The changes in your sleeping patterns and trying to get your baby to sleep through the night are bound to become the one of biggest  hurdles once you get your baby home.  Like most new parents you are  going to spend an amazing amount of time discussing the baby’s sleep, planning sleeping times and trying to get some yourself !

To try and help you worry less and see the light at the end of the tunnel we have compiled some great information and useful tips allabout sleeping.

How Much Do Babies Sleep ?

In general babies sleep as follows,

You will be amazed how much time you will spend thinking about sleep

• (0-3 months) - up to 20 hours throughout the day
• (3-6 months) - 12 hours at night, plus 3 -5 hours during the day
• (6 - 12 months) - 12 hours at night, plus 2 - 4 hours during the day
• 12 months and up: up to twelve hours at night, plus one or two naps until about the age of 3.

However, and there is always a ‘however’, there can be wide variations, some babies manage five to six hour stretches of sleep at night by three or four months but many do not, just keep your fingers crossed !

In the first two to three months a typical sleep pattern is a longer sleep in the morning and a couple of shorter naps in the afternoon.  Waking in the night is normal and may continue for some time.

By about six to eight months, your baby can probably manage without a night feed and may sleep six to eight hours unbroken without waking.  Your baby gradually learns how to fall asleep and how to get back to sleep when she wakes during the night.  If you want her to learn to settle herself you need to make sure that you are putting her down before she actually nods off.

Many of my friends worked really hard at getting into a routine to help their baby learn to sleep throughout the night and it certainly works for some, although you can find yourself totally beholden to your baby’s routine and it can be isolating.  What I think works really well to have a look just a couple of the zillions of baby books available to see what people recommend and then pick and choose to make sure that it works for you - after all a happy mummy makes a happy baby.

Top Ideas for Difficult Settlers

If you have already got your baby at home with you and you are finding it difficult to get them to settle at night then see if these tips help you:

• Decide on a bedtime routine, for example, bath, bottle, bed.
• Give your baby some time to settle, although it’s really tough don’t go straight backto them when you first put them down, definately don’t leave them just crying for too long but give them a little chance to go back to sleep themselves.
• Keep things peaceful before bedtime, make sure that you have some wind-down time, we don’t switch from action to sleep so try and make sure you aren’t expecting them to do the same, for example make the room darker before you enter, be peaceful and calm and try not to hurry or get anxious about putting them down as babies can sense stress.
• If  you feel better staying near your baby as they fall asleep, try putting them in the cot and then sit nearby rather than holding them.  Once you can see that your baby is settled you can move away, the idea is that over a week you can gradually move further and further away until the baby happily settles alone.

Good luck with geting your little one settled - just remember the sleepless nights don’t last forever !!

Rhi

Babies sleep better in dark rooms

Maybe you have used black out curtains in your home for years to help you sleep at night, keep out the street lights or maybe you live in the country or just sleep deeply without the need for blackout and wonder what all the fuss is about. However once your little bundle arrives they will become a vital element of your nursery !!!

Black out blinds and curtains cut out the light that is able to come into your child’s room, so how does this help you and your baby ?

Well, during the day whilst you are putting your baby down for a nap closing the black out curtains and making the room really dark can help them to associate darkness with sleep time, blocking out the light coming in will help them off to sleep and help them to understand that dark and calm is time for sleeping helping them to nap better whatever time of day.

In the night time black out blinds cut out the street lights or other light pollution coming in from outside and help to cut down on noise pollution as well.

Although our summertime may seem short, we do have light evenings throughout the late spring and summer months, having black out curtains in your child’s room will make bedtime easier - no cries of it being too light for bed ! And what will delight you all is that they will also help your little treasure sleep beyond the dawn chorus by ensuring that whatever time the sun is rising the room is still dark.

Black out curtains and blinds used to be a very dull option with little in the way of fun colours or pretty patterns, and this is what we have created. By lining all our gorgeous curtains and blinds with the highest quality black out lining we have made them beautiful as well as practical. Not only this but it is also a more cost effective solution as there is no need to buy additional black blinds or liners.

Beautiful curtains and blinds to make your nursery gorgeous that also help your baby sleep….now that’s something to make everyone rest easy !!

Try this great website for tons of useful information and advice skBaby.com - All you need to know about getting pregnant from coming off the pill to fertility problems.

Its been manic here at Nursery Co headquarters, getting ready and really excited about the launch of our new line of bedding, so manic I have no time to put together any blogs for a while.  Its been great to get back to the drawing board, literally drawing up our new designs for a stunning range of beautifully embroidered crisp 100% cotton duvet covers, pillowcases and sheets, these designs compliment our beautiful curtains and blinds, so you can get a whole room look or pick and choose from our fabulous curtain and blind collections to add colour and originality.

So to make up for all the time away we are offering you a great May Day Prize - 15% off all curtain and blind offers until the end of the month ! Just remember to quote MAYOFFER when you order !!

Great New Websites

We love to point you in the direction of interesting websites that we come accross and we have found a couple of beauties.

Diggory Lifestyle is a boutique lifestyle management company that provide an exclusive, highly personalised service, their personal concierge service takes care of those everyday tasks, from teh simpliest problem to the biggest headache, have a look here:- www.diggorylifestyle.co.uk.

At a recent networking lunch (very nice it was too) we came across this wonderful idea, the Ultimate Acupressure Mat - it claims to enhance blood circulation and oxygen intake helping to sleep better and relieve stress - sounds like a lifesaver to us ! www.ultimateacupressuremat.com.

Whatever the outcome in Parliament have a happy and sunny May !

Love The Nursery Company

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“Just to let you know the curtains are up and look extremely pretty. Many thanks”

Joanne, London

“Hi Rhiannon, Just a quick note to say a big whopping THANK YOU for the beautiful nursery soft furnishings, and not to mention the service with a human touch!”

Hisham, Simone and Isabella, Bucks

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“The curtains look lovely and have cut out the light and much of the noise so thank you!”

Julia, London

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“Just a quick email to tell you that Angus, Matt and I are delighted with the curtains and quilt which arrived last week ! The complete his room and look fab.  I’ll definately be recommending your company to friends and family.  It was a prompt service too !”

Marina, Essex

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“Just a quick note, the curtain is up and looks wonderful in the little man’s nursery.  I am really pleased with it.

Many thanks !”

Kate, London

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“Sorry to not have replied sooner, the quilt arrived and is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO gorgeous ! We all love it and Max was so excited he insisted on putting it on the floor and sitting on it with his books !

Anyway, thanks again and will definately recommend you to my friends.”

Charlie, London

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“We received and love the curtain.  Thank you for a great service and we will be happy to recommend your service to our friends !

Thank you”

Caroline, London

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“Thanks for the blind - it is wonderful !!!”

Rob, London

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