5 New Year's Resolutions for Better Sleep for You and Your Baby
Two things go by quicker than the blink of an eye: the amount of sleep you get when you have a baby, and the commitment to New Year's resolutions. We all make them, and most of us forget about them. In fact, 80% of people drop their resolutions by February.
While this blog is about making New Year's resolutions, we want to help you learn how to stick to them as well. You don't need us to tell you the negative effects of bad sleep because you're probably already experiencing them - low energy, grouchiness, lack of focus to name a few. Low amounts of sleep make it hard to show up for your family.
If you're ready to tackle your sleep struggles this year and make a change, here are five resolutions that can help:
1. Sleep for Longer Stretches at Night
You may have laughed at this first one because, duh, right? Of course, you want to sleep for longer stretches at night. But there may be little things in your control that are keeping you from doing so. If your baby is younger than 9 months old, they may still be waking up because they're hungry. In that case, it’s important that they get the food they need.
If your baby is older than 9 months, it may just take some time and practice. Try experimenting with bedtime routines, such as having a bath or reading a book to your children before bed. You can also try moving around their nap schedule so they're going to bed earlier in the evening.
Your baby could also be overtired, meaning they're not getting enough sleep during the day and are so tired by bedtime that they don't want to go to sleep (sounds ironic, we know). Try your best to stick to wake windows during the day, which goes as follows:
- Newborns: try not to keep the baby awake for more than an hour
- 4 to 5 months: 75-90 minutes between naps
- 5-7 months: 1.5-2.5 hours between naps
- 8 to 14 months: 2 hours and then a nap, 3 hours and then another nap
- 15+ months: one nap a day
2. Keep a Nighttime Routine
And that brings us to our second resolution: keeping a nighttime routine. Routines are critical for babies, but we often make the mistake of changing up their bedtime without thinking about how it affects their sleep.
Your nighttime routine doesn't have to be complicated. Some parents swear by warm baths, while others want plenty of cuddles and reading time before bed. It could even look like singing/playing a soft song, turning the white noise machine on, and laying them down. The point is to find what works for you and your baby and do it every night before bedtime. This will help them understand when it's time to snooze, so they'll be more likely to drift off quickly.
3. Find the Right Sleepwear
Since babies were snug and cozy in the womb for 9 months, they love the feeling of being bundled up when they fall asleep. It helps them understand where they are and feel secure, which can help them get to sleep faster.
There are many options out there for sleepwear that make it easy to keep your little one cozy, but also allow freedom of movement so they don't feel restricted or uncomfortable. Swaddles are perfect for babies who aren't able to roll over yet. You could also try a sleep sack or swaddle suit, which is perfect for babies who are breaking out of their swaddle.
4. Reduce Electronics Before Bed
This one can be really hard, especially if you get your baby to sleep before your normal bedtime and then want time to relax. It's easy to turn to your phone or TV to get a little "me-time" but like most things, moderation is key. Do what you can to limit blue light exposure to your baby so that their circadian rhythms aren't affected and they can sleep better.
As for your own sleep hygiene, avoid bringing your phone into bed with you or watching TV while in bed. It might take a while to purge yourself a blue light before bed, but take it 5 to 10 minutes at a time and you'll notice how much more prepared you feel for a good night's sleep.
5. Plan Appropriate Daytime Activities to Promote Nighttime Sleep
It's easy to want to snuggle during your baby’s wake periods, but making sure your baby gets enough activity and stimulation during the day will help them sleep better at night. A regular bedtime routine is crucial, but it's also beneficial to keep things relaxed and quiet during naptimes.
Try taking daily walks around the neighborhood or a local park, reading together, playing outside, or making music together. For young babies, this will look like appropriate tummy time activities. Whatever you do, make sure it's something fun and active that keeps your baby stimulated, but not overtired. You can check out our five ideas for productive daytime activities here!
Crush Your New Year's Resolutions With Baby Merlin
One of the worst things you could do for your sleep would be to try too much. Pick out one or two of these resolutions and see what works for you, or what you can perfect. Whatever you do, remember that every baby is different and what works for one may not work for another.
At the end of the day, your ultimate goal should be to make sure you're both safe and well-rested.
And if you decide that one of your goals is to find the right sleepwear, try out Baby Merlin's sleepsuits or sleep sacks. Designed by parents for parents, our products will help your baby fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. Let 2023 be the year of sweet dreams!
Also in Our Blog
What’s the Difference Between a Swaddle and a Sleepsack
Five Questions about Early Morning Wakeups for Baby
The team at NAPS helps you tackle the issue of early wakeups. *BONUS* NAPS is hosting a webinar on February 24th. Register here and use the extra-special code MAGICMERLIN and you can join the webinar FREE of charge!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The sound of cheery calls of “MAAAAMAAAAA” from the next room may be lovely at 7am. At 4am, or 5 am, not so much. Your baby may be up and ready to start the day, but you probably aren’t.
Answering the questions below may help you get there.
- Is your nap schedule mucking up your baby’s overnight sleep?
This might seem like an obvious question, but your baby’s sleep needs will change fast in the first few years of their lives. A quick look at the average nap number and duration might give you an idea:
- For babies from 3-6 months old, it’s normal to take 3-4 hour-long naps per day.
- For babies 6-15 months old, expect 2 naps with 3-3.5 hours of total sleep.
- For one and two-year-olds, you should expect a single 2-hour nap.
Part of the reason you might be seeing earlier wakeups is that your baby has graduated from one nap cycle to the next.
- Does your baby have enough time between their last nap and their bedtime?
We call this an “awake window,” and it can make a big difference. It might seem strange that your baby went to bed fine the night before, and you’re seeing a response to nap scheduling in the pre-dawn hours, but if your kiddo’s sleep is disrupted at night, it will impact the morning.
- 3-6 months, at least 1.5-2 hours between final nap wakeup and bedtime.
- 6-12 months, at least 2.5-3.5 hours between final nap wakeup and bed.
- 12-18+ months, 3.5-4.5 hours between final nap wakeup and bed.
- Is the room staying dark after the sun comes up?
Black 0ut curtains can make a big difference here. Remember that our brains signal wakeup when the light changes. So if dawn is at 430am, and even a little bit of light comes into your baby’s room, their little brains will PING with wake up juice.
- Is your baby going to sleep too early or too late?
It might seem counter-intuitive, but a late bedtime can actually backfire on you. Overtired kids don’t sleep as well. If you made their bedtime later and it didn’t fix the problem, try an earlier bedtime and see if that helps. You might be surprised.
- How do you make it better?
Try to make one change at a time; just one. Stick with that change for 3-5 days to see if it impacts things. (One night is usually not enough to see substantial change.) Be as consistent as you can with the change you made. For instance, if you decide to increase the space between bedtime and final nap wakeup, make sure to stick to the wakeup time you planned.
If your baby is waking up and chirping happily to themselves, feel free to leave them there for a little while. Let them get used to being alone in the crib. If you can, try to delay the start of the day by 5-10 minutes each day. This can make a big impact.
Everything else aside, remember that this is a short time in your kid’s life; as they get older, their sleep will become more regular, and so will yours. Don’t let yourself get too discouraged. Things are hard now, and you’re doing a great job.
