Are you overwhelmed with your newborn baby and wondering what you can do to get them (and yourself) any kind of sleep?
Bringing a new baby home for first time is a beautiful experience….but there are so many uncertainties. A lot of questions are bound to come up and many of them will likely involve your baby’s sleep (or lack thereof).
Here are 3 sleep tips to get your newborn baby off to a great start with sleep:
1.) Prevent Overtiredness
Newborn babies can only tolerate being awake for 45 minutes to 1 hour before they need to sleep again. And that’s from the moment your baby wakes up until the moment you lay them down for their next nap. The time will pass pretty quickly considering you’ll be doing a feed, a diaper change, maybe a bit of playtime, and then they’ll be ready for another sleep.
When parents aren’t aware of this, oftentimes they’ll wait until their baby gets fussy and then wonder what’s wrong. And a fussy baby often looks like a hungry baby, so they misread the signs and end up feeding their baby each time they’re hungry AND each time they’re tired.
So, now baby’s getting fed twice as often as what’s likely needed – once to fill their tummy and once to help them sleep. And before you know it, you’re still nursing your 10-month-old three times a night because feeding and falling asleep have always gone hand-in-hand. And that can be a difficult habit to change and teach a baby how to fall asleep without.
So, keep an eye on the time. If it’s been 45 minutes to 1 hour and your newborn’s starting to get fussy, try putting them down for a sleep.
2.) See if your newborn can fall asleep on their own (at least some of time)
Many parents feel that it’s their job to get their newborn to fall asleep. They feed, rock, bounce, walk, and many other things until their baby’s asleep, before finally laying them down.
But if we want our newborns to develop healthy sleep habits, we want to give them at least some opportunity to fall asleep on their own instead of always relying on your help.
So, a couple times a day, see what your newborn can do. After a full feed, a bit of playtime, and 45 minutes to one hour of awake time, try laying them in their crib and see what happens. At least some of the time you may be surprised to see your baby fall asleep peacefully without any help from you. And that’s exciting because it means that they’re moving down the right path for sleeping well.
3.) Dark Room for Sleep
We know that exposure to light slows the production of melatonin (the sleep-inducing hormone). So, keeping your newborn’s bedroom nice and dark will help encourage restorative naps and longer stretches of sleep in the night.
If your newborn has a little bit of day and night confusion, make sure they’re exposed to sunlight while they’re awake. Open all the blinds, feed them beside a window, and get outside for some walks. This will help your newborn’s circadian rhythm (or body clock) get in line a lot quicker.
Following these 3 tips will help start your newborn baby down the path towards healthy sleep habits, which can change your entire parenting experience.
Need some extra help navigating through your newborn’s sleep challenges? Schedule a FREE Sleep Evaluation Call to learn how my personal one-on-one support will help you start your baby down the path to sleeping well.