How Do I Get My Baby to Sleep through the Night?
“All healthy babies can sleep through the night, as long as their caregivers guide them in a few key ways.”
How Does Sleep Deprivation Affect New Parents?
New parents often dread the notorious "sleep deprivation” that follows the birth of their bundle of joy. They start off excited and soon end up exhausted. One study on 1,300 families showed that 7 out of 10 parents lose about 133 nights of sleep (grand total) in the first year of their baby’s life! Beyond that, studies show that parents’ sleep is often affected for the first 6 years of their child’s life! And studies also show that sleep deprivation has an even greater effect on moms than on dads.
This is alarming considering that sleep affects your hormonal balance, mood, relationships, mental clarity, weight, mental health, and physical health. How many times have you heard a mom say, “I feel like I”m taking care of everybody else BUT ME?!” Sleep deprivation causes moms to start the day with their energy tank on E! And there’s more…
One large study showed that when you have insomnia, you're 5x more likely to develop depression, and your odds of anxiety or panic disorders are greater. Poor sleep also contributes to obesity, diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and the list goes on…
In contrast, improved sleep means that you’re more likely to experience improved health for your entire family, including a stronger immune system, lower blood pressure, healthier heart, regulated blood sugar, less stress, and better mood. Greater marital satisfaction is also reported due to better sleep.
We WANT sleep but we also NEED it! The CDC says adults need 7-9 hours of sleep. But studies show that 28-57% of infants 6 and 12 months do NOT sleep through the night. And “sleeping through the night” is defined as only 6 hours of sleep for a baby. That’s not even the minimum that most adults need. Sounds like we’re in trouble.
What Can We Do About It?
So, what can we do about it? We can use a combination of the following factors to help our babies sleep longer at night:
Feeding: Nutrition and sleep go hand-in-hand for babies. It’s important to feed infants sufficient amounts and at the right times. Babies under a year of age need at least 24-32 ounces of milk in a 24-hour period. For a good night’s sleep, parents should feed their baby on a schedule that allows him to have a hearty appetite for the bedtime feeding so that he will eat enough before bedtime to hold him for a long night.
Sleep environment: The ideal sleep environment for babies helps them fall asleep and stay asleep throughout the night, lulling them back to sleep when they wake up between sleep cycles. Blackout curtains, white noise machines, setting the temperature to 68-72 degrees, and closing the door makes a significant difference.
Naps: Daytime sleep definitely affects nighttime sleep. Babies need enough nap time to avoid excess cortisol and adrenaline hormones in their bodies that cause them to be overtired, restless, frustrated, and possibly even hysterical going to bed at night. Overtired babies are also restless during the night, causing more night wakings and fussiness. However, too much nap time in the daytime can interfere with night sleep because the baby is not tired enough. Parents should use age-appropriate nap schedules to understand how much nap time their baby needs for a long night of sleep.
Self-soothing: Self-soothing is one of the most important keys to helping your baby sleep through the night. Parents should choose a program or method that walks them through a safe, proven, clear process to teach their babies how to lull themselves to sleep independently. This means your baby learns to lay in the crib awake and drift to sleep on her own without being rocked or fed to sleep. This applies to naps and nighttime. The best part is that this skill allows babies to put themselves back to sleep between sleep cycles in the middle of the night without crying for mom or dad to come help them.
Swaddling: Swaddling is a MUST for newborns 0-3 months old. Proper swaddling is the difference between 2-3 hours and 6-10 consecutive hours at night for newborns. If babies wrestle in the swaddle constantly, it’s likely too loose. Loose swaddles also encourage rolling, which is dangerous. Safe and correct swaddling is very snug around the arms (with babies’ arms at their sides or underneath their bottom), loose at the hips (for proper hip development), and it does not touch the baby’s face. Babies that were born prematurely should be swaddled with their hands to their chest.
When babies are sufficiently fed during the daytime, napping sufficiently, sleeping in an environment that helps them stay in deep sleep longer, properly swaddled (0-3 months), and taught how to soothe themselves back to sleep between sleep cycles, they can sleep much longer at night. How long they can sleep is dependent on health, weight, and age.
How Long Is Safe for Babies to Sleep at Night?
Before starting the sleep training process, parents should confirm with their child’s pediatrician that their child is fully healthy, gaining weight appropriately, and with no medical conditions that should be considered.
Sleep training should never be done while a child is sick with a cold, the flu, or even with an ear infection. Factors such as constipation and severe eczema should also be addressed before sleep training. Anything that causes discomfort for your baby should be addressed before sleep training. Also, sleep training should not begin within 24 hours after your baby has been vaccinated.
Healthy newborns can sleep 9-12 hours through the night with 1 feeding that is strategically placed IF they meet the weight and nutrition requirements. If your newborn was born full-term, you can start him/her on an age-appropriate sleep plan as young as 2 weeks old!
Babies 4-16 months can sleep 11-12 hours overnight consecutively if they’re at least 12 pounds. In fact, most infants actually NEED 11-12 hours of sleep at night. This helps them eat more efficiently, grow faster, develop new skills, strengthen their immune system, and even experience improvement in their mood! No wonder pediatricians are recommending sleep training for families! It is very healthy for your baby. As a byproduct, it improves the health of the parents also.
Why Do Parents Try & Fail?
Oftentimes, parents apply only parts of different programs or combine techniques from various YouTube videos and articles. They attempt to put it all together, and their efforts are usually in vain because the merging of different methods is unsuccessful. It is most effective to choose one proven, safety-approved plan and stick with it to completion. When parents do this, it is only a matter of time before they see improvement in their baby’s sleeping habits.
Inconsistency is the other reason parents fail at sleep training. When parents choose a method, they have to stick with it until their baby adopts the new habits. If it takes a baby 3-7 days to form a new habit and the parent determines that the plan does not work after day 2, she is not likely to succeed. If parents only use the process sometimes, but they're inconsistent with how they respond to their baby, the baby is receiving mixed messages and is not likely to learn quickly. Stay consistent with the method you choose, and your chances of success are much greater.
If babies are uncomfortable due to sickness, itching, infection, acid reflux, constipation–you name it–it can be hard for the baby to sleep well. If you suspect that your baby is uncomfortable, talk to your pediatrician and seek to address the discomfort before attempting the sleep training process.
