Six Secrets to Better Newborn Sleep: Expert Tips for a Restful Baby

Although it may be hard to believe, your baby can be taught to sleep well. Babies are ready to learn from the day they are born. They are like little sponges, ready to absorb information and learn from their environment. Teaching your baby to self-settle is a skill they need so that if they wake during the night, they can get back to sleep again without your help.

Let’s look at six important steps to getting your baby to sleep through the night:

1 Follow a bedtime ritual consistently every night.

You can start a bedtime routine whenever you feel ready.

eg; Bath, dimmed lights, massage, onesie, lights low, final feed for the night, winding, swaddling, into bassinet/cot, lights out, goodnight wishes & kisses, leave the room, door closed or slightly ajar.

2 Treat every hour between 7pm and 7am as night-time.

This can be started from the day your baby arrives home. Your baby should be in their room during these hours, as dark as possible, quiet, no talking or eye contact. For a baby to learn that night-time is different, it has to be different. Don’t be tempted to bring the baby out in front of the television under bright lights (unless your baby is unwell of course)

3 Use calming techniques to relax your baby.

Spaced soothing is a way of calming your unsettled baby and enabling them to fall asleep on their own. By only waiting a minute or two with a crying baby, it doesn’t have to feel uncomfortable, and your baby will feel confident that you are always there for them. Whisper ‘ssshhhhhh’ repeatedly, softly. Stroke your baby down from the forehead to the bridge of the nose. Turn your swaddled baby slightly onto their side facing away from you, supported by your other hand, and pat their bottom gently, with slight motion mimicking the womb.

4 Lay your baby down awake.

When possible, use spaced soothing (#3) to calm & settle your baby so they can learn how to fall asleep by themselves. If baby is unsettled after a couple of minutes, keeping the lights as low as possible, go into the room and pick your baby up, still swaddled and check for a burp. Once settled back in their bed, if your baby cries again, try to wait another couple of minutes, giving your baby the opportunity to fall asleep on their own.

5 Don’t rush in at every sound.

Try to remember that many of the noises a baby makes are attempts at falling asleep. Are they crying because they are genuinely upset? They might just be grizzling and having a ‘last hoorah’ before settling themselves into a good night’s sleep. Teaching your baby to self-settle takes commitment and perseverance, each day it will get easier and easier for both you and your baby. Stick with it.

6 Stretch out the night feeds.

Decide on a ‘base time’ for your baby’s middle-of-the-night feed and try not to feed them before that time. Stretch that time gradually until your baby sleeps eventually through the night. Whether you decide to do a ‘dream feed’ around 11pm or not, if your baby has a ‘usual’ waking time of 2.30am, try not to feed them any earlier as they may not be hungry enough for a full feed and will need to be fed again soon after.

Using the spaced-soothing methods, your baby may be calmed or settled back to sleep until after this time, gradually stretching it out, to further consolidate their night-time sleep.