What is the best way to get babies sleeping all night?

Question

My daughter is a month old, and trying to get her to sleep, and stay asleep, is really hard to do. This is my second child, and my oldest was the same way.

Answer 1

It's hard to get them to sleep all night because they are not supposed to sleep all night. It's a very strange belief being shoved down people's throats, in contradiction to all we know about our species' biology. Humans are primates, and there is no other primate that even puts their infants DOWN for the first year of life. It's just not done, because it's bad for the babies. They need to be in their mothers' arms a lot. They need to sleep with their mothers. it's how they evolved. And, they can't sleep all night because their bellies can't hold enough food.

Ditch your unrealistic expectations. They'll just make all of you unhappy. Be a primate mom.

Answer 2

I don't know what your schedule is like but it seems that if you hold a baby for a long time in the evening they will begin to sleep longer hours sooner. I was told this by a lady who owned a Montessori School. I tried this and it worked like magic. I didn't get much else done, but hey, a full night's sleep with a newborn? I mean that is worth a lot, right? When I got home from work, I gave baby a bath and fed her, then I held her until 8:30 and put her to bed. She slept through the night right away. The house was kept quiet, and she would wake up at 6:00 AM or so. I hope you will try this and see if it works for you too.

Answer 3

Routine is key, though with a one month old, it can't get established just yet.

Here is what worked for me...
When my girl was 2 1/2 months old, we began incorporating her routine. Around 8-9pm we would either bathe or massage her. Then change and feed a big dose. She would fall asleep to music and a humidifier. Within 3 days of doing that, she began sleeping through the night.

Another tip that worked for me is to keep daytime active with noises and light, and the nighttime calmer and dimmer. This teaches them when we are active and when we are sleepy.

We also use the 5 s's from Happiest Baby on the Block. Swaddle, swing, shoosh, shake (gentle vibration), suck. They only work for the first 3 months but they will change your life. Get the DVD.

I would recommend beginning a regiment asap. Model, model, model, and your baby will adjust when she is ready. She should be adjusted totally within the third month.

Answer 4

hi, once she is 6-12 weeks and is a good weight and has a steady weight gain she may be ready to START sleeping through the night (i'm not saying she will be coz i don't know lol) if you are breastfeeding try cluster feeding in the evening, this is feeding on demand and in regular short bursts say every 15-20minutes, to get her tummy nice and full.. when she wakes in the night give her 5-10minutes to settle herself and if she hasn't then go to her and gently pat her back to sleep or however gets her back to sleep.. (there is a great program called sleepsense that is a great help with this too).. you can also try putting a t'shirt that you have worn in the cot with her so she can smell your smell..you need to wait until you know she can go the whole night without food though and once she is a good healthy weight and doesn't need food in the night then you just need to get her back to sleep each time she wakes up without feeding her, be consistent and if she is ready she should get it in a few days/week.. if she's not ready you will know by how many times she wakes up wanting a feed!! best of luck to you!!

Answer 5

At this point, the baby is waking at night because he is hungry. One way to help get your sleep back, is to wait as long as you can before giving the final feeding of the night before bed time. The baby will eat a lot at that feeding, and wil be able to sleep longer with the food digesting in his tummy. I wouldnt reccomend putting extra formula or cereal in his bottle ( if youre bottle feeding) as this can cause gas and digestive problems. I know some people do that, its not a good idea. Good luck catching up on those lost ZZZZZ"s. Believe me, I have a 5 week old...going through the same thing.

Answer 6

The best way is to develop a sleep routine and stick with it. What routine you choose is completely up to you and it can gradually change with your baby over time. At one month old she might enjoy a calming, relaxing bath - maybe with some of the Johnsons & Johnsons Lavendar scented bath wash to get her nice and calm. Keep the lights in the house dim and talk in a soft voice during the bath and around the time you want her to start realizing it's almost time for bed. She will come to know your routine the more you are consistent with it, that is the key - consistency. You could also play soft lullabye music, maybe classical music like from a Baby Einstein CD. Play it during the bath or before or after, whichever works better for you. You can hold her, rock her, sing her lullabies yourself too. Also does she have a mobile of any kind? My 7-month old son loves to fall asleep watching and listening to his side-mounted crib "mobile" with soft lights and music. Some parents leave a lullaby CD playing softly in the infants room all night, just put the disc on "repeat". Does she sleep in the same room as you? We kept our kids in our room in a bassinet until they were 4 months old. In the bassinet both of my kids loved the vibrate mode it had on it, it was very soothing to them and they would drift off to sleep with that when they were younger. My personal opinion is to try and not rock your baby to sleep every night. They can quickly become very dependent on that and then never learn how to self-soothe and get themselves to sleep. Your baby is young though! Don't get me wrong, it is more than okay to hold her, rock her, sing to her.... but I'm saying if you hold her until she falls asleep every single night... it can be a hard habit for her (and you!) to break when she starts getting older. Most sleep experts agree that letting a baby fall asleep on their own - by putting them down to bed while sleepy but not asleep - is the best way to achieve a sound, self-sufficient sleeper. My last suggestion is maybe your daughter would enjoy a "white noise" machine. They sell them just for that purpose - to create a soft, constant noise in the room at night. Babies love that because it mimmicks the sounds they heard for 9 months in the womb. But you can try it yourself without buying the white noise machine just by running a small room fan in the room (directed away from your baby, of course). Your baby is still so young... give her time... but it's never too late to start creating good sleep habits early! Good luck!!

Answer 7

e four children. Ages 2, 3, 4, &4. they are a handful and have kept me up many of nights. My best advice is to try to keep the baby awake as much as you can during the day. Also I know this is hard but try not to cater to the babies every need when he/she starts crying unless they are hungry, need a diaper...etc. Its hard to tell the difference when you first start out. But dont worry being a parent is a mjor learning expirence. It will come to you.

Answer 8

She is only a month old...you can't honestly expect her to sleep through the night already?? It can take months...babies usually need to eat at least once in the night until they are at least six months old. This is all part of motherhood, we give up a lot...including sleep, but it is all worth it and I would not trade it for anything.

Answer 9

You have to hold them and rock them untill they fall asleep. Young babies will no sleep throughout the night and they need to be constantly held and rocked for amount a year or so im not sure. But my sisters were the same when they were born. When i was 7 years old and my sisters were 2 and 1 years old i would hold them and just rock them back and forth till they fell asleep.

Answer 10

At a seminar recently I heard that if you swaddle a baby, place them or hold them on there sides and "shhhhh" right into their ear that they will calm right down and go to sleep quicker and for longer. Give it a try, it just might work, i know it did for me!!