How To Get Baby To Sleep All Night

It’s one thing staying up all night because you WANT TO, but staying up all night because you HAVE NO CHOICE, just plain SUCK!

THIS IS MY SON AT 3:00AM!

Being a former Nurse Family Partnership nurse (basically a mom-baby nurse), I know just about everything there is to know about caring for a newborn up until age 2. I say this because up until recently, you would think I was an amateur! My Zander, was seriously keeping me up ALL NIGHT LONG! I knew exactly what I needed to do to change this, but just didn’t and couldn’t because of sleep deprivation!

I do want to give a big THANKS to dad for his support (and determination of getting sleep), for helping me to implement what I KNEW would get us ALL sleeping through the night. The irony of it all is it only took TWO DAY to do it!

So here are the tips to getting a restful night sleep:

1. First, you and your partner need to establish a bedtime schedule with days assigned. I’ll give you ours for example: Since I”m off during the week, I am in charge of the routine Mon, Tues, Thurs & Fri. Dad has the weekends since I work, and Wed, to even things out (it’s his baby too!).

2. Now you need a routine, that again is mutually agreed upon. My son’s bedtime routine goes like this

7:00 pm fed off the spoon
7:30pm-8:30pm playtime in the floor with his toys or siblings
8:30pm-9:30pm he gets a bath EVERY NIGHT (no exceptions)
9:30pm 9:45 he is nursed
10:00pm he is put in his bed with the Scout Puppy playing bedtime music for 10 minutes
10:10pm SLEEPING BABY

Now these times are what works for my family based on our schedule. You should start your routine what fits your needs and your baby’s temperament and adjust it accordingly.

3. Understand a baby sleeping all night is approximately 5-7 hours depending on baby’s age.

Do realize your baby may still wake up in the middle of the night until their body adjusts to the schedule, so the next steps are key to KEEPING YOUR BABY SLEEP:

1. NEVER EVER TURN THE LIGHT ON! To baby, lights on mean party time! You can keep a dim night light in the room to help you navigate if necessary.

2. First let baby cry for no more than 10 minutes to see if she can calm herself.

3. If that does not work and baby takes a pacifier, offer that next. Try this a couple times before moving on.

3. If that doesn’t work place your hand on baby belly or stroke her hair letting her know you are there (In a whisper) and she is okay, while offering the pacifier again. You can also try playing the Scout Puppy music (or whatever music you have) if baby does calm down.

4. If this doesn’t work QUIETLY in the LOW LIT ROOM, pick baby up, change her and then offer a bottle/nurse. Once baby is done IMMEDIATELY place her back in the crib with the pacifier and music playing, then exit stage left (like a thief in the night).

You and your partner should takes turns with these steps so sleep don’t allow you to skip to just picking baby up holding her. The key to this game is giving baby the least amount of stimulation so she can learn to self modulate herself (calm herself).

Good Luck, persistence and teamwork pays off!

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