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How to help your baby become a perfect little sleeper – a guide for the first year.

All healthy babies can be good sleepers.
Sleep is hugely important for babies, in order that they grow, be happy and be well equipped to play and learn.
Follow these simple guidelines and your baby and you will soon reap the benefits of peaceful nights and happy days!

0-6 Weeks

In these early, precious but exhausting weeks, sleep is very closely involved with feeding. Your new baby will tend to live life in a milky, dozy state, and few babies really settle and sleep well. It is quite usual to feed your baby every 2-3 hours.

Babies of this age sleep for 14-18 hours in a 24-hour period. If you think that your baby isn’t getting this much sleep why not keep a simple sleep diary? This will give you a clearer picture of her sleep habits and will enable you to see if any pattern is beginning to emerge. Remember though that at this age babies’ sleep is very light. Many experts call sleep in these early weeks “active sleep!”

To encourage good habits at this age a baby requires:

1. Enough milk. If you are breastfeeding this means feeding on demand. For formula fed babies, follow the guidelines on the tin or allow 2 ½ oz in a 24 hour period per pound of her body weight. If you are at all unsure, you should ask advice from your health visitor.

2. A warm and cosy place to sleep. The ideal room temperature should be 18 degrees C. Clothing and cot covers should be made of natural fibres such as cotton.

3. During the night, when she wakes for a feed, keep the lights down low and speak softly. Settle her back into her cot after feeding and winding her.

4. Do not change your baby’s nappy during the night unless it is very wet or soiled. A Thermos with warm water for cleaning your baby will save you crashing around in the bathroom in the middle of the night!

5. Introduce a familiar gentle song that your baby will come to associate with bedtime.

6-16 Weeks

By this stage many babies are beginning to sleep for longer periods and to feed less often. It is usual for a baby of about 8 weeks old to sleep for 6 hours at night without waking for a feed, although many babies have managed to do this earlier and some will be a little later.

Your baby is now bigger and stronger, even though she is not yet taking solid food. She is also watching you and rewarding you with her wonderful smiles!

Her total sleep requirement may have dropped slightly, to between 14 and 15 hours per day but sleep will be becoming deeper and lasting for longer periods.

To encourage good sleeping habits at this age, keep up with the first 5 steps and in addition try to encourage your baby to sleep without sucking.

You may like to try feeding your baby, and if she falls asleep, very gently wake her. Try placing her in her crib and soothing her by rocking, stroking, singing etc.

Breast fed babies often find this more difficult than babies who enjoy formula milk. If it is too traumatic to put her down awake [for her and you!] leave it for a week or so and try again then.

4-6 Months

At this lovely age, your baby is becoming much more active. By six months she will have started to enjoy solid food and require less milk. She may still, however, need a feed during the night.

By now it is likely that she will be sleeping for between 6- 10 hours at night, with 2-3 daytime naps. This should total about 13-14 hours.

To encourage good habits at this age you need to establish a BEDTIME ROUTINE.

A good bedtime routine incorporates a set of ‘sleep clues’ which tells your baby that sleep time is coming. If repeated consistently, it will help her to feel safe and comfortable around bedtime.

As a guide, try the following steps:

1. Tea at around 5 PM [If your baby is taking solids.]

2. Sit her in her baby chair whilst you tidy up her daytime things and prepare all that you need for the night.

3. Turn of the T.V, radio etc. and take your baby’s bottle/blanket/dummy and whatever else she requires to her room.

4. Bath her at around 6.30 PM. Even if your baby is clean, it is good to bath her, as the experience serves as a very powerful sleep clue. It also allows her to expend reserves of energy. Introduce an ‘action’ song in the bath, you will both enjoy it and it will serve as another [highly portable] sleep clue.

5. After her bath, go directly to the room in which your baby sleeps. Don’t be tempted to take her back into the main living area, or you’ll find that rather than making her sleepy, the bath has left her ready to play!

6. When she is in her room, keep the atmosphere calm, with soft lighting etc. Introduce another song, which your baby will associate with going off to sleep.

7. Give your baby a bottle or breastfeed and then place her in her cot. Ideally, you should place her down whilst she is still awake, but if she protests you may have to stay with her until she is calm enough to sleep. It is better to gently ease her into sleeping in her cot rather than opting for the famous ‘controlled crying’ technique.

8. If your baby wakes for a feed make sure that you put her back in her cot afterwards [no matter how exhausted you are!]

9. The sequence of your routine is more important than the time at which it is done. If 7 PM is too early for your child, just follow the routine a little later.

6-12 Months

By now your baby is likely to be very active indeed. The ‘average’ baby sits up independently at 6 months, crawls at 9 months and begins to toddle at 1yr old. These stages of your child’s development are tremendously rewarding but can be exhausting too! Both you and your baby need your sleep more than ever before.

Babies of this age do not normally require a feed during the night. In fact feeding at night may impair your baby’s appetite for the food that he needs during the day.

Your baby requires 12- 14 hours sleep in a 24 period. This is usually made up of a night-time sleep of 10-12 hours plus a morning and afternoon nap.

To encourage good sleeping habits:

1. Be consistent with your bedtime routine.

2. Do not allow your baby to sleep after 4 PM. If necessary, wake him up with a little snack to boost his blood sugar.

3. It is important now to ensure that your baby goes off to sleep alone in his cot. Everyone [including babies] wakes up several times during the night, due to the cyclical nature of sleep. If your child falls asleep at your breast, in your arms or on the sofa, at the beginning of the night, he may panic when he wakes and finds that you are not there! He will certainly need to call out for you in order to get back off to sleep. Given that the average sleep cycle lasts for 1 -2 hours, you could end up with very disturbed nights!

4. If your child finds it difficult to go off to sleep alone, you may now have to use the ‘graded approach’ to gently withdrawing your presence. This means placing your baby into her cot when she is awake and staying very close beside her until she goes to sleep. Once she has got used to falling asleep in her cot, you should gradually move yourself further away from her until she becomes confident about falling asleep without you in the room. Consult your health visitor or sleep specialist for guidance.

5. Although it is exhausting for parents, bath time and bedtime should be the nicest time of day for a baby. Babies need to feel safe, happy and loved to sleep successfully. Be loving, consistent, resolute and confident. You will soon have peaceful nights. Good luck!