Trust Your Instincts And Get Help When You Feel Stressed
If something feels wrong with you or the baby, talk to your physician. And remember that your own mental health is crucial.
Coping with sleep deprivation is very stressful, especially if your infant opens in a new windowseems to be especially fussy or prone to crying. Watch for signs of opens in a new windowpostpartum stress and opens in a new windowpostpartum depression, and reach out to others for support.
When Do Babies Sleep Through The Night
When you can expect your baby to start sleeping through the night depends on several factors, including baby’s age, weight, whether or not you are breastfeeding, and your family’s nighttime feeding habits.
Here’s when babies start sleeping through the night, plus more info about babies’ sleeping habits and patterns by age:
How To Help Newborns Get In Sync With The Natural 24
1. Make your baby a part of your daily routine.
When parents include their newborns in their daily activities, newborn may adapt more rapidly to the 24-hour day .
One study took continuous measurements of mother-infant activity patterns for four months after birth. Newborns who were active at the same time of day as their mothers were quicker to develop mature circadian rhythms .
2. Reduce stimulation at night.
When your baby wakes for night time feedings, keep activity to a minimum. Make as little noise as possible, and avoid moving your baby around. Ideally, you want to avoid waking her all the way up. But if that isnt possible, at least try to minimize the hustle and bustle. You want the baby to learn that nighttime is for sleep and quiet.
3. Expose your newborn to natural lighting patterns.
Light cues might not instantly synchronize newborn sleep patterns, but they help.
For example, in one study, newborns slept longer at night if their parents observed a regular policy of turning out the lights by 9pm .
In another study, young babies tended to sleep longer at night if they had been exposed to lots of early afternoon light .
And time spent outdoors might make an important difference. Babies who go outside experience much higher daytime light levels than those kept indoors all day, and may develop stronger circadian rhythms as a result .
4. Try infant massage.
The takeaway? More research is needed on this topic , but meanwhile, this seems worth a try.
Don’t Miss: When Do Newborns Cluster Feed
How Do I Get My Baby To Sleep Longer Between Feeds At Night
When Can I Drop The 10pm Feed
Many babies right up to about 9 months old will struggle to sleep through from 7pm until morning without getting hungry by 4-5am. So we recommend doing a feed at about 10pm to ensure your baby has a full tummy to last until morning.
If your baby is over 10 weeks old, we recommend you try this feed as a ‘dreamfeed’. This means feeding your baby while they are asleep. This can help baby remain in a deeper sleep and it anticipates the feed before your baby wakes crying for it! It also means your baby doesn’t rely on the feed to fall back to sleep. for more info on dream-feeding.
Once your baby is sleeping through the night, you can gradually bring the time of the dreamfeed earlier…say by 10 mins each night. If she carries on sleeping through, you can then drop the 10pm feed.
Don’t Miss: Why Is My Newborn Breathing Hard
Reasons Newborn Babies Cry
- They are hungry and need to feed
- They are tired and need to nap. Essentially newborns nap between each feeding. If baby has been up more than 1.5 hours then they are tired, and likely overtired.
- They are physicallyuncomfortable. Baby may have a wet diaper, dirty diaper or be too hot or cold. Generally, newborns need about one more layer than we do!
- They have reflux and its uncomfortable. You will see your pediatrician, of course, for this, then use the information here to keep baby as comfortable as possible until they outgrow this.
- They have colic and/or are letting off steam. Newborns dont usually develop colic until around 6 weeks or so, but some crying is normal with newborns. Its the only way they can communicate. Our job is not to stop their crying as quickly as humanly possible, but to learn to decipher their cries so we can meet their needs appropriately and promptly.
Your Baby’s Sleeping Position
Always put your baby to sleep on their back with their feet touching the end of the cot.
Do not let your baby sleep while lying on their tummy. Babies who sleep on their tummies have a higher risk of cot death. You can give your baby some tummy time when they are awake.
If your baby always lies with their head in the same position they might develop a flat head. This is called plagiocephaly.
You can help prevent this when putting your baby down to sleep on their back. When they are lying flat, you can alternate their head position so that sometimes they face left and sometimes they face right.
Also Check: What Should A Newborn Schedule Look Like
How To Get Your Newborn To Tell Night From Day
At first, babies dont know that night time is for sleep and daytime is for being awake. Which is hard going on adult bodies that definitely do know that night time means sleep.
Between one and three months, daytime naps will gradually get shorter and night-time sleeps will gradually get longer . So everyone will start getting a little bit of normality back.
Although, just to let you know, night time waking might not disappear completely. It is still normal behaviour after three months and 27% of one year olds still wake in the night .
How Can I Get My Baby To Sleep Longer
You May Like: How To Help A Constipated Newborn Poop
Teething Babies May Sleep More
There are a lot of misconceptions about teething out there, and many people attribute fevers, runny noses, excessive crying, and sickness to it. Although it does cause some mild discomfort in the gums, you can give them a chilled washcloth to gnaw on to reduce any swelling. Some doctors will recommend pain relievers or anti-inflammatories, but discuss that at length with your pediatrician before giving them to your child.
Any growth can cause a need for extra rest, so its no surprise that teething sometimes causes your little one to be more tired than average. Talk to your doctor if it seems particularly bad or if your child is inconsolable because many people falsely associate symptoms to teething, illnesses can go unnoticed and untreated, which is especially uncomfortable for your little guy or gal .
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 .
