Andrea’s top 5 tips to help a baby sleep well.

1. Timing. Leave a reasonable length of time before your baby has woken up from his last day-time nap before his bed-time. Over-napping or sleeping late in the afternoon can lead to sleep problems.

2. Routines. A familiar series of steps leading up to bedtime will help to make your baby feel sleepy and safe. A gentle bath-time, book-reading or singing will all help.

3. Discourage a milk/sleep association. If your baby learns to only settle while drinking milk, you may end up giving frequent, unnecessary feeds each time your baby stirs during a period of lighter sleep.

4. Love the cot! Always place you baby into his cot while he’s awake or it can be a real shock waking up in a strange environment and not in your arms.

5. Remember the sleep cycles.  It is normal for babies to wake several times in the night, so it’s better than your baby learns to re-settle themselves. This is why Grobags are so popular, because the children remain warm and cosy during these awake and asleep phases during the night.