How to Get Baby to Sleep Thru the Night

The weeks or months until your baby sleeps through the night are so difficult.  It's worse if you have other children and / or are working because you can't take the time in the day to rest or even nap.  Not only is your sanity suffering but sleep for a baby is super important and I think it is a skill that parents have to teach to their babies.  In my opinion every baby is different and there definitely isn't one guaranteed way to get a baby to sleep through the night but I also think there are some tips and ideas that definitely help most babies.  This is my third baby and these are the things that I swear by.  Emily slept through the night at 16 weeks, Madi at 10.5 weeks and Jackson just before 6 weeks.  I'd like to say I got better with "training" them but I have to note that each baby was bigger.  I think birth weight affects their ability to eat more and sleep longer.

This is such a debated topic but I SWEAR by a schedule.  First of all I think it is the only way a mom can function.  How can you plan anything or schedule anything when you don't know when the baby is going to eat or sleep???  Also a schedule helps a baby regulate their digestion.  With my girls I started them on a schedule right away.  I got major confirmation about a schedule with Jackson because he didn't start out with a schedule for a few weeks.  This was because he was in the NICU and had a rough start so out of necessity I had to wait on scheduling.  

Before I put Jackson on a schedule he was all over the place.  He would sleep all day and would never wake on his own to eat.  However, at night he was frequently waking every 45 minutes.  As soon as I put him on a schedule things started to change.  He started doing 3-4 hour stretches at night and VERY soon after starting a schedule he slept 8 hours.  For several weeks he still woke up 1-2 times a night but only needed a binkie and then fell back asleep.  

The schedule I live by is Eat, Wake, Sleep.  You pick a start time that you will live by every single day.  With Jackson I chose 6:30 am because I needed to get him fed before getting the girls ready and out the door by 7:50.  Even if the baby is sleeping at your start time you need to wake them.  I totally get not wanting to wake a sleeping baby or getting your own sleep if they are still sleeping but I promise this pays off in the long run.  Once you pick a start time you follow the eat, wake, sleep rule.  Every 2.5 hours (from start to start) I fed the baby and then mid afternoon I switched to every 2 hours.  After feeding you need to make sure the baby is awake for a short period of time.  In the beginning I needed to purposely wake my babies; a quick diaper change usually does the trick.  After a period of awake time you put the baby down sleepy but never asleep.  They need to learn how to put themselves to sleep.  However, down below I will talk about sleep props.

My schedule the first few weeks looked like this:

6:30 a.m.- Feed

7:45/8:00 a.m.- Nap

9:00 a.m.- Feed

10/10:15 a.m.- Nap

11:30 a.m.- Feed

1:45/2:00 p.m.- Nap

2:00 p.m.- Feed

3/3:15 p.m.- Nap

4:30 p.m.- Feed

5:30 p.m.- Nap

6:30 p.m.- Feed

7:30 p.m.- Nap

8:30 p.m.- Feed

9:30 p.m.- Nap

10:30 p.m.- Feed

After a couple of weeks I decided to stretch the feed times because I was always waking him in the day to eat and he wasn't acting that hungry.

6:30 a.m.- Feed

8:00/8:15 a.m.- Nap

9:30 a.m.- Feed

11:00/11:15 a.m.- Nap

12:30 p.m.- Feed

2:00/2:15 p.m.- Nap

3:30 p.m.- Feed

5:00/5:15 p.m.- Nap

6:30 p.m.- Feed

7:30 p.m.- Nap

8:30 p.m.- Feed

9:30 p.m.- Nap

10:30 p.m.- Feed

Again after a few weeks the schedule changed to:

6:30 a.m.- Feed

8:00/8:15 a.m.- Nap

9:30 a.m.- Feed

11:00/11:15 a.m.- Nap

12:30 p.m.- Feed

2:00/2:15 p.m.- Nap

3:30 p.m.- Feed

5:00/5:15 p.m.- Nap

6:30 p.m.- Feed

8:00 p.m.- Nap

9:30 p.m.- Feed

Finally this is where we are now at six months:

6:30 a.m.- Feed

8:00/8:15 a.m.- Nap

10:00 a.m.- Feed

11:30/12:00 a.m.- Nap

1:30 p.m.- Feed

3:30 p.m.- Nap

5:00 p.m.- Feed

7:00 p.m.- Bed

8:30 p.m.- Dream Feed

Next I think you need to make a distinction between night and day.  Have the baby sleep all over the place in the day time: swing, crib, play mat, etc.  But at night, have the baby sleep in the same spot every night.  In the daytime keep it light and loud.  Don't be quiet and don't keep it pitch black.  I think this affects how they sleep later in life.  At night of course it will be dark and quiet so the baby can tell the difference between night and day.

In the evening have a night time routine so the baby gets the signal that is time for bed which means sleeping for a long period of time.  Our routine is feed, bath, rock with singing or story, swaddle and put down.  Let me be completely honest though... this is my third baby and most nights the routine is out the window.  Bath and rocking are rarely happening.  We squeeze a bath in whenever during the day and rocking is for a few seconds while standing right before I lay him down.  It's just how I'm surviving at the moment.  Also at night (not during the day) I enlist the 5 S's: Swaddle, Shush, Swing, Suck and Side.  There is a book that goes into detail about this tactic but these items combined will calm a baby.  You swaddle and put in a binkie, shush for a few minutes in their ear (or noise machine) and hold the baby on their side and swing back and forth.  Again with Jackson this doesn't happen all the time but I did it every single night with Emily.  What I never miss though is swaddling and binkie.  I am in love with The Ollie World swaddle.  I wasn't in love at first and so I wasn't really using it.  However, when I started using it at night is also when he started sleeping much longer; since then I swear by it.  It keeps the baby very secure with so their arms and legs are not waking them up.  The reason I didn't love it at first was I thought it moved up on him but once I figured out to place it a little lower it solved that problem (swaddle must be placed/wrapped just below the shoulders).  The Ollie World swaddle uses velcro so the baby doesn't break loose and then wake up.  It's made of moisture-wicking fabric to prevent over heating.

For a few months Jackson slept in a Rock N Play ( I hear they've been recalled recently) due to acid reflux and then transitioned to the Dock a Tot.  We love both and for babies who have a harder time transitioning in that fourth trimester I swear you need something besides laying them down flat in the crib.  We also swear by a noise machine; it really helps Jack Jack calm down.

After my first baby I said I wasn't going to use sleep props because they can be hard to break but then reality happens and when you have a hard baby you will do anything to get them to calm down and sleep.  I suggest trying to not use them but if you have to, you have to and don't beat yourself up about it.

A new baby is the best gift in the world but let's be real they come with no instruction manual and they can be so physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting.  I hope these tips help you find some much needed rest.  Also if you're feeling the mom guilt and the mommy depression you might find some comfort in this post.  Also I'd love to hear what helped you get your baby to sleep?

1. Feed on a Schedule, Not on Demand

2. Eat, Wake, Sleep

3. Put Down Sleepy, Not Sleeping

4. Nighttime Routine

5. The 5 S's

6. Sleep Props

I received product compliments of The Ollie World.  All opinions expressed are honest and my own.  Thank you for supporting the brands and companies that have received my stamp of approval.