How Can I Get My Newborn To Sleep At Night

Put Your Baby To Sleep Early

There is a common belief that the earlier you go to bed, the earlier you will wake up. It may not always be the case, especially for infants and toddlers. Your baby will wake up less often and get more sleep when they sleep sooner. A good time to put your baby to sleep is as soon as the sun goes down. You can expect them to sleep for about 10 hours.

Settling A Baby Aged 6 To 12 Months

As with younger babies, it helps to talk quietly and cuddle your baby to help keep them calm.

Try the ‘hands-on settling technique’ and, as your baby calms or falls asleep, move away from the cot or leave the room. If your baby starts to become distressed, return and continue to comfort your baby using patting and calming sounds before moving away or leaving the room again. Some babies may need you to stay in the room until they are asleep.

As your child gets older, it can be helpful to keep to a similar bedtime routine. Too much excitement and stimulation just before bedtime can wake your child up again. Spend some time winding down and doing some calmer activities, like reading.

Check out the Tresillian website for more tips on how you can help your baby learn to settle and fall asleep at different ages.

My Mum Says I Was Slept On My Front And That Was The Advice Then Why Has It Changed

Many parents will have been slept on their tummies as babies, as that was the advice before 1991. However, research has since shown that the chance of SIDS is much higher when a baby is placed on their front to sleep.

We know that in the early 1990s, there were thousands of babies worldwide dying suddenly and unexpectedly every year. The reason the number of deaths is much lower now is due to the new advice being followed by parents, such as lying babies on their backs to sleep.

Read Also: What Causes Newborn Gas Pain

What About You Tips For Improving Your Own Sleep

Newborn sleep patterns take their toll on parents. In a study tracking the sleep patterns of mothers from pregnancy through the postpartum period, maternal sleep worsened after childbirth and continued to deteriorate until about 12 weeks postpartum -the time when newborn sleep patterns begin to show marked circadian rhythms .

Twelve weeks isnt forever, but it can seem like it when you are severely sleep restricted. As you struggle to cope with newborn sleep patterns, dont forget to look after yourself. Here are some tips to help you cope.

Create An Optimal Sleep Setting

Where are you laying your newborn down to sleep every night? Do they have their own room? Are they sleeping in the same bed as you? As adorable as it looks for a baby to share a bed with their parents, this is clearly a terrible decision. You dont need me to explain why, but its outrageously unsafe. People get into the habit of reading false information online or taking things the wrong way. For instance, you know that physical contact with a baby is essential as they develop. They need to be around their parents a lot, particularly when sleeping. So, you might assume that sleeping in the same bed as them is a smart idea, but it isnt!

Instead, the optimal sleep setting for a newborn is in their own separate cot in the same room as you. You should do this for the first 6 months of their life as it is proven to be the safest place for your baby to sleep. Therefore, they feel more at ease, which helps them get to sleep.

Furthermore, you have to minimize noise and light in the bedroom. If you put your baby to bed, try to sleep at the same time. The chances are youll be tired anyway, and its wise to try and catch any sleep you can during this stage of their life. What you want to avoid are instances where you come into the room later on and make a racket. Or, you have music/the TV playing loudly in the room below your baby, which can unsettle them and wake them up.

Also Check: How Much Does My Newborn Need To Eat

How Did You Get Started In Sleep Research

My fourth baby propelled me into sleep research because as a year old he was still waking up to breastfeed every few hours all night long, every night. People told me I had two choices: to live with it, or to let my baby cry-it-out. I certainly wanted and needed my sleep, but I was adamantly against letting my baby cry to sleep. I thought it was a cruel and heartless way to treat the tiny, innocent, trusting little love of your life.

But, as a busy author and mom of three other children I was a walking zombie! I desperately needed to find a way to help us both sleep better ways that were respectful to my baby and that did not include crying. I launched myself into research and gathered a group of test parents with non-sleeping babies to be my test cases and The No-Cry Sleep Solution was born. That book is now ten years old and available worldwide in 27 languages clearly sleep is a critical topic for all families.

Twenty months ago my oldest child had my first grandbaby and I learned the joys of being Nana. This new life reminded me how hard it is to care for a newborn, and I realized that I had a wealth of sleep knowledge to share which would make these early months much more relaxed and peaceful for babies and their parents, and so The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Newborns was born soon after my first grandchild!

If You Are Breastfeeding You Are Likely To Get More Sleep If You Keep Your Baby Nearby

The World Health Organization recommends that babies share a bedroom with their parents, and its a recommendation that makes breastfeeding less disruptive. A recent study found that breastfeeding women got more sleep when they co-slept with baby . In fact, mothers who co-slept and breastfed got more sleep than did mothers who bottle-fed their babies .

Recommended Reading: What To Teach A Newborn

Is My Baby Getting Enough Sleep

When your baby seems to wake up regularly throughout the night, you might find yourself worrying that they aren’t receiving enough sleep. How much sleep your baby needs depends on their age. Babies especially newborns tend to sleep a lot during the daytime, so waking up multiple times at night might not necessarily indicate they aren’t sleeping enough.

According to experts, your baby’s sleep needs are tied to their age:

To determine if your baby is sleeping enough, track when they fall asleep and wake up for a few days. On average, they should be receiving the recommended number of hours of sleep for their age group across each 24-hour period. For many babies, especially those that are younger, this sleep will occur in smaller blocks of time during both day and night.

Not Falling Asleep Independently

What it looks like: Almost everyone wakes up a couple times during the night adults and babies alike. A lifetime of good sleep habits depends on knowing how to fall asleep alone both at bedtime and overnight, a skill babies need to learn. If your 6-month-old still needs to be fed or rocked to sleep, you might want to consider sleep training .

