Parents must face the fact that newborns don't sleep through the night. While newborns sleep about 16 hours a day, it's in chunks of three to four hours, thanks to the size of their stomachs. As the Nemours Foundation explains, a newborn's stomach can't hold enough food for the baby to remain satisfied for more than a few hours, so it rouses frequently to feed. By 3 months old, most babies sleep five hours or longer at night, and by 6 months, infants should sleep nine to 12 hours overnight, according to the Mayo Clinic. You can take certain steps to help newborns sleep more soundly at night.
Step 1
Stimulate newborns during the day by talking to them, playing with them, keeping them in well-lit areas, exposing them to music and sounds, and providing them with toys.
Step 2
Put newborns down for naps when they appear tired. While some parents keep infants awake during the day in the hopes they will sleep more at night, this can backfire, notes the Nemours Foundation, as overtired babies have more difficulty sleeping.
Step 3
Monitor the duration of naps. While napping for a few hours at a time through the day is important, too much sleep leaves babies wide awake at night, notes the Mayo Clinic. Naps of about three hours or a little longer should suffice.
Step 4
Note where newborns sleep best. Some sleep better in cribs, while others sleep better in bed with their parents; some sleep better in their own rooms, while others sleep better when their cribs are in their parents' room. Figure out the optimal sleeping arrangements and stick to them until they no longer work, as pediatrician Dr. William Sears suggests.
Step 5
Keep lights dim and noise to a minimum as bedtime approaches. Do the same when tending to newborns in the middle of the night. This helps newborns wind down and gradually learn that nighttime is for sleep, according to the Nemours Foundation.
Step 6
Rock newborns until they are almost asleep, but lay them down while they are still awake. This allows infants to learn to fall asleep on their own, rather than conditioning them to depend on rocking, explains Driscoll Children's Hospital. Newborns who need rocking will cry more during the night, while those who do not may fall back asleep on their own sometimes.
Step 7
Swaddle newborns tightly, but experiment to find what's just right for your baby, as preferences can vary. Pacifiers also provide comfort and promote sleep but can trigger crying when a newborn wakes up to find the pacifier has fallen out of his mouth.
Step 8
Set temperature controls to keep newborns' bedrooms at a steady 70 degrees. Keep humidity around 50 percent as well. These conditions are most conducive to sleep, according to Dr. Sears.
Tips and Warnings
- Breastfed newborns tend to get hungry more quickly than bottle-fed infants, notes the Nemours Foundation. Breastfed babies may require feeding as frequently as once every two hours for the first few weeks. Learn to recognize the signs that your newborn is ready to sleep. Tired babies get fussy, yawn, rub their eyes and look off to the sides, explains Driscoll Children's Hospital.
- The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends that infants be put to sleep on their backs, not on their stomachs, to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS.
Things You'll Need
- Swaddling blanket
- Pacifier
