Settling Baby to Sleep

Your newborn will spend much of her time asleep, and unless she is cold, hungry or uncomfortable, will spend about 17 to 18 hours a day asleep for the first few weeks and 15 hours a day by 3 months. Babies tend to sleep for shorter periods than adults and will not sleep for more than three to four hours at a time, day or night.

At night you'll need to get up to feed and change your baby and during the day you'll play with her. Your baby may fall asleep straight after – or even during - a feed. If she doesