Six tips to help newborns get more sleep

by Lisa Lamb, Certified Sleep Consultant

If you have a newborn baby, or are expecting one, you will soon realise that your baby does a lot of eating and a lot of sleeping and little else! It is important to allow your newborn to do as much eating and sleeping as they want during the first few weeks, but there are a few things you should keep in mind during the first six weeks.

Self-soothing

Developing self-soothing skills. It is important that we teach our children skills so they can fall asleep themselves and begin to sleep more peacefully.

Full feeds

Encouraging full feeds during the day by creating an EAT< PLAY>SLEEP pattern. Follow your baby’s feed and sleep cues.

Bedtime routine

Establishing a good bedtime routine right from day one is a great way to help your baby organise days and nights and start to consolidate nighttime sleep more quickly.

I suggest starting off a bedtime routine with a bath – it’s a great step one. It’s such a significantly different experience that your child will soon learn that a bath means bedtime is near. 

Distinguish between night and day

It is often hard to tell when the nighttime ends with a newborn. This is when we look at night or day as being a 12-hour interval. If baby went to bed at 8pm, then 8am will be the start of the day.

The best way to signal that the morning has officially begun is to take baby out of the room and feed in a bright daytime environment such as the living room or the kitchen.

Nap routine

Creating a clear and predictable nap-time routine will help your baby make the transition and take a nap more readily. Awake time for newborns is 45-60 minutes. Watch your clock as it can be very easy for newborns to get overtired.

Swaddling

Swaddling prevents babies from startling themselves awake, and white noise drowns out day-to-day noise around the house that could wake your baby up too early.

Need more support?

If you’re interested in learning some remarkable newborn baby sleep tips, then get in contact with The Night Ninja where our Certified Sleep Consultant, Lisa Lamb, can support you.

When your baby sleeps better, you will notice a more patient, more tolerant, more engaging baby after a good night’s rest or quality naps. Be encouraged. It’s never too late to adopt excellent sleep habits in a baby, and ultimately help yourself get some much-needed rest as well.