How to Help Your Baby Sleep As They Grow
To every parent, there comes that moment in time when you just can't get your baby to sleep. Babies getting poor sleep is one of the most common sources of stress for new parents. It's important to remember that everyone copes with these challenges differently and if you are feeling stressed about it, talk to someone.
Friends, family members, and doctors are all good places to start if you feel as though the lack of sleep is affecting your personal well-being. Everyone has a different opinion on how to get babies to sleep, but the one thing that remains consistent with every method is that there is no right or wrong way, just what works for you and your baby.
The information below is a collection of tips from parents with advice on how to keep your baby sleeping through the night.
Keep a sleep log
Make sure that you are writing down when your baby wakes up and for how long in order to have a better idea of what might be going on. Some babies will wake up every hour, but the total amount of hours they sleep is still 10, while others will only wake up twice in one night but the total amount of hours is less than what you would like. You can also check for patterns by seeing when your baby sleeps best
Give yourself a break
If your baby is constantly waking up and it has been going on for months, take a break. This means that you should stop doing any activities at home that require your attention for a little while and get out of the house or simply lay down and relax until they fall asleep. There is no reason to feel bad about taking time away from the baby if it's going to make you feel better in the long run.
Put them down awake, but drowsy
If your baby is in the habit of falling asleep while feeding, try changing it up by putting them in their crib when they are still awake. This will help you to avoid the situation where your baby gets used to falling asleep with a bottle in their mouth and can make for some frustration when you try to take it away. Be prepared for some crying during the process, but do not give in and simply hold them instead of laying them down. If nothing else, this will teach your baby how to self-soothe.
Don't wake a sleeping baby
It may be tempting to go in and check on your sleeping child after they have been quiet for a while, but never do this. If you enter the room and they open their eyes or make any noise whatsoever, it will only let them know that if they make enough of a fuss, you will eventually come. This will make them cry even harder when they finally do get your attention.
Ensure you are properly dressing your baby for bed
You should always ensure you are properly dressing your baby for bed. The AAP recommends that babies should ideally sleep at cooler room temperatures, but should still be dressed warmly. The Baby Merlin Magic Sleepsuit and Magic DreamSack are great products to consider when dressing your baby for bed at different stages of their growing up. If you have any questions about the Baby Merlin sleep system, check out their FAQs or contact Baby Merlin today!
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!
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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.
