Admit it: If you are a new working mom you probably don’t get enough sleep. It might even be that most working moms aren’t getting enough shut-eye on a consistent basis. Keep in mind I said “most”. I am one of those working moms with a young child who actually sleeps great and I get enough of it, without assistance from sleep aids. Yes, you can start hating me now.

I’ll admit that my “awake” hours are pretty chaotic.  I wake up and cook breakfast every morning, get my daughter Alyssa off to daycare, commute to work, work a full day, commute home, cook dinner, which is then immediately followed by bathtime, reading time, Alyssa’s bedtime, and finally, maybe some relaxation time for my husband and I. But between the hours of 7 PM to 7 AM, our daughter sleeps peacefully and happily in her crib in her own room. She's been doing it since she was a month-and-a-half old. Many of my mom friends ask how we got her to sleep through the night so fast. I’ve also read a lot about exhausted new working moms who struggle with their children’s sleep patterns.

I’d like to say that we got lucky with a sleep-loving, easy-going baby, but I’m going to give credit to what I would dub "good parenting steps" that my husband and I took to get Alyssa to sleep through the night on a consistent basis in her own room. Take it or leave it, but here’s my personal roadmap to a happy little sleeper:

Put the baby in his/her room as soon as possible. Alyssa started sleeping in her own room when she was 1-week-old. Of course, this depends on the individual baby as to when he or she should start sleeping in his or her own room. Some doctors advise that the baby sleep in the parent's room due to health issues, but that was not our case, so in her room she went. And that’s where she stayed. A month-and-a-half later, Alyssa was sleeping soundly through the night. In that first month-and-a-half, whenever she woke up, I would wake up, go in her room and feed her, burp her, re-swaddle her, rock her until she fell asleep, and put her back in her crib.

Do NOT co-sleep. Looking for a way to get a horrible nights sleep? Want to ruin your sex life with your husband? Looking forward to years of sleep co-habitation between you, your hubby and child? Put the baby in your bed with you at night. I guarantee he/she will never leave. It will be what feels like an impossible habit to break. Every parent I talk to who has done this or worse, continues to do it, sleeps horribly and the child is still in bed with them.

Get on a routine. Our daughter’s bedtime has always been 7 PM. In her first few months of life, I would feed her right before bedtime, burp her, rock her, swaddle her, and put her in her crib. We did this routine every night. Alyssa knows what to expect when its time to get ready for bed, and that helps ease into a healthy bedtime routine.

Let him/her cry it out. Yes, it may sound cruel to some people, and it certainly isn’t for everyone to try, but early on we let our daughter "cry it out" for a few minutes after putting her to bed. It would break my heart hearing her cry (and sometimes scream), but in a matter of a couple of nights it happened less frequently for shorter spans of time. Eventually, she stopped crying all together when we put her in bed. Just be patient and understand that this precious little life is adjusting to your lifestyle. There will always be a few hiccups, spit-ups and tears along the way.

Get rid of that pacifier. We got rid of the pacifier when Alyssa was four-months-old. Now, we don’t run the risk of having it fall out of her mouth in the middle of the night and have her waking up looking for it. We also don't have to ween her off of it when she is older and more dependent on it. The sooner the better. And its better for their teeth, too.

Set the bedtime and STICK with it. If bedtime is at 7 PM, don’t let your baby stay up until 9 PM. Stick with a certain time every night.  If friends or family invite us over to dinner, we make a point to schedule the dinner around Alyssa's bedtime. We make sure everyone knows she goes to bed at 7. This means we have very early dinners on a regular basis, but this is the schedule we chose for Alyssa and we're sticking with it.

          Play classical music. I have a CD player in Alyssa's room and play soft, classical music for her every night as she goes to sleep. Bach, Mozart and Beetovhen have become good friends to us in our house (and no, I'm not trying to increase her intelligence while she goes to sleep, I just want her to lull into a peaceful sleep). I fully believe that classical music creates a peaceful atmosphere for her to ease off to dreamland comfortably.

8.    

Make bedtime fun. Alyssa is now nineteen-months-old. These days, we get her ready for bedtime around 6:30 PM by giving her a bath, brushing her teeth, and reading to her, all by 7:00 PM. We start by saying, “Alyssa it’s time to go night night!” And she replies excidely, “night night!”. She then starts charging up the stairs to the bathroom because she knows its bathtime. She knows what to expect. She knows bathtime is followed by brushing teeth which is followed by reading books and then bedtime. We make the process fun and enjoyable for her.

Of course the exceptions to our bedtime rountine are when she is sick. That's when we know this sleep schedule is thrown out the window. But if you stick to a regular routine from early on, you are setting up your baby for a happy, routine way of falling asleep. And we all know that a happy, rested baby means a happy and rested mommy, too, and in the end a healthier lifestyle for all.

Sweet dreams!