Health visitor Ruth Watts, who is known as @ruthwattshv on TikTok, is frequently sharing her parenting hacks online – and her latest trick might be helpful to parents with babies who won’t sleep
Welcoming a new baby is an extraordinary, joy-filled experience, though undeniably it comes with its fair share of challenges.
The thrill of adding a tiny new member to your family is juxtaposed with the undeniable pressures of sleep deprivation, flagging energy, and the relentless cycle of feeds that can leave any parent feeling the stress. In light of this, health visitor Ruth Watts, better known to her TikTok followers as @ruthwattshv, has become a beacon of support, regularly dispensing her parenting wisdom online.
She’s come forward with top-notch guidance to aid worn-out parents coax their little ones into sleeping through the night, touting steps for success that are straightforward to follow. She stresses, however, that it’s completely normal for tots to wake up during the night until they’re at least a year old.
For those with slightly older infants, Ruth explains they don’t require as many calories as newborns, indicating if they stir awake, it’s often due to what she terms a ‘sleep association’, reports Gloucestershire Live.
Ruth shares: “However your baby or toddler is falling asleep at nap time and bed times is how they are going to fall asleep when they wake up throughout the night. So, if they’re needing a bottle, a dummy, a breastfeed – that is what they’re going to need throughout the night to get back to sleep.”
She further notes, “Now that’s not a problem if it’s not a problem for you, but parents do get in touch with me quite a lot to say ‘how do I get my baby to fall asleep without feeding? ‘ Or ‘how do I get them to stop waking in the night for milk or the dummy?’. The dummy unfortunately – the brutal answer is you need to get rid of it. If they’re waking in the middle of the night, spitting it out, and you’re having to put it back in then it’s not working anymore – get rid.”
If, however, your baby is waking up because of sleep association with milk, this is what she says needs addressing. Its essential to teach them to self-settle without relying on milk or sleep aids like dummies. Ruth swears by the “pick up put down method” and isn’t a supporter of letting infants cry without comfort. She advises placing the baby in the crib and taking shifts with a partner.
Be prepared for it to take hours initially as you’re breaking an ingrained habit, but be sure to pick up your little one as they cry to offer reassurance. Keep talking to a minimum – just hug them and soothe them back to silence. After they’ve calmed down, place them back into the crib. If your tot can stand and they want to, that’s alright as long as the tears have stopped.
Youll need to carry on with this process until it sticks, and they adopt a new ability. Stay committed to the approach, and it should inevitably succeed, although it could take time. The video discussing these techniques has gone viral, amassing over 1,000 views since being posted, with many users quickly weighing in on the debate. A whole host of viewers chimed in with their opinions on the strategy.
One satisfied customer exclaimed: “Just bought your guide. Great read! ” While another grateful parent shared: “Honestly, your videos made me realise how normal it is for babies to wake and not feeling like I needed to stop feeding throughout the night. Don’t know why there is so much pressure for babies to sleep.”
Another relieved voice chimed in with gratitude: “I try to avoid feeding my crying baby at night, as everyone else says babies at four months don’t need a night feed. Thank you for clarifying that it’s not the case.”
