Help your baby sleep well at night.

 
For most new parents the shock of regular night waking to feed your baby can be mind blowing.  This is usually the number one difficulty for new parents to adapt to and get their head around.

It is realistic  to expect your newborn to feed overnight up until they are about 6 months of age.  Many babies will stop night feeds well before this time, however it is important to know that it is normal for babies to still require a feed at night until about the age of 6 months.

Fortunately there are a number of habits you can employ to help your baby learn that night time is boring and that sleeping is the best thing to do at night.

One of the most helpful strategies to help newborns sleep well is to swaddle or wrap them.  Use a muslin,  or natural fibre fabric is important so that your baby does not over heat or smother if the wrap moves up near their face.  Natural fibres breathe more, and keep us warm by trapping air next to our skin.  By wrapping your baby for sleep particularly at night, it offers a sense of security, keeps them warm and helps minimise the startle reflex. Remember newborns are looking for security and safety, if there is nothing for their arms to touch, it sends them a message that their environment is not safe so they better wake up. Wrapping can minimise this and encourage sleep from a sense of security. Adding layers of blankets over the wrap and dressing them in layers can help keep them warm  in colder seasons.

At night when you need to feed your baby, try to keep stimulation to as little as possible.  This means keep lights down low.  Remember what it feels like to wake up in darkness and put on a bright light? It’s a bit of a shock to our system. Keep lights down low so that it is less waking for your baby.

Use a gentle calm, softer quiet voice and keep talking to a minimum.

Only change your baby’s nappy if you need to.  If you are using disposables- they are designed to absorb  fluid away from the skin.  If you don’t need to change it, then don’t.

Avoid play time at night.  Remember just because they are ready for play doesn’t mean you have to play with them.  There is plenty of opportunity to play during the day.

By reducing stimulation, it encourages your baby to settle back to sleep easier.  To encourage swift night settling, do what you need to do for your baby, then settle back to bed again as soon as practical.

Your bay will soon learn that night is boring and day time is when the party time is.