Podcaster and author Giovanna Fletcher has announced she is releasing an album to help babies sleep.
Happy Mum, Happy Baby: The Sleep Album – named after her community for modern parents and the Sunday Times bestselling book – will be released on September 1.
The 38-year-old, who is married to McFly singer Tom Fletcher has catered to the different stages of a baby’s sleep routine with three 30-minute sections: Wind Down, Going to Sleep and During Sleep – as well as eight hours of white noise.
Fletcher, who has three sons – Buzz, eight, Buddy, seven, and Max, five – said: “Music has always been a massive part of my life. It’s helped me cope with various highs and lows.
“Now actually becoming a mum, it’s become even more important. I can’t tell you how many times with a newborn we have relied on music and sounds.
“I want this to be a gear changer when you walk up the stairs, like a comforting pattern. So much love and thought has been poured into these tracks, and I hope that you love listening to them when you are with your little one.”
The Wind Down section features calming music inspired by lullabies to encourage bonding time between parent and child. Going to Sleep uses various instruments and natural sounds, including rainfall and wind, to mimic a baby’s breathing. And During Sleep incorporates natural field recordings to create an environmental white noise.
Babies’ sleep varies at the newborn stage and, like adults, they all have different personalities.
What experts say
How can I help my newborn sleep?
Unfortunately, there is no magic formula but Sophie Pickles, early years expert for Munchkin suggests trying the ‘shush pat technique’. “This simple technique involves holding your baby close to your body and rhythmically patting their bottom while simultaneously shushing gently into their ear,” she said.
“The rhythmic patting helps to mimic the feeling of the mother’s heartbeat while the baby was in the uterus, while the shushing recreates the sound of her blood whooshing around.”
Motion, she said, can help. “When babies are in the womb, they are continuously gently rocked, and their bodies and brains still seek this movement after they are born. You can use motion by rocking them in your arms, walking around while holding them, going for a drive in the car, and taking them for a walk in their pram or in a baby carrier.”
But be careful of allowing them to become reliant on movement to get to sleep at night long-term.
Should we have a routine?
The NHS recommend waiting until at least three months before introducing a night time routine (before that newborns simply have no concept of night and day). It could include a bath, book, or song but keep them in the same order to signal it’s close to bedtime.
Hannah Love, a registered paediatric nurse and a baby sleep expert, encourages parents to be consistent and understand sleep triggers, which might be “swaddling or wrapping your baby, getting a baby sleeping back, music or white noise, making the room darker or a sentence you say, for example, ‘sleepy time now’”.
She added: “Babies absolutely love repetitive behaviour – they love to know what to expect. If you want your baby to learn to sleep well then stick to one way of getting them to sleep. If your baby is naturally quite unsettled then choose one of the techniques where you are helping them more. Once you have chosen a technique stick with it.”
Is it OK for a baby sleep for long periods during the day?
“Contrary to what you may have been told, letting your baby sleep for extended periods during the day will not affect their night time sleep,”Pickles said.”In fact, babies that meet their sleep needs during the day will have a better quality of sleep at night.
“Before four months, babies won’t have a set nap or sleep schedule, so they will sleep whenever they feel the urge. Babies of this age can generally only stay awake between 60 and 90 minutes between each nap. As they get older, the length of time between naps will extend but the sleep itself can still stretch for up to three hours at a time.”
‘Happy Mum, Happy Baby: The Sleep Album’, recorded at Abbey Road Studios, is released 1 September via Decca Records, and you can pre-order.
