5 Ways to Make Sure your Newborn Baby gets a Good Night’s Sleep
9th March 2015
Newborn babies tend not to develop regular sleeping habits until they are between four to six months old, by which time they usually sleep through the majority of the night. But for now, it means all you tired and exhausted parents have to hang in there! To help you out until that day comes (and it will come, trust us!), here are Tiny World we offer the top 5 ways to help make sure your new bundle of joy gets a good night’s sleep.
1. Accept that your baby is likely to have a sporadic sleeping pattern
During the first few months of your baby’s life, they need around 13 – 16 hours sleep a day. This will be taken sporadically in short bursts throughout the day until the brain matures and they become more active in the day and less active at night. So in the early stages of your baby’s life, do not try and force them into a predictable sleeping pattern as this will simply not work. Accept their sleep routine will be random, and so will yours too!
2. Day is for play, night is for sleep
Although it’s important not to force your baby to sleep, or alternatively force them to stay awake, you can help prompt them by stimulating them during the day with lots of play and interaction. Likewise, at night time, lower your tone and only have gentle soft lighting in the room, this will help them feel sleepier and help them associate daylight with playing, and darkness with sleeping.
3. Falling asleep on their own
Although as a new mother or father, this may seem unnatural and go against all your paternal/maternal instincts, try and put your baby in their cot before they actually fall asleep. This way they will fall to sleep independently without you and will not rely on being rocked, held or fed, until they drift off.
4. Routine
Once they’ve reached the 4 month mark (roughly, every baby is different), they will need to have a bedtime routine established for them by their parents. Although you may not think it, babies love and crave consistency! A very popular and successful method for many parents is the three b’s – bath, books and bottle. This will help them begin to unwind and settle down, with a nice full belly, ready for a restful sleep.
5. Don’t let the baby monitor rule your life!
Do not sit by the baby monitor listening out for every gurgle or squeal. If you enter the room thinking they need you when really they don’t, this will only disturb their sleep even more. Leaving them alone will teach them to send themselves back to sleep, however that’s not to say you should ignore them if they are hysterically screaming and getting themselves worked up – you should always try to step in before it escalates to this stage. If you struggle with this, try simply turning the volume down slightly on the monitor.
Top Tip: Never wake a sleeping baby! This may seem the most obvious point to make but when your baby is asleep, leave them to sleep. Don’t wake them up because you think they’ve been asleep for too long or they’ve missed a feed.
If you’re in the Nottingham and Mansfield region of the UK and are in need of professional day care for your newborn, then please feel free to give us a call. We welcome babies as young as 6 weeks old, right through the 11 years old.