You’ve eagerly awaited the birth of your newborn. You’ve spent hours imagining the perfect little family you will have, filled with peace and tranquility. But here you are, awake all night…again. Will your baby every sleep peacefully through the night? Will you? The answer is yes, that will happen for you. Although it may seem hopeless at times, this is a perfectly normal stage in the life of a newborn. It takes a while for babies to develop normal sleep patterns but there are steps you can take to make this a better time for your family.
The first step you should take is to buy and read some of the great parenting books that can help you through this trying time with your infant. The No Cry Sleep Solution books are an excellent resource as they offer a wealth of information about baby’s sleep as well as routines you can use to help develop regular sleep patterns in your newborn. In addition, The Baby Book by William and Martha Sears can be one of your most powerful tools during your baby’s early stages, and right up through the second year also. You can read more about both of these and other parenting books at narrating kayoz talks books.
Another excellent resource for you is support groups for new parents. It can be freeing and relaxing to hear the stories of the successes and failures of others who are facing the same difficulties. In these groups, you will likely hear a lot of advice that you don’t agree with or that isn’t for your family, but don’t underestimate the value of getting great advice where you least expect it.
In the meantime, some tips for getting your newborn to sleep more regularly are:
- Don’t let her sleep for more than about 3-4 hours in a stretch during the day – baby’s tend to be born with their night and day mixed up, so getting them to sleep for shorter stretches during the day and feed more often can be key to getting longer stretches at night.
- Keep the night time feeds and changes as dark and quiet as you can – again, this helps set that day/night rhythm, and additionally the less you stimulate him for those feeds, the easier it is likely to be to get him back to sleep!
- Use a red light at night, to avoid confusing your baby’s circadium rhythms, which are set by white or yellow light.
- Wrap your baby for all sleeps, to give her that snug in the womb feeling and keep her startle reflex from waking her. Some rare baby’s don’t like to be wrapped, but more often new parents think their baby doesn’t like the wrap because she seems to fight it. In fact, jerky, uncontrolled movements of the limbs are a tired sign for newborns, and a good indication that it is time to wrap her securely and let her drift off.
Above all, remember that this phase of your baby’s development will pass, as will all the others! Some of these may be difficult, some may be thrilling, but all will leave you with fond memories. Yes, even though you feel like you want nothing more than sleep, eventually this time will be a fond memory to you…one that will leave you with longing for the days of cuddling and comforting your baby as he drifts off to sleep.