When Will My Baby Sleep Through the Night?

There are some babies out there who start sleeping through the night from birth or soon after, or in stretches of 4-6 hours, and their parents never miss a beat. We don't want to hear from you guys (just kidding). The rest of us? We're trying music, fans, vibrating beds, lavender lotions, and good old fashioned crying and begging WILL YOU JUST GO TO SLEEP ALREADY?

And who the heck invented the phrase “sleep like a baby” anyway?

When a baby can sleep through the night depends on the baby. Some are naturally a little more needy, which is totally fine, you just need extra support so that the baby's needs can be met and everyone can stay sane at the same time. Many babies are ready for some gentle sleep training techniques around 6 months, to help encourage them to go to bed at night and stay asleep. However, you can also encourage good habits and routines starting from birth!

Here are three tips to help get a baby into a routine that encourages sleep:

Early bedtime

It's tempting to just let the baby stay up until you feel ready to go to bed, because you know you'll be doing a night feeding soon anyway, but setting an earlier bedtime (7 works great for a lot of babies) and sticking to it will help your baby become accustomed to the routine of going to sleep at night.

2. Speaking of the routine..

...Make sure you actually have one! It should be made up of things that you only do at bedtime. Figure out a routine of about 3 steps that works for your family. This might include a bath, nighttime lotion, jammies, and singing a special song that is only sung at bedtime. Sticking to the routine in the same order, at the same time, will eventually come to clue in your baby that sleepy time is about to go down.

3. Form associations carefully

This one is a little more helpful for older babies and toddlers (6m+) who aren't exclusively breastfed any more. If you have a frequent waker who cries to be put back to sleep fifty million times a night, this one is for you. This baby thinks that whatever way he or she went to sleep during the initial bedtime, is the way they need to be put back to sleep every time. By going to sleep initially on their own, they can learn to go back to sleep unassisted as well. If you are okay with some moderate crying, this will go quickly. If you are not okay with crying, it will take longer, but it is fine for you to go into the room and speak or sing in a soothing voice, or pat the baby until drowsy!

Sleep deprivation is a powerful enemy. It can contribute to postpartum depression and anxiety, make you short-tempered and irritable with your family, make driving and decision-making dangerous, and even cause long-term harm to your physical health. If you are feeling this foggy and strained from lack of sleep, you know your baby is feeling some effects too. Your health and safety are important.

You don't have to struggle through this alone. Our postpartum doulas are thrilled to offer overnight care in all stages from newborn to toddler. We will do the night feedings, or if your baby is exclusively nursing, we'll observe for signs of hunger and bring the baby to you for feeding. With older babies and toddlers, we will make the routine of sleep training easier on all of you.

You can hire us for respite a couple times a week to catch up on your sleep, or select a larger nightly package that allows you to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, performing your best at work.