Posted by Super Foods We Love on
Recovering your sleep time. How mums and dads can sleep more. Learn the 5s
What’s the magical 5 S’s and how will that calm my young newborn child and get them to sleep so that you can get some much need rest also?
As a father I often recall the time where when my daughter was born and in the early months we struggled to get our daughter to sleep which left us with many sleepless days and nights. At moments I do recall feeling like this was a never ending cycle of doom. Lucky for you I have condensed down what I learned about getting a new born to sleep so that you can enjoy the happiness of your child while sleeping more and suffering less.
What didn’t work for us?
So what did work and what did we try that failed thus losing us hours of life energy and leaving us cranky and feeling like a walking human zombie:
- Rocking your child to sleep:
- Technically this actually does work to get you child to sleep. Problem is your child is sleeping on your shoulder or in your arms. If you are like me, you’ll end up with back pain tired shoulders and worst of all you still won’t be able to sit down or lie down and sleep. My daughter Alexa used to start crying the moment we went from a standing rocking position into a sitting or lying down position. Trying to get her to lay down on her own at times seemed near impossible. I recall moments of where repeatedly I’d think that I’d gotten Alexa to sleep put her down only for her to start crying again. We have all been there before but there was eventually a way.
- Driving you child around in the car:
- This technique is great if you want your child to sleep in your car. Only problem is most of us parents prefer the child sleeps in the cot or bed. 10/10 to knock your child out. 1/10 for location. Having said that it’s a solid technique if all else fails and you just need a break. Just throwing your little one in the back of the car strapped in safely in a car seat and drive around the block. This trick even works for older children and adults where we all just seem to pass out in the back of the car.
- Strap them in and go for a walk:
- We used to get Alexa into her baby carrier and go for walks. She would refuse to stay in the push chair, but what I found was walks were soothing and often her head would rest against my heart giving her that feeling of being in her mothers womb and hearing your beating heart. In next to no time Alexa would a sleep. This is a great way to get some exercise and quiet time. Though as you baby grows expect some back ache. Again 1/10 for sleeping location.
- Lying Your Child down in the cot:
- This just completely never worked for us. Often we felt helpless and having cot for this child was a complete waste of space.
Does this all sound familiar? I’d love to hear your comments and share your insights below!
Feeling like you have no other options? And you don’t know what to do?
Here what you can try and see if you get the same kind of results as many other happy parents that have tried the 5 S’s.
So here we go!
So having tried and failed at some of the more obvious things to do. We turned to consulting our paediatrician. He recommended this technique created by another doctor (Dr. Karp). called the 5 S’s system. One day Alexa had to go in for her vaccinations and post vaccination she was upset and crying. Alexa isn’t much a crier usually, she just doesn’t want to sleep. Our doctor then showed us first hand the 5 S’s System and I have to be honest I was left completely stunned and excited at what we witness and learned.
The 5 S’s system aims to recreate the womb environment that helps a baby feel more secure and calm.
So how does it work?
Step 1 - Swaddling: Find a blanket that can fold in square usually around 1.5mx1.5m. Now days you can simply purchase a swaddle from many of the online shops that make swaddle specifically for new borns. A tight swaddling provides the continuous touching and support your baby is used to experiencing within the womb.
- Step 2 - Side/stomach position: Place your child on their left side to assist in digestion, or on their stomach to provide reassuring support. It’s most important to never use the stomach position for putting your baby to sleep. Dr Karp cautions us due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is linked to stomach-down sleep positions. Never leave a baby in a stomach down position not even for a moment.
- Step 3 - Shushing/Swishing sounds: Bring your mouth close to you child’s ear and make a shushing/swishing sound that sounds like the beat of your heart. With the sounds you are creating you are imitating the continual beating sound made by the blood flowing through arteries near the womb.
- Step 4 - Swinging: Swinging you baby gently so there is a slow swinging motion that will recreate the motion they feel when in their mother’s womb. You’ll also start to understand why car journeys and other similar swinging movements all can help get a child to sleep.
- Step 5 - Sucking: Either use a pacifier or if you’ve washed your hands and you have no pacifier available. Let you child suck on you thumb or pacifier. The sucking effect has a deep connection with the nervous system which triggers a calming reflex and releases chemicals in your child’s brain that helps them relax
In a matter of minutes your child will be fast a sleep. In my experience if swaddled well and all the steps are followed we found that a crying baby would stop crying almost immediately and be a sleep within a matter of minutes.
Once we got Alexa to this state we’d rock her a little more and then lie her down in her cot. The tight swaddling helped her from throwing her arms up in the air and disturbing her own sleep. And for all the parents usually you will get back a couple hours of good sleep each day. Bringing us back to sanity we can enjoy our daily lives with energy and jest once more.
If you find this helpful then please share and comment below if you have any additional tips that have worked for you.
A loving father
Kelvin
@superfoodswelove #eatwelllivewell #sleepwell