Tik Tok, time to drop off!
Published
New parents could lose as much as three hours of sleep every night of their baby’s first year – resulting in new parents losing up to 133 nights’ worth of sleep in one year alone! For many parents, not getting enough sleep can make even the simplest of days more difficult.
Now TikTok user @babysleepteam, who has 1.3 million likes on her account, might have a hack that works for you. Named the French baby hack, it helps babies settle themselves when they wake up at night, so getting back to sleep is a little easier for both of you.
The secret of the hack is the ‘la pause’ and what it means is that you wait a minute or two before checking on your baby when they wake up at night. We all wake up in the middle of the night sometimes, babies alike.
This method gives your child a minute to stir and self-soothe before drifting back to sleep. Babies can be noisy during all stages of the sleep cycle, so giving yourself some time to tell whether yours is genuinely upset, or simply disgruntled and trying to go back to sleep, can prevent you from waking them up further.
Another TikToker, @littleonesbabysleep, suggests in a video that has 84.9k likes that your baby might not be able to settle or stay asleep due to trapped wind. She recommends making sure that babies have two good burps before being put down to rest. This way, they’re not uncomfortable or stuck with trapped wind as they try to fall asleep.
She also recommends working out the right awake time for babies so that they’re not going to bed overly tired – which can make little ones more difficult to settle. At a couple of weeks, one and a half hours is the maximum awake time, including feeds. Every baby is unique when it comes to awake and sleep time, so finding the right time for your baby may help.
TikToker @kahlmi, who has 3 million likes, recommends a soothing technique. Instead of the intensive walking and bouncing, all you have to do is gently rub your baby’s face. Start from forehead and brush your finger down the bridge of their nose, then stroke the eyebrows from inside to outside. Not only will the skin-to-skin contact, and your presence, help to soothe babies, but by stroking their face in these motions, you encourage them to close their eyes – helping them nod off a little faster.
TikTok account @ewanandfriends, who has 3.5 million likes on their account, recommends a containment hold to keep babies restfully asleep even when you transfer them to their cot. All you need to do is place them inside, resting one hand gently on their head and forehead and the other applying gentle pressure to their stomach.
When you think your baby is settled, start gently stroking their forehead with your hand – removing it once you feel comfortable that your baby is settled. When you’re sure they’re fast asleep, gently remove your hand from their stomach too and they should remain asleep.
