How To Help Your Baby Sleep Better

Learn what you can do to help your baby sleep better in this article.

Reviewed and approved by the doctor Maricela Jiménez López.

Written by Daniela Colmenares

Last update: 15 December, 2022

When a baby is first born, they won’t develop a fixed sleep pattern until they’re about six months old. Until then, they’ll generally sleep every three hours and wake up crying. Naturally, you want to know what you can do to help your baby sleep better.

Newborns cannot differentiate between day and night. This is one possible explanation for why they sleep so little.

However, don’t worry.

After the first few weeks, they’ll be able to learn the difference. This way, you can create a good sleep pattern for them.

It can be really difficult to adapt to your new reality. Your baby wakes up and you have to get out of bed and do what you can to try and get them back to sleep again. And if you can’t get them to sleep…? Although it might seem complex, with time, you’ll be able to get your baby to enjoy their sleep.

However, don’t let all this worry take away from the excitement of being a parent! Your child will only be a baby for a limited time.

In this article, we’ll share some recommendations to help your baby sleep better and more peacefully.

Recommendations to Help Your Baby Sleep Better

1. Learn to Use The Lights in Their Bedroom

Lights are like a switch that wakes us up while darkness is food for sleep. Therefore, you need to keep your baby in the light during the day and darkness at night so that they get used to it.

• During the day: Let the sunlight into your home. Tie back the curtains and open some windows.
• During the night: Lower the intensity of the lights before bedtime.
• You can still use small nightlights as long as they’re not too bright.

2. Place them in Their Crib Before They’re Completely Asleep

In the beginning, this can be quite difficult, particularly if you’re breastfeeding, which is when many babies manage to fall asleep. The best thing to do is to feed them and stroke them until they begin to fall asleep.

However, don’t let them fall asleep completely in your arms. Otherwise, they’ll wake up as soon as you put them in the crib.

3. Avoid Going To Them As Soon As You Hear A Whimper

You don’t need to go rushing to them every time you hear a little sobbing. Doing this will only get them used to waking up frequently, knowing that you’ll always come to them.

Instead, wait a few minutes to see if they’re able to calm themselves a little and maybe fall back to sleep. If this doesn’t happen, go to them before they start crying even more.

4. Be Patient

Once your baby has gotten used to sleeping for more hours each time, it’s possible that they go back to waking up crying during the night.

If this happens, don’t panic. This is completely normal if they’ve slept during the afternoon or if they’re suffering from something like a fever.

Some Tricks To Help Your Baby Sleep Better

• Keep them calm in a silent room.
• Try not to stimulate them too much when they’re falling asleep.
• Play with them a lot during the day. If you have a pet, involve them, too.That way it’ll be fun for both of them. They’ll be so tired by the end of the day that they’ll fall asleep much quicker.
• When they wake up in the middle of the night, don’t turn the light on straight away, nor take them into a brighter room.
• Be consistent with bedtime.
• Always make sure that they’re comfortable when they go to bed.
• Give them a bath before bedtime.

Reflection

Be patient and give them time to adapt to sleeping more than three hours at a time. Every parent dreams that their baby will sleep much better and sleep throughout the night without waking up. However, this has nothing to do with luck or genetics. The key is in creating good habits with your child.

If you establish a time to go to bed and get them used to being awake in the day and asleep at night, you’re heading in the right direction. Try these recommendations to help your baby sleep better and enjoy this stage of your child’s life.