Tips for Better Newborn Sleeping

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Tips for Better Newborn Sleeping
Unravel the Mystery and
Get Some Sleep!

Newborn sleeping patterns vary, but most sleep 16 to 20 hours out of every 24 for the first couple of months. Most first time parents wonder when they will ever get an uninterrupted, full night's sleep again.

A great source of frustration to new parents is when their newborn baby decides that nighttime is the better time to spend "awake time". This is a common problem, and the following suggestions should help them get on the "day shift", as well as help you get a better night's sleep.

Suggestions to help with newborn sleep patterns

* Make sure that your baby gets enough to eat during the day. A newborn baby should breastfeed 8 to 12 times every 24 hour period. If the baby is formula fed, see a formula feeding chart to understand how much they should be consuming.

If your newborn baby sleeps past his normal feeding time during the day or it has been 3 hours since the last feeding, it would be best to wake him up. When your baby eats every 2 1/2 hours between the hours of 7 AM and 10 PM, that would equal 7 feedings. This means that your baby can sleep longer periods at night, only awaking to feed 1 to 3 more times.

If he doesn’t get enough to eat during the day, he will want it (and should have it) during the night!

* Keep the atmosphere more lively during daytime naps. I remember tip-toeing around my firstborn trying to maintain absolute silence while he napped. He became so accustomed to the silence that little noises would disturb him.

I learned with my subsequent children that a little commotion in the house (unavoidable with toddlers running around) helped my newborn be a better sleeper, and had the added benefit of deeper, longer sleep periods at night when it WAS quiet.

So play some music while your newborn baby sleeps. Talk on the phone and bang some pans in the kitchen. (OK, maybe not the pans.)

The point is to make a difference between what to expect during the day and night. You may even try having your newborn sleep in a bassinet in the living room for daytime naps and reserve the crib for nighttime only.

* Make daytime upbeat. Try to keep your newborn awake for longer periods during the day (being careful not to over-tire him). Play with your baby. Talk and read books to him. Play happy music.

* Make night-time feedings boring. Keep the lights turned down low. Keep down the noises, and don't play with your baby during feedings. Keep the television and music off.

Boring night-time experiences will teach your baby that it's not much fun to be up at night (for either of you). Again, the goal is to make a difference between night and day, and encourage your newborn to choose the "day shift".

* Teach your newborn to put himself to sleep. I am going to get tough here! We all love holding and rocking our babies. I am all for spending as much time as possible snuggling and bonding with your baby. However, you aren't doing your baby any long-term favors by consistently rocking him to sleep. Go ahead and spend every one of his waking moments with your newborn if you are able to, but when it is time for them to sleep, put them down. Help them to establish good newborn sleeping habits. See more about this in Getting a Newborn to Sleep.

This is a hard lesson to learn. When my oldest was three months old, I had to correct the bad newborn sleep patterns that I had established, and it took a week of both of us crying at every bedtime before we had learned the lesson.

Newborn Baby Asleep

We all have different levels of sleep during the night. Sleep patterns vary from REM (rapid eye movement) to deep sleep. Many people awaken slightly during the night to turn over, adjust the covers, etc.

The newborn baby sleep patterns are similar. If your newborn becomes accustomed to being held, rocked, or fed during the transition from awake to sleep, he will have a hard time falling back asleep between the normal newborn sleeping patterns at night. He will then become dependent on what you have started. You will save your baby and yourself some grief down the road if you take this to heart.

So what do you do? Put your newborn baby down while he is sleepy, but still awake. Establish this early. You won't want to be rocking your 18 year old to sleep in the future.

This does not mean that you should never rock your baby to sleep. It only means that this should be occasional, so that he can learn well the lesson of how to soothe himself to sleep.

* Swaddle your baby. Swaddling is so very beneficial in calming a newborn baby. If this technique is used from the very beginning, it will make your newborn feel secure by reminding him of his time in the womb. Click here to read more about the whys and hows of swaddling babies.

* Let your baby fuss a little at night. OK. I know you might not like this one either. Just don't rush to him the moment he starts stirring at night. It's very possible that he is only partially awake and may drop off to sleep again if left alone. Give him time to figure it out. If he's really hungry, or needs something, he won't give up easily. If you are confident that he has had enough to eat in the last 24 hours, you could let him fuss for a little while to see if he means business.

* Establish a nightly bedtime routine. Signal your baby that it is time for the "long sleep" and not a short nap. Perhaps give a relaxing bath if your baby enjoys this, or play a favorite soothing CD. Maybe rock your baby in a quiet room (making sure to put him down before he goes to sleep).

* Be Patient. It's really hard when you are sleep deprived to remember that this is a short phase in your newborn's life. They WILL figure it out and you WILL get a full night's sleep – eventually. If you follow the above suggestions, your newborn's sleep patterns should adjust so that he will be sleeping through the night by 2-5 months. Meanwhile, take a nap when your baby sleeps during the day.

Caution: Unless you have been living under a rock, you probably have heard of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS. There are newborn sleeping precautions that you need to take seriously in order to decrease the risk factors of SIDS.

Put your baby to sleep on his back - even if he will sleep better on his stomach.
Protect your baby from second-hand smoke.
Do not sleep with your baby.
Don't have stuffed animals, bumper pads, or fluffy bedding in the crib.
See this SIDS Prevention for more on this topic.