If you have not slept well at night since the time your baby was born, you are not alone. Sleepless nights are a rite of passage of sorts for many new parents. Newborns actually sleep at least 16 hours per day, but usually in 1- to 2-hour stretches. Although the sleeping pattern of a child can vary a great deal at first, a more consistent schedule of sleep will begin when your baby goes longer between feedings and develops a more mature nervous system. Mayo Clinic has assembled the following steps to help your baby sleep longer through the night.
Step 1
Encourage your baby to be active during the day. Engage your baby by singing, talking and playing together. Surround your baby with normal household noises and light, as daytime stimulation can help your baby sleep better at night.
Step 2
Monitor the nap times of your baby. Try not to let your baby sleep for large blocks of time in the day as this can leave your child wide awake when it becomes bedtime.
Step 3
Put your baby to bed when he is drowsy yet awake, as this will help your baby to associate bed with the process of going to sleep. Put your baby to bed on his back.
Step 4
Provide your baby enough time to settle down. If your baby does not stop fussing or crying before discovering a comfortable position to fall asleep in, calmly talk to your baby as you stroke his or her back.
Step 5
Consider providing your baby a pacifier if she has trouble settling into sleep.
Step 6
Expect babies to stir frequently at night and to be noisy (crying or fussing can be a sign of settling down for sleep). Wait a few minutes when your child fusses to see what happens, unless you feel that your baby might be uncomfortable or feel hungry.
Step 7
Make nighttime care low-key when your baby requires feeding or care at night. Use a soft voice, dim lights and calm movements to indicate to your baby that it is time to sleep instead of to play.
Tips and Warnings
- According to Mayo Clinic, giving your baby a pacifier during sleep can reduce the risk he will develop sudden infant death syndrome. If your baby does use a pacifier to sleep, however, you might have to deal with frequent middle-of-the-night crying episodes when the pacifier inevitably falls out of the baby's mouth.