Read Also: How Big Are Newborn Diapers
Sample 4 Week Old Baby Sleep Schedule
- 4:30 am feed baby swaddled , put immediately back down to sleep
- 7:00 am wake up, feed unswaddled in well lit area, play time
- 8:15 am wind down routine, down for nap awake but drowsy
- 10:00 am wake up, full feed unswaddled, play/bathe/errands/ tummy time
- 12:45 pm wind down routine, down for nap
- 2:45 to 3:00 pm wake up, full feed, play/family time
- 4:15 pm down for nap
- 5:30 pm cluster feed, bath/family time / sit with family at dinner
- 6:30 pm cat nap
- 7:00 pm get baby up, wind down routine
- 7:30 pm cluster feed swaddled then immediately down for nap
- 9:30 pm to 10:00 pm feed again swaddled, put immediately down to sleep
- Feed at night as baby wakes up
References: What Scientific Studies Say About Newborn Sleep
Anders TF. 1979. Night-waking in infants during the first year of life. Pediatrics 63: 860-864.
Bennett C, Underdown A, and Barlow J. 2013. Massage for promoting mental and physical health in typically developing infants under the age of six months. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013 Apr 30 4:CD005038. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD005038.pub3.
Cheruku SR, Montgomery-Downs HE, Farkas SL, Thoman EB, and Lammi-Keefe CJ. 2002. Higher maternal plasma docosahexaenoic acid during pregnancy is associated with more mature neonatal sleep-state patterning. Am J Clin Nutr 76:608-13.
Cubero J, Valero V, Sánchez J, Rivero M, Parvez H, Rodríguez AB, Barriga C. 2005. The circadian rhythm of tryptophan in breast milk affects the rhythms of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin and sleep in newborn. Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 26:657-61.
Cubero J, Narciso D, Terrón P, Rial R, Esteban S, Rivero M, Parvez H, Rodríguez AB, Barriga C. 2007. Chrononutrition applied to formula milks to consolidate infants sleep/wake cycle. Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 28:360-6.
Custodio RJ, Junior CE, Milani SL, Simões AL, de Castro M, Moreira AC. 2007. The emergence of the cortisol circadian rhythm in monozygotic and dizygotic twin infants: the twin-pair synchrony. Clin Endocrinol . 66:192-7.
Dement W and Vaughan C. 1999. The promise of sleep. New York: Random House.
Doan T, Gardiner A, Gay CL, Lee KA. 2007 Breast-feeding increases sleep duration of new parents. J Perinat Neonatal Nurs. 21:200-6.
Image credits for Newborn sleep patterns
You May Like: How Many Soiled Diapers Should A Newborn Have
Dont Play The Blame Game
Brooding about the situation will make it harder for you to fall asleep when you are given the opportunity. And its wrong-headed, too: You might be doing everything you can to get more sleep, and still be stuck with a baby who sleeps less than average.
Research suggests that the amount of sleep we get at night is strongly influenced by genetics , and, as mentioned above, there is a lot of individual variation among newborns.
Sleep Myth : Crying It Out Is Bad For Baby
Crying is a common and response to saying good-bye to a loved parent at bedtime. However, learning to fall asleep on ones own is an important skill that you can help your baby learn when she is old enoughat about 4 months.
Most experts and research agree that letting a baby or toddler cry as they go to sleep will not have any long-term damaging effects. A child who is well-loved, nurtured, and responded to during the day will not be hurt by fussing a bit before bed in the evening. And the good news is that the crying at bedtime will probably only go on for a few days before your baby adapts and begins to learn how to put herself to sleep.
But that doesnt mean its an easy choice for parents. Many parenting decisions, and especially this one, involve understanding temperamentnot only your babys, but your own as well. If letting your baby cry herself to sleep is too emotionally painful for you, there are other options. For example, you can go back to check on her every 10 minutes . Or, you can decide on a certain length of crying that you are willing to put up with and if the crying goes beyond that, you will go in to comfort the baby. Another option, if your partner is able to endure more of the crying, is that he or she takes on the bedtime routine. In any case, it is important for the two of you to be in agreement about your bedtime plan. Finding an approach that works for both your baby and your family is important.
Recommended Reading: How To Tell If Newborn Has Gas
Sleeping Through The Night
While we walked you through the baby sleep schedules above, we explained that sleeping through the night happens around 6 months or older for most babies. Most babies will start sleeping longer stretches around the 6 week mark, but for some babies, the 4 to 6 week mark is the onset of colic or disruptive sleep due to other reasons. But it wont last forever- I promise. Stay consistent with the feeding and sleep schedule, adapt to your babys changes and most importantly institute that consistent bedtime routine of bathing, reading, feeding, rocking. Before you know it, your baby will be sleeping through the night.
At 3-4 months old, your baby will still wake up once or twice to be fed, but the sleep stretches in-between will increase to 4-6 hours. Youll see their number of naps reduce during the day, but again, the stretches of sleep will be longer. Remember that trying to implement a later bedtime for your baby in the hopes that they will sleep later will not work. Your baby needs to be put down before they are overtired and will wake on their own sleep schedule whether thats 4 a.m. or 7 a.m. Refer back to our newborn sleep schedule for a suggested bedtime, or check out our Age-by-Age Bedtime Chart.
How Should Babies Sleep
The American of Academy of Pediatrics recommends room-sharing without bed-sharing for or at least the first 6 months or, ideally, until a baby’s first birthday. This is when the risk ofSIDSis highest.
Room-sharing is when you place your baby’s crib, portable crib, play yard, or bassinet in your own bedroom instead of in a separate nursery. This keeps baby nearby and helps with feeding, comforting, and monitoring baby at night.
While room-sharing is safe, putting your baby to sleep in bed with you is not.Bed-sharing increases the risk of SIDS and other sleep-related deaths.
Follow these recommendations for a safe sleep environment for your little one:
Also Check: Can I Use Water Wipes On Newborn Face