How To Get Your Baby Sleep Through The Night?

With a baby on the way, or perhaps just arrived, you have probably been warned about the sleepless nights in your near future. Every parent knows that sleep deprivation is just part of the package. A good night's sleep through the night for your baby translates into a well-rested night for you as well.

For 2-month-old babies, we can't really or don't recommend doing any sort of official sleep training because they're just too young. It's not until your baby is five to six months old that the majority of babies really develop the ability to learn to settle themselves to sleep.

If your baby's younger than that and is settling himself to sleep then fantastic! Cross your fingers! Congratulations that your baby was born with that ability that's fantastic, but for a lot of younger babies they just need help settling themselves down to sleep.

There is no set schedule at this age. We want to be helping you establish a flexible schedule. The idea is every time your kid wakes up, you're projecting out when they're going to need to nap again and every time they eat you're projecting out when they need to be eating again during the day. This will help you give more predictability to your day and help you with your confidence.

One of the most important things at this stage is that your kiddo is gaining weight that your milk supply is going well.

If you're breastfeeding or that you've got the right formula that's working for you and your child, if all those things are going well, you can do all kinds of amazing things right now working on your child's sleep habits. There is a beautiful window between four and eight weeks where you can start shaping healthy sleep habits. This is no tears approach because what people don't realize is that while the drive to sleep is biological the way your kiddo sleeps is a learned habit.

It's a habit, think about yourself, if i told you you couldn't sleep in this your favorite position tonight and i'm going to take away your blanket, you would go through an uncomfortable period.

And that's what that's why sleep is a learned habit so you can start teaching your little one how to fall asleep in the crib rathe than on you or at the breast or being rocked.

In these early first weeks, it's you're helping them sleep in the crib. So what can you work - the first thing you can work on is your daytime schedule. Your daytime affects nights. First thing that you need to know is sleep against sleep. The more well-rested a kiddo is the easier to get them to fall asleep and stay asleep. That's NO.1 goal - keeping your kids well rested and get enough sleep they need.

The second goal is using methods that you can maintain. So during the day at two months most kids can't stay awake more than about 45 minutes to maybe an hour and a half, usually closer to an hour an hour and 10 minutes.

It's your job to know when sleep needs to be happening. So you're going to be looking at your watch you may be checking out their tired signs sometimes those can be hard to read some kids are really tough on reading those. And so you know when you're going to start swaddling, dimming the lights, creating the atmosphere for sleep and then maybe making sleep happen.

The other thing you want to be working on this stage - now that your milk supplies up and formula is going well, it’s being an intentional feeder and why that's important is it helps you be a better sleep detective.

It helps you rule out a variable of hunger when you're having trouble getting your child to fall asleep or stay asleep. At two months, maybe they're eating every three hours during the day, taking full feeds from both sides.

As a first-time parent is easily to mistake the cues of fatigue for hunger. He was overtired because we didn't know he was really tired and then he kept waking up every two hours at night.

So we had to wait until four-six months to do the sleep training or sleep teaching where he learns to fall asleep. You are in a wonderful position right now! Because you have the opportunity to start gently working on these sleep habits - putting them down in the crib maybe not even drowsy, maybe you're putting them down calm but awake and then helping them fall asleep in the crib by putting your hand on them. If they're drowsy but awake you did the skill of relaxing them on you rather than in the crib. And in the crib as your long-term goal, so you're working on your daily flow not a set schedule.

Practical Tips To Help Your Baby Develop a Good Sleep Habit

Back to the top for helping your baby sleep for long hours in the night, below are some practical tips:

1. Establish a Routine

Put your baby to sleep at the same time each day no matter what he's doing fix a sleep pattern, be consistent; this will help him get accustomed to the routine gradually.

2. Keep Your Baby Active And Engaged

Involving your baby in physically and mentally challenging activities, especially in the evening. Tihis can help shift his sleep time towards the night. (Good choice - Hahaland Activity Gym Mat)

3. Consistent Sleep Place

Associate your baby's bedroom or his crib with sleep by putting him to sleep in the same place each day. Take out any distractions or toys and keep the light and the sounds consistent.

4. Don't Pick Your Baby Up In The Middle Of The Night

If your baby wakes up in the middle of the night, do not pick him or play with him rather gently pat him back to sleep by comforting him.

5. Enjoy His Favorite Activities With Him Right Before Bedtime

Playing his favorite songs, massaging, etc., every day before sleep can help him calm down and sleep better. (Recommendation - Hahaland Musical Toys & Baby Sensory Balls)

6. Make Sure That Your Baby's Last Meal Before Sleep Is Filling

Most babies wake up in the night to feed. If you ensure that your baby’s meal before sleep was filling, then he may be wake up in the nighe for feeds. If you are breastfeeding your baby, feed him before you meet him sleep so that he sleeps a little longer

7. Bath Before Bedtime

Warm baths before bedtime can relax your baby and send him to sleep. Ensure not to have any toys in the bathtub to avoid any distraction. Put him to sleep immediately after a bath so that he begins to associate bathing with sleep time. Everyone in the family needs to sleep off for the day to avoid confusing the baby. This can be done for a few weeks until the baby develops a routine.

8. Pay Attention To Comfort

Comfortable sleep clothes and bedding is essential for your baby. Ensure that it does not feel too hot or too cold in these clothes.

9. Keep a Plush Toy In Your Baby's Grib

A soft small plush toy that your baby can associate with sleep time will help him stay calm and also feel secure, so keep one in his bed.

If your baby's sleep pattern is not interrupting your routine, you can allow your baby to ease into sleeping at night for long hours gradually. However if you find that you could use some extra sleep to beat sleep deprivation, you can try these methods to help your baby get a sound sleep.