15 Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep

by Pinky McKay

Just like us, babies have varying sleep requirements.

Just like us, babies are individuals, and this goes for sleep requirements too. It may help you to know that in most infant sleep studies, “all night” is defined as five hours. If you are thinking that even five hours of uninterrupted sleep would be a dream come true, here are some gentle strategies you can try to help your baby (and you) to sleep better:

Learn Tired Signs

None of us like being kept awake when we are craving sleep, so rather than waiting until your baby is ‘past it’, put her to bed as soon as she shows sleepy signs. These include becoming quiet, losing interest in people and toys, or beginning to fuss, make jerky movements or show signs of mild distress. If you miss this window of opportunity, your baby is likely to become grumpy and find it more difficult to settle.

Introduce Bedtime Rituals

Bedtime routines can become cues to help even tiny babies wind down and become conditioned to fall asleep. From the earliest days, give her a deep, warm relaxation bath (in an adult bathtub) just before bedtime.

A Magic Touch

Silent nights could be at your fingertips. Research from Miami University shows that infants and toddlers who were massaged daily for 15 minutes prior to bedtime fell asleep more easily by the end of the month-long study.

Sleepy Sounds

The calming, repetitive sounds of traditional lullabies recall the ‘womb music’ your baby heard before birth (your heartbeat and fluids whooshing through the placenta). Baby music that incorporates elements such as the rhythm of the maternal heartbeat, or another ‘white noise’, has remarkable soothing effects, especially if played continuously through the night.

Rock a Bye Baby

The motion of a rocking chair or being carried in a sling helps lull baby to sleep. So does a special-purpose baby hammock, and as baby moves and arouses during the night, her movements start the hammock rocking.

All Snuggled Up

The startle reflex, a primitive survival response that produces spontaneous, jerky movements, even in sleep, can be disturbing (literally). Provide a sense of security by swaddling your newborn, wrapping her firmly in a gauze or a muslin sheet (in summer) or a soft shawl in winter. Gradually wrap more loosely and discard the wrap as this reflex disappears (by around three months).

Cut Caffeine

If you are breastfeeding, caffeine can create a vicious cycle. You drink coffee (or tea or cola) to give you a hit because you are so tired, then baby gets a boost of stimulant through your milk and becomes restless, and consequently does not sleep, and nor do you!

Encourage Day Feeds and Night Sleep

Tiny tummies need frequent refills, but soon your baby will start sleeping for at least one longer stretch between feeds. If baby sleeps for more than four hours between feeds during the day, it is reasonable to gently unwrap her and offer a feed, then she might save her longer sleep for night-time. However, be patient if she is not ready to alter her pattern.

Try a Top-up Feed

Whatever time your baby was last fed, gently offer a feed just before you go to bed yourself. (Don't wake her, she will suck in her sleep). With luck, her longer sleep may coincide with yours.

Teach Day from Night

Teach baby the difference between night and day by keeping the lights low and attending to her quietly during night feeds. Save the play and chatter for daytime.

Do Not Disturb

Avoid waking baby during night feed times by changing the nappy either before or halfway through a feed, not when baby is all groggy and full. If baby is falling asleep during feeds and only having a short feed, try changing the nappy halfway through, then offering the other breast.

Sucking Up to the Boss

Falling asleep on the breast is one of the easiest ways for babies to settle. If you are concerned about it becoming a habit, alternate feeding with other sleep cues.

Share Sleep

Research shows that mothers and babies who sleep together share the same sleep cycles, so these mothers get more sleep overall. Remember the SIDS risk reduction guidelines: maintain a smoke-free environment (don’t co-sleep if you are a smoker), put baby to sleep on her back, avoid overheating (remove doonas), keep baby’s head uncovered and use a firm mattress (no waterbeds). Both parents should avoid alcohol and medications that reduce their awareness of the baby.

Leave a Little Bit of Mum

It’s not exactly a substitute for you, but if you slip your own soft, unwashed T-shirt over baby’s mattress, she will be comforted by your familiar smell as she sleeps.

Stop the Clock

Simply knowing how long you are awake can be enough to make you too tense to get back to sleep, or it may encourage you to rush your baby’s feed and make her feel anxious. If you see your baby’s waking as a genuine need, it could help you to enjoy this precious cuddle time, rather than worry about the clock ticking. Feel the softness of her skin, breathe in her delicious smell and snuggle!


Pinky McKay is the author of “Parenting by Heart” (Lothian $24.95) and “100 Ways to Calm the Crying” (Lothian $24.95). To subscribe to Pinky’s free email newsletter or to find out about her workshops, visit www.pinky-mychild.com.