CONGRATS on the birth of your baby! It is such an exciting time, but equally overwhelming as you realize your newborn simply won’t sleep in their bassinet, and will only naps while being held 😪
If you’ve been spending the days feeling like this…
- Constantly trapped under a sleeping baby
- Trying to figure out if you should shower, eat, or nap when you have a glorious 15 minutes of peace
- Frustrated with why your newborn won’t stay asleep when you lay them in the bassinet
- Exhausted at being up every 1-2 hours overnight feeding your baby yet again
- Dreaming of when you might sleep 3+ hours at a time again
Then read on for the 7 steps to improve your newborns sleep. By the end of this article you will have actionable steps to help you improve your newborn’s sleep today and tonight, setting you up for success in the weeks to come!
But first, what CAN we expect from newborn sleep? Above all, follow your Pediatrician’s advice when it comes to night feedings. But generally speaking, most of the time Pediatrician’s say you can stop waking baby to eat overnight once they have surpassed birth weight. It’s likely and normal to have 2-3 night time feeds for the first 8 weeks of life. But if you follow these tips, you will have your baby set up to be able to stretch into longer stretches of sleep when they are developmentally ready!
7 Steps to Improve Your Newborns Sleep
1️⃣ Establish a Bedtime & Naptime routine
Creating a consistent bedtime and naptime routine will work wonders in signaling to your baby that it’s time to sleep. The routine that I recommend is generally a bath followed by a diaper change, feeding, applying lotion and dressing into PJs. Then read a few pages of a book before swaddling baby up! Turn on white noise while you cuddle and sing a song, laying baby down into the crib awake, and turn off the lights! You’ll notice the routine doesn’t end with feeding or rocking to sleep, that is actually a crucial step in laying a healthy independent sleep foundation to work towards better sleep!
2️⃣ Focus on Full Feeds
Aim to always give your newborn a full feed. If nursing, offer both sides. If bottle feeding, speak with your Pediatrician about proper daily oz. To help ensure a full feed, aim to keep your newborn awake during the entire feed. Helping newborns to receive full feeds supports health growth patterns and prepares baby for longer stretches of night sleep – yay!
3️⃣ Follow Age Appropriate Wake windows
Understanding your baby’s natural sleep cycles and following age appropriate wake windows can prevent overtiredness and support smoother transitions between wakefulness and sleep. These wake windows are great guidelines for when your baby may need another nap or bedtime, helping you plan their sleep schedule accordingly.
4️⃣ Follow an Eat, Wake, Sleep cycle
This ties everything together! Encourage a healthy routine by following an eat, wake, sleep pattern. Feed your newborn upon waking to ensure they are alert and ready for a full feed. Follow feeding with play time to enjoy with your baby! As the wake window comes to an end, initiate a calming nap or bedtime routine to prepare them for sleep.
5️⃣ Create an Environment Conducive for Sleep
Swaddling your newborn (until they start to show signs of rolling over) can help reduce the wakings caused by the startle reflex and promote longer stretches of sleep. Pairing this with white noise (playing all night long and for naps too!) and ensuring the room is DARK will help baby sleep transition into their next sleep cycle smoothly. **If your newborn is 6 weeks or younger and dealing with day and night confusion, nap your newborn in a light and noisy environment like the living room, to help baby establish daytime from night time.
6️⃣ Take a PAUSE
In the middle of the night if your newborn wakes, take a 2-5 minute pause before responding. This gives them the opportunity to settle back to sleep without immediate intervention and gives you the chance to make sure they are actually awake and not just in a light stage of sleep! I know with my first born in 2018 I would hear her rustle in the bassinet beside me and I would scoop her up to breastfeed, only to realize she was still asleep!
7️⃣ Utilize the Soothing Ladder
If you are working towards teaching your newborn independent sleep (which I highly recommend), consider implementing a soothing ladder. This gentle and gradual approach involves laying your baby down calm but awake, and gradually soothing them through various steps. I recommend staying on each step of the ladder for ~1 minute!
1. Stand silently by crib
2. Shhhing loudly beside crib
3. Pacifer (if your newborn takes one)
4. Heavy touch like hand on chest
5. Rocking baby’s body with your hand, with baby in the crib
6. Picking baby up and rocking/holding until soothed
7. Feed (ONLY for middle of the night wakings, not at bedtime)
I hope this has been helpful, and gives you concrete steps you can take today to help improve sleep tonight. Know that improving newborn sleep involves a lot of practice and patience, but following these steps will absolutely improve sleep in as little as 2-3 weeks. Navigating the world of newborn sleep can be overwhelming, but remember, you’re not alone. You’re doing great, Mama!
If you feel like you aren’t sure what to work on first, need additional details, or an expert to be able to guide you through this process so you can stop the endless googling, I can help!
I work 1-1 with newborns to help work towards..
✨ a peaceful bedtime (read: no more endless rocking to sleep cycles)
✨ long stretches of night time sleep (read: no more on and off the boob all night long)
✨ crib naps too (read: time to yourself to ya know, shower, eat, nap yourself!)
If you’d like to learn more about working with me, you can book a free 15 min call here!
