How to Keep Your Baby Asleep & Put an End to All-Nighters

Getting your baby to sleep through the night during the first year is difficult. It may leave you feeling like you are ready to pull your hair out. You’re probably wondering what the trick is that will keep your baby asleep all night long. Here are some of things that parents can do to keep your baby asleep and put an end to all nighters:

Have Scheduled Feedings

A large part of your baby being able to sleep through the night is being feed enough during the day. Most newborns lack the ability to go more than a few hours without having to feed. This is because they don’t have enough fat reserves built up to tide them over all night. As your baby gets older, they are better able to cope with night time fasting. This increases the amount of time that they can sleep. Having scheduled feedings that occur at regular intervals during the day allows your baby to get enough nutrients.

The second trick is to feed your baby right before bed. It allows them to have a full tummy before going to sleep. Hopefully, this will help them to sleep longer through the night. In the morning, feed them right away. Your baby will adjust to this schedule and learn to start sleeping through the night.

Have a Bedtime Routine

Around three months of age, start a bedtime routine. Before three months, your baby is still trying to figure out the difference between day and night. It will be more effective to wait until your baby is old enough to understand what nighttime means. Get into a routine that starts at the same time every night. Changing the time up only confuses your baby. Many parents give their baby a bath each night as a part of their routine. The caution with this is that a baby’s skin is sensitive to drying out.

If you choose to go with the bath method, make sure to moisturize your baby’s skin after the bath. Another solution is to read a story or sing a certain song each night. The last step should be feeding your baby. Put them to bed and let them fall asleep on their own. Babies are more likely to sleep all night if there is a routine in place.

Create a Soothing Atmosphere

An atmosphere that is conducive to sleep will help your baby fall asleep faster. It will also allow them to stay asleep longer. This means that you should avoid having any loud unexpected noises while your baby is sleeping. Some video doorbells let you turn the chimes off so as not to disturb your baby. You can also use a white noise machine so that you don’t have to tiptoe around your house.

During nap time, close the curtains to try to signify that your baby should sleep when it’s dark. While this may seem counterintuitive, having a napping schedule can help your baby sleep at night. If your baby is overtired, they will wake up more often during the night. As your baby gets older, make sure that naps aren’t occurring too close to bedtime. This can cause your baby’s sleep cycle to be disrupted.

Practice Self Soothing

It may be tempting to rush in every time your baby cries. While some cries may warrant immediate attention, not all do. Allow your baby to learn to self soothe when they wake up in the middle of the night. This is especially true if they have been sleeping through the night. There may be instances when your baby is going through a growth spurt. This may require that you perform night time feedings until the spurt has passed. Let your baby tell you if this is the case.

Many times a baby will go back to sleep again on their own. If they continue to fuss, attend to their needs and go back to bed. Don’t over soothe your baby at night. All babies want undivided attention. By prolonging your nighttime visits you are giving into your baby’s desires. Allow them to self soothe. As long as their needs are attended to, you aren’t neglecting them.

Getting your baby to sleep through the night takes careful planning. Use these tricks to end your all night baby sessions.