Helping Your Baby Sleep Through the Night - A practical step-by-step video for new parents

Baby Sleep: Making It Happen

Babies don’t require silence to sleep soundly. By nature, young babies will sleep through normal household noise, so don’t eliminate these noises or your baby will learn to depend on an artificially quiet environment to sleep. This does not mean that you should have the stereo blaring, but don’t worry about the telephone ringing, older children playing, or the dog barking. A baby can easily become accustomed to these noises.

Babies can be taught the difference between night and day. Because the average newborn sleeps about sixteen hours per day, this only leaves about eight hours that he will be awake. Therefore, try to concentrate these wakeful times in the daytime hours. It only makes sense that your baby will be livelier at night if he has been sleeping all day. Although you may not see the effects right away, you will be beginning a process that will slowly evolve.

Your first step is to wake your baby every few hours during the day for feedings. Play with him before or after these feedings, depending on his inclination. If a friend or relative comes to meet him, don’t hesitate to wake him up. You can also keep your house stimulating during the day-time hours by playing music and giving him brightly colored toys.

On the flip side, don’t entertain your baby at night. When you go into his room, don’t turn on the light. A light in the hall or a night-light can give you enough light to see what you are doing. Change his diaper only if he is very wet. After you have fed him, try to get him back to sleep as quickly as possible. It is important that you not stimulate him during the night even if he seems anxious to play with you.

Starting as early as the third day of your baby’s life, define one focal feeding time. This should be in the late evening, probably sometime between 10 P.M. and midnight. Then make sure that you feed your baby every night at this time. Do not be afraid to wake and feed him if he fails to wake on his own. Because babies are so unpredictable in their wakings and feedings during the first weeks of life, there might be times when you have just put your baby down as late as 9 P.M. Still wake him at 11 P.M. It is from this late evening focal time that we will “stretch” the early morning hours until we have achieved an eight-hour uninterrupted sleep for you and your baby.

Make sure that this late evening feeding is substantial. We are especially concerned that the breast –fed baby have a complete feeding at this time. Because breast-fed babies have to suck harder to get the milk flowing, they can become tired and fall asleep before becoming completely satisfied. If your baby has this problem, try to keep him awake by unwrapping him or gently jostling him. Or you can try wiping his forehead with a moist washcloth. If he falls asleep after the first breast, try waking him up by changing him before you offer the other breast.

If you adopt the above routine of waking and feeding your baby at 11 P.M., he will most likely fall into a pattern of waking again around 1 or 2 A.M., and then again around 4 or 5 A.M., for additional feedings. Continue these demand feedings during the early weeks and don’t be surprised if there are time variations. Be sure, however, that you wait to pick your baby up until he is really complaining. In this way, you can begin to train yourself not to respond to nondistressful whimpers or a little cradle fidgeting. Soon you will learn to distinguish between real distress and simple infant wakefulness.

It is important to never wake your baby for any nighttime feeding after the late evening focal feeding time (at about 11 P.M.). If you are a nursing mother and your breasts are unbearably full, express your milk and put it in the freezer. If you are fortunate enough to have your baby asking only once between 11 P. M. and 7 A.M. before he is five weeks old, you are somewhat ahead of the rest of us. Give yourself a pat on the back.