Turn your baby into a sleeping beauty
Before your baby starts sleeping for eight-hour stretches, they have to learn how to fall asleep and stay asleep on their own.
Are you looking for top baby sleep tips that will change your life? If so, follow these pointers from our baby experts.
Light vs dark
The sleep hormone melatonin isn’t fully produced by infants until at least nine to 12 weeks, which means they don’t have a “schedule” until then. During the newborn stage, expose your baby to plenty of light during the day and wake him up for a feed if naptime has gone longer than three hours. To help your baby understand that nights are for sleeping, keep the lights dim during night-time feeds and nurse your baby in the bedroom.
Leave nappy changes
Changing a damp nappy might wake your baby up. Unless the nappy is heavy or there’s a poop situation, leave it be. Instead, use an absorbent overnight nappy and apply a layer of protective barrier cream at bedtime to ensure that your baby’s skin isn’t exposed to too much moisture.
Slip in the last feed
If you wake your baby for a feed before you go to sleep yourself, you will fill your baby’s tummy and everyone in the family may get a bit more sleep. If you want to give it a go, try it for three days and see if your baby sleeps longer at night.
Let your baby settle themselves
All babies fuss, grunt, and wiggle at night. Wait and see if your baby will settle down by himself before you give him another feed.
Play white noise
It’s tough for babies to go from a noisy womb to complete silence at night. Whether you pick a fan or a made-for-baby white noise app, the soothing sound will become a sleep cue that will also camouflage the sound of you tiptoeing away after you’ve put him to bed.
Routine, routine, routine
We often follow consistent bedtime routines, but then skip them at naptime. It’s worth remembering that the more chances your baby learns to self-soothe, the quicker he’ll learn to fall asleep, and stay asleep, day or night. If you wait until your baby is snoozing before placing him in his crib, it will be harder for him to learn to soothe himself when he wakes up. Routines such as a sponge bath, feeding, and a lullaby can calm your baby down so he’s ready for dreamland.