How to solve it: Start by revamping the bedtime routine. If your baby’s dependent on a bottle or breast to sleep, start scheduling the last feeding a good 30 minutes before her usual bedtime or nap. Then, when she’s sleepy but not asleep, make your move and place her into her crib. Sure, she’ll fuss at first, but give it a chance. Once she learns to soothe herself perhaps by sucking on her thumb or a pacifier she won’t need you at bedtime anymore.

As long as your baby can drift off on her own, it’s fine to go in to her if she wakes up at night. That doesn’t mean you need to pick her up or nurse her, however. Once she’s mastered the art of comforting herself, your voice and a gentle stroke should be enough to get her settled into sleep once more.

If your baby wakes up during the night while youre room-sharing, its fine to assure your little one that everythings okay, but have a plan in place as to how youll respond to her cries.

Dont have a plan yet? There are many sleep training strategies, so decide what you think might work best for you and give it a chance to work.

Recommended Reading: When A Newborn Baby Can See And Hear

The Truth About Babies And Nighttime Sleep

While in the womb, your baby was asleep most of the time and received a steady stream of nourishment around the clock. But all of that drastically changed the moment your baby was born. Suddenly, your little one had to learn how to be awake and eat on their own.

That’s a lot for a newborn to accomplish, and it takes time. Eating and sleeping dominate your baby’s schedule as all the developmental changes that they need to survive and thrive in the outside world take place.

As babies burn through calories and nutrients, their hunger wakes them up. In the beginning, this happens frequently, around the clock.

A newborn consumes only about 40 to 80 calories per feeding. This means a newborn will need six to eight feedings per day, on average, resulting in a sleep schedule that cycles every two to four hourseven at night. Sleeping through the night is not only an unrealistic expectation for a newborn. It’s an unhealthy one, too.

Keep in mind that these are just approximations, not milestones that your baby needs to reach. If your baby is a month old and is still not sleeping four hours at night, try not to worry. It’s important to respond to your baby’s hunger cues. Between daytime naps and nighttime sleep, your baby should be consistently getting a healthy amount of sleep for their age and developmental stage.

Limit Caffeine If Breastfeeding

Caffeine passes through your breastmilk and will stimulate your baby just as it stimulates you, which is not what you want to do if you want our baby to sleep well.To determine if caffeine is part of the problem,, try cutting it out of your diet for a few days. If you see an improvement in your babys sleep, you can gradually reintroduce caffeine, but be sure to keep an eye on timing. Morning caffeine may be fine, however after 4:00 p.m. may cause sleep issues.

Recommended Reading: What Can I Give My Newborn To Poop

Practice Good Sleep Hygiene

Night sleep develops first, so typically the first portion of the night is the longest stretch of sleep, says certified pediatric sleep consultant Tracie Kesatie, MA, of Rest Well Baby.

Kesatie recommends implementing a relaxing routine, such as taking a warm bath or reading a few pages of a book before bed, plus turning off electronics at least 1 to 2 hours before bedtime.

Dealing With Baby Sleep Problems

All babies change their sleep patterns. Just when you think you have it sorted and you’ve all had a good night’s sleep, the next night you might be up every 2 hours.

Be prepared to change routines as your baby grows and enters different stages. And remember, growth spurts, teething and illnesses can all affect how your baby sleeps.

If your baby is having problems sleeping or you need more advice about getting into a routine, speak to your health visitor.

Read Also: How To Help Relieve Colic In Newborns

Safety First: Lower Sids Risk

Every time you put your baby down to sleep, whether it’s at night or for a nap during the day, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that you do the following to lower the chances of SIDS :

• Always put your baby down to sleep on their back.
• Always use a firm sleep surface. Car seats and other sitting devices are not recommended for routine sleep.
• If you baby falls asleep in a stroller car seat or swing, try to remove them and lay them down on a flat surface.
• Your baby should sleep in the same room as you, but not in the same bed as you.
• Keep soft objects or loose bedding out of the crib. This includes pillows, blankets, stuffed animals, and bumper pads.
• Dont rely on devices which claim to prevent SIDS.
• Do not use wedges and positioners.
• Offer your baby a pacifier at nap time and bedtime.
• Avoid covering your baby’s head or overheating.
• Do not use home monitors or commercial devices marketed to reduce the risk of SIDS.
• Make sure your baby gets all recommended vaccinations.
• Get some skin-to-skin contact time with them.
• Give your baby supervised, awake tummy time every day.
• Don’t smoke.
• Breastfeedyour baby.
• If you are tired, dont breastfeed while in a chair or on a couch in case you fall asleep.
• If you’re pregnant, get regular prenatal care.

Continued

Put Off Extra Responsibilities

You want to get back to feeling like your normal self soon after giving birth, but dont push yourself. Put off any extra responsibilities that you may feel inclined to take. You dont NEED to bring a dish to that work potluck. Everyone will understand that youre tired!

Dont volunteer with your childs classroom. Skip some playdates and dont feel obligated to head to a family party if youre really tired.

All of these things are great, but if youre exhausted, theyre only going to make matters worse. Right now, you need to preserve all of your energy and not waste it on activities that arent necessary.

Lets be honest youre in a survival mode right now with a newborn baby! Your single goal is to survive until your baby sleeps longer stretches, and you CAN do it! This hard stage only lasts so long, and itll just be a painful memory before long.

Recommended Reading: What Should I Bring To The Hospital For My Newborn

Why Do Some Parents Bed

Bed-sharing supporters believe and some studies support their beliefs that bed-sharing:

• encourages breastfeeding by making nighttime breastfeeding more convenient
• increases how many months a mother breastfeeds her baby
• helps babies fall asleep more easily
• helps babies and mothers get more nighttime sleep
• gives moms more time to be close to their infantsy

But the risks of bed-sharing can outweigh the benefits.