaper before the feed.

Also, try not to rush in if the baby crying in the night to soothe him/her after the first 6 weeks. It’s a bad habit to start with. Generally, when baby rustles at night, it often goes back to sleep all by himself/herself. Give your baby some time to adjust and settle.

I hope with these tips you will be able to ensure your baby sleeps longer at a stretch and you will also get sufficient sleep to recharge your batteries.

Let me know if it works for you or there is something else that you tried and helped you. It might help others reading this blog. 

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5 Best Books for Infants (6 months old) to Toddlers (3 years old)

I have discovered these facts in the last 2.5 years of reading to Aveer and are totally based on my journey as a Mother.

I have felt that these books ensure a smooth and engaging learning session and development of the baby.

Book #1 – PEEK-A-BOO by Ladybird Publications

Okay, so the very first recommendation which I have is of this Touch and Feel Book named PEEKABOO from Ladybird Publications.

This book has bright colors, very nice touch-and-feel elements which infants enjoy and it is a board book which is the primary thing which I have looked for whenever buying books for Aveer till now. One important thing in this book is that it has tiny flaps that can help the infant develop their motor skills as and when they try to turn those pages. It has some lovely cartoon characters which are very attractive for infants.

When Aveer was 6 months old, he just liked to flip flop the pages, touch the characters and it used to be a fun activity during the day time. When he grew 1.2 years he used to identify himself and us in the mirror and he learned different regular things like the bunny hops, the tiger roars, and the tractor does Chugh-Chugh.

And now that he is 2 years old, he has finally started identifying the objects and relating the scenarios in the book – like the baby is sitting on a hot air balloon and the hot air balloon goes in an upward direction, helicopter flies above the clouds, even about the colors – he now identifies that mamma this is a black cat, and he sees the mirror and when asked, who’s in the mirror? He says, mamma, Papa or Aveer whomsoever he can see.

So as you can see that his milestones have grown along reading this book and even now, sometimes he picks up this book for reading time!

Book #2 – Board Books by Solimo

Book #5 – SHARE by Autumn Publications

So, friends, these were my recommendations on 5 best baby books for infants (6 months) to toddlers (3 years) which are going to ensure that your investment multiplies as you will see your kids achieve so many milestones along the journey.

If you try out any of these books, do let me know in the comments below and I will love to hear your feedback! Also, let me know any other book or series of books you feel helped your baby consistently from infants to toddler years.

Happy Parenthood!

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5 Newborn Photography Session Tips for Parents

I have discovered these tips in the last 7 years of my journey as a Newborn baby photographer to ensure a smooth session and gorgeous photos.

Your newborn baby will be leading the session for me and I always go with the Baby’s flow during the session. 

Tip #1 – Don’t focus too much on a pose you wanted, focus on the moments.

There are many gorgeous newborn photographs you can see over the internet and it’s always very easy to visualize your baby in those postures or props. We do understand your willingness and desire to imitate the same, this time with your baby.

But in all actuality, your newborn baby will be leading the session and I always go with the baby’s flow during the sessions. Hence, it will always be on the baby whether they want to get into a particular pose or not. A baby might or might not. Too much stress on achieving a particular pose will make the baby irritated and an unpleasant experience for you too. We never overpower a baby’s instincts and push them into a posture or prop If they are not happy in. Though we do have a plan for babies if they feel irritated in between and to ensure they are well taken care of.

I ensure that once you get your photoshoot from us, you’ll have wonderful photographs you’ll cherish for years to come.

Tip #2 – Keep your day free.

It is very important to choose a day when you don’t have anything else to do – no gatherings, no physical checkups, no elsewhere to-be-at-a-particular time. The hectic schedules leads to stress on parents which can also be seen on baby and he/she might feel irritated. A clear schedule helps keeps parents stress free, and babies too, which leads to an extraordinary beginning to a fruitful newborn baby photoshoot.

We’ll begin in the late morning and the photoshoot can easily run around three hours – a lot of time for anything you or child need, and for us to ensure that we have captured those magical shots.

Tip #5 – A well fed baby ensures a good session

We realize that things don’t generally work out as expected (modest representation of the truth of the year for those with babies).

We suggest to feed your child a few hours before the photoshoot and put them down for sleep. When they awaken – give them their shower in Luke warm water, followed by their massage. Put on a new diaper, and wrap them in a warm, delicate blanket which is easy to take off for wrapping them during the session. Then feed the baby just before the photoshoot starts.

This means baby is prepared before the shoot starts and there is nothing better than shooting a well-fed newborn baby

So these were the tips which can help you as parents to have a wonderful and fun-filled newborn photoshoot session. You can also share these with someone known who might find these useful.

Hope the tips will help you to schedule your Newborn Photoshoot in a more informed manner. Thank you so much for stopping by!

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The newborn stage is very unique and is filled with enchantment and love. It’s momentary and passes by very quickly than you’ll imagine.

There are two things, a parent should never settle on: baby safety and experience.

Recruiting a good professional artist is a choice you’ll never regret making.

