Newborn Sleep: 5 Tips for Smooth Nights

The absolute number one question I get asked on an almost daily basis is, “Can you tell me all of your baby sleep secrets?!” To answer that quickly, no. But I can give you my top 5 tips to help you establish healthy sleep habits for your newborn.

Photo Credit: Yari Garcia Photography > https://www.yarigarciaphotography.com/

1. Timing: A newborn baby can really only tolerate about 45 minutes of awake time before needing another nap or to be put to bed for the night. This usually comes as a shock to many new parents. A comment I hear a lot is, “he’s not acting tired”. In reality, if your baby is fussy or whining, then he’s most likely already overtired. Some parents also confuse hunger vs tired. This is where many babies start form sleep associations and need to be fed to sleep; the Eat, Play, Sleep routine is a great way to avoid this association. I always recommend to follow your pediatricians advice when it comes to feeding your baby, so be sure to check in before changing any routines.

2. Keep it dark. Your baby will have an easier time adjusting to days and nights if you keep the sleep environment dark. I recommend BlackoutEZ Window Covers, as I have them in my baby’s room and LOVE them. They make his room blackout dark and you wouldn’t even be able to tell that the sun is up. This is especially important during that 5am hour, when it’s too early to wake up, but the sun is coming up and may start to wake your baby. I love that I can use these during the day so that the sleep environment is the exact same for naps as it is for nighttime sleep.

3. Routines: This is a huge tip I give parents with babies and toddler at any age or stage. Babies and toddlers thrive on consistency. Routines should be set in place throughout the day and throughout the night as well. To help your baby settle down for naps and bedtime, you should have consistent routines for both. Your nap time routine can be a shorter version of your bedtime routine, but no matter what your routine is, keep it consistent. This will also help when other caregivers are watching your baby. If he is used to the same routine and each caregiver goes through the same routine for each sleep period, your baby will be more likely to settle to sleep easier and faster.

4. White noise: The sound of white noise can drown out outside noises as well as replicate the sounds of the womb. The use of white noise could help your baby sleep longer if he isn’t being woken up by other noises in the house. The Dohm white noise machine is the top recommended brand by the National Sleep Foundation. I also use this exact model in my baby’s room and it has been great for at home and easy to bring along when we are traveling.

5. Attempt to put your baby down awake. One to two times per day, put your baby down while he’s awake and see what happens! You never want to let a newborn cry. This is only a way to let your baby practice some independence and see if he will doze off on his own without your help. Don’t worry if your attempts are unsuccessful. It’s all about exposing your baby to independence and he will eventually catch on. The newborn phase is all about getting to know your baby, letting your baby get to know you, and working on feeding and letting your body heal from labor and delivery.

BONUS TIP: Take good care of yourself. Eat full meals, take hot showers, ask for help when you need it. Let the dishes pile up, let the laundry go unfolded, or ask someone else to do it for you. You’ll never get this time back with your baby so get to know him/her and soak it up. Take pictures and videos and cherish these moments.

For a more in depth guide for new and expecting parents, purchase my newly updated Prenatal/Newborn Sleep Guide. This 38 page guide is full of information about:

This sleep guide is an instant download and is currently 30% off (August 10, 2018). No need for a discount code, the discount is already applied in my online store.

If you need one-on-one help, let’s set up a time to chat.

If your baby is sleeping in a safe environment, but you need help getting longer stretches of sleep throughout the night, I can help! Some things to think about when deciding when you want to start sleep training your baby/toddler: