My baby was not a good sleeper. Ever. In fact, right around 10 pm every night in the last trimester of my wife’s pregnancy, he would wake up and just start kicking the stuffing out of me in utero. I knew I was in for trouble.

When my baby was born, his nights and days were mixed up. This is pretty common in newborns. We tried a lot of the standard techniques to help his readjust and get onto a sleep schedule, but then colic hit! It was like a double whammy.

I want to share with you the only thing that really ever helped me get my baby calmed down and sleeping (besides nursing, which also worked like a charm). I read the book Happiest Baby on the Block my Dr. Harvey Karp. He had some very simple, very common sense advice. When you are a sleep deprived new parent, common sense might not be your first reaction, so I found Karp’s methods invaluable at the time.

He calls it the Five S’s System.

Some babies need all five, others just a few to help induce the “calming reflex.” It might take some practice for you to be able to do all five things at the same time, but it’s absolutely worth it.

Swaddling
A tight swaddling gives the continuous touch and support a baby feels inside the womb..

Side/stomach position
While holding baby, place them on either on their right or left side to aid digestion. Or, you can choose to place them on their stomach to provide reassuring support. This is only for until baby is asleep, at which point you can put them in the crib safely on their back.

Shushing Sounds
When baby is in the womb, there are continual whooshing noises made by blood flowing through arteries near the womb. It’s basically like white noise. You can use a vacuum cleaner, a hair dryer, a fan, etc. I found the vacuum cleaner worked fine, but we eventually just moved the white noise machine I had in my room into my baby’s room instead. he loved it.

Swinging
When in the womb, the baby is constantly feeling the movements we make with our own bodies. Then they are born and we put them in a still crib or bassinette. That is why rocking, car rides, and other swinging movements calm a baby. my baby would fall asleep almost immediately in his swing. In fact, some nights he slept all night in his swing, which I moved so it was next to my bed.

Sucking
According to Dr. Karp, sucking is a natural calming reflex that taps into the nervous system and triggers natural calming chemicals in the brain. Sucking might be the easiest thing you can get baby to do. Just offer the breast, bottle, pacifier or a finger.

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