The questions I am recommending are important. Honestly, package costs and expenses are consistently a good topic to ask and it is generally the primary question everyone asks… however, there are numerous other things important than an investment alone where one should focus on. In this post, I will assist you with finding a photographer that you can associate with and trust. The questions you ask will assist you to ensure that you are well informed while considering your choices. You will be in a superior situation to decide whether that potential photographer is a true match for your necessities and style.

There are two things, a parent should never settle on when choosing their Newborn Baby Photographer: baby safety and photographer’s experience. Recruiting a good professional artist is a choice you’ll never regret making.

In the realm of photography, there are numerous things you should observe. Since babies can get injured during a newborn baby photoshoot if an unpractised or untrained photographer handles them inaccurately. You should always select an experienced and professionally trained photo artist.

You can search for them on Google or social media, read the reviews. I highly recommend to connect over the phone and have a talk and request an in-person consultation at their studio. It will help you to understand whether they are professional or not. How well equipped their studio is and what all safety protocols they follow!

Besides, it is important to know whether the photographer you are considering loves to work with babies and in which genre they have expertise in. Do ask a lot of questions and a good photographer will be open and welcoming to answer your queries.

My recommendation is to ensure that you ask these questions to everyone you are thinking about before you finalise your booking.

Question #1 – Do you specialize in Newborn Photography?

Experience and Specialization is a relative term. Maybe the “photographer” has shot her/his children and the babies born to friends and family. With this “experience”, she/he jump-starts her/his own newborn baby photography business.

While I respect that we all must begin someplace, I will ensure the photographer I choose has a minimum experience of two to three years as an expert in baby photography, along with the training and certifications and must have handled a minimum of 25 newborn babies.

Question #2 – Do you have Newborn Safety Training or Certification?

To be precise, the wellbeing and safety of your baby have to be the first thing during the photoshoot. Babies are resilient; however, they are also delicate and can be placed in dangerously different ways to get those fantastic poses if the photographer is not trained, attentive, and knowledgeable.

I would suggest you go through the websites of the photographer and get some information about the kind of safety training they have gone through and the experience they have. For instance, About Me, page ought to have information relating to training, accreditations, and photography-related associations they’re a part of. You can also ask them on a call more about the training and courses they have gone through.

A safe photoshoot is a basic ingredient to the experience for you and your baby. On the off chance that you eventually choose to do without an expert and take photographs at home, I would advise you to please keep it simple and do not try innovative poses as that will jeopardize the safety of the newborn.

Question #5 – What precautions do you take to ensure the baby is safe during the photoshoot?

Baby safety, taking care of, and appropriate posing is very important during the photoshoot! Your baby must be treated with adoration, care, and regard. While they’re sweet and flexible, numerous safety measures must be taken to guard them. Keeping newborn content is additionally significant. Following are a few ways I follow and recommend to ensure safety during the photoshoots:

• The studio should be kept at around 25-27 degrees Celcius since the newborn will be naked for a while during the photoshoot. They can’t manage their internal heat level just as a grown-up so this keeps them warm.
• The studio should be sanitized to the tee and each thing should be cleaned between the two photoshoots. This incorporates wiping the surfaces with Lysol, clearing out the trash can, splashing entryway handles with disinfectant, washing all clothes and materials in a baby-friendly cleanser, and cleaning or washing out all props with a delicate cleanser so they’re perfect for the following newborn photoshoot.
• Bases of baskets, crates, and buckets should be weighted down with weight so that newborn never tips forward and is never in any danger.
• Studio space should be kept smoke-free.
• Newborn should not be left unattended even for a brief moment. Always have an eye over the baby.
• Being careful with the baby and understand the cues so as not to strain their muscles or joints.
• Always remember the newborn’s comfort in mind. If the baby is not comfortable in a pose, never rush or force them into a pose. It isn’t reasonable to force them into a pose or prop if they’re uncomfortable.

Question #7 – What if my newborn doesn’t settle or sleep during the photoshoot?

This, in general, is a common question. Here are a few reasons why you shouldn’t stress over what the newborn will do on the day of the photoshoot:

If mothers take stress, it reflects on babies too and we don’t want that! So remain calm and ensure you adhere to all the readiness guidelines that your professional photographer has suggested.

The experienced baby photographers will realize how to pacify the newborn, it’ll be simply a question of time until your little one will nod off.

One more motivation behind why you shouldn’t be concerned is the way that some baby photographers are also mothers (as am I), so we are able to understand and get along with babies well.

Confirm from your photographer if they have an area for you to feed the baby in between the shoot so that he/she can feel secure and comfortable. And in case, if you or baby is not well is there any provision of rescheduling the session.

Good wrapping your newborn always works! That is the manner by which I start my photoshoots and majority of professional photographers too, so if your photographer doesn’t do as such, you can generally make this recommendation.

It would be ideal to note that clear communication is the key, just as meeting or talking to your newborn photographer before the photoshoot.

So these were the tips which you can keep handy whenever planning a Newborn Photoshoot. You can also share these with someone known who might find these useful.

Hope the tips will help you to schedule your Newborn Photoshoot in a more informed manner. Thank you so much for stopping by!

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