How to help your baby sleep well

Every new parent dreams about getting baby to sleep through the night. Researchers have found that on average infants take 20 minutes to fall asleep, and they wake up two to three times a night, once every 1½ to two hours.

Often, babies will wake up during the night and fall back to sleep without any assistance at all. Actively breastfeeding babies may want to feed during the night because breast milk is so easily digested. Prolactin, the mother’s hormone that helps her body produce milk, is naturally released at higher levels during the night. Fortunately, that same hormone helps both mom and baby fall back to sleep easily. The good news is that many babies can sleep through without a nighttime feeding by four to six months of age.

As they grow, babies need both nighttime sleep and daytime sleep. In fact, better napping means better sleeping at night. At 6 months old, most babies will take two naps per day, about two to four hours long. A 1-year-old may need only one nap, but even 5-year-olds benefit from a short nap during the day (and so do parents).

Creating a safe sleep environment is important to helping your baby get a good night’s rest. Infants should be placed on their backs to sleep. They need to be on a firm mattress, without any pillows, comforters or toys. A comfort object like a special blanket may help.

Bedtime routines communicate to the baby that bedtime is coming. Being consistent, putting the baby to bed at the same time, in the same way, every day is helpful. Often a soothing bath, pajamas and a quiet story or massage will signal that it’s time to go to sleep.

Dr. Harvey Karp, a pediatrician and child development specialist who wrote “The Happiest Baby on the Block,” recommends five comforting techniques for a happy baby: swaddle, side, sounds, swing, suck. Swaddle the baby tightly in a thin blanket, then hold the baby on its side, swinging the baby in your arms for a few minutes. White noise can help calm the baby, like the sound of a vacuum cleaner, washing machine or a running hair dryer. Offer a pacifier, then place the baby in the crib while drowsy but still awake.

Sleep training, often called the Ferber method after Dr. Richard Ferber, a pediatrician who first published on this approach, helps the baby learn to fall asleep on his or her own.

It will take several nights for this to begin to work, but within a week, the baby should be sleeping better. The baby is put to bed while drowsy but still awake. When the baby cries, parents go in for brief checks and reassurance but not to turn on the light or pick up the baby. Parents give a few gentle pats on the back to calm the baby and leave.

Using the Ferber method, parents gradually increase the amount of time they wait before checking on the baby. They start by waiting two to five minutes after the baby starts crying, extending the wait two minutes each time the baby cries. It can be difficult to listen to the baby cry, and this is generally not recommended for infants less than 3 to 6 months old. But at the right time and under the right conditions, the Ferber method can be very effective.

Sleep patterns change, and sleep challenges will come and go throughout your child’s lifetime. Something that works now may not work later and vice versa. Every baby is different so try to be flexible in your approach and do whatever works for you and your baby.