The first day my daughter was home from the hospital, I popped her in her crib, and she went straight to sleep. Fantastic – parenting is going to be easy, or so I thought!
It didn’t last long and even now, at 4 years old my daughter still frequently does not sleep through the night. I had been to a number of different baby classes, so I knew that her crib should be empty and her feet at the foot of the crib. I also had a crash course on swaddling with an old-fashioned swaddle. Despite this, I once found myself sitting awake the whole night with her on my chest asleep - in acute fear of falling asleep myself.
In desperation, I turned to social media for advice from some friends, who had had babies before me. They shared a few hints, tricks, and hacks for better baby sleep, including using modern zip-up swaddles, white noise, putting my worn nightie as the bottom on the crib as the sheet, warming the crib with a hot water bottle, and most importantly a good sleep routine – book, bath, bed.