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Once you become a mother, sleeping becomes a luxury as opposed to a basic necessity. Everyone has advice on how to get your baby to sleep through the night, but you must realize that all babies are different and you, the parent, have different philosophies on how to raise your children. These are the tools that I used that worked for me. Perhaps you can find a few of them useful. But first,

What did NOT work for me:
1. Putting cereal in baby's bottle.
This spelled a puke disaster. I had to cut the nipples in order for the cereal to feed through the bottle properly, which meant more food going into her mouth than she was used to. This caused much gagging and spitting up, so she wasn't digesting much cereal anyway. You really shouldn't start your baby on solids until she's ready. She's ready when she can sit up well in a high chair and take the cereal from a spoon. Bottles are for liquid.

2. Keeping baby awake during the day.
Have you ever been so tired you can't sleep? This phenomenon happens to babies, too. A well rested baby will sleep better, believe it or not. The best thing to do is when your baby is awake, try to keep her awake as long as she tolerates it. Talk to her. Play with her. THEN feed her, as milk tends to have a sedative effect. By this point, an hour or so can pass and she is genuinely ready for a nap, as opposed to just sleeping because she's on a "milk high" (that's what we call it in my family). But don't annoy her by keeping her up past the nap she wants and needs.

3. Giving baby a later bedtime so she sleeps later.
You'll learn relatively quickly when baby likes to start her day. After that, it doesn't matter when you put her down for the night-she's up at her favored time. I don't know why, but it's true. By putting her to bed later, all you're doing is shortening her sleep, which means she'll be cranky all day.

4. Swaddling.
This is funny to me because my children HATED to be swaddled. Maybe yours does, too? If so, keep her warm by putting her in warm clothing that fits snugly against her body. Don't put a hat on your baby's head, though! She could easily overheat.

What DID work for me:
1. Let baby cry it out.
Don't do this if you are morally against it. You have to be OK with hearing your baby cry. It really did work for me, and took only one night of it. It's hard, I know, but if it is something you're willing to try, it just might work. Use common sense and maternal instincts, though. You should never do this to a newborn. Know instinctively that

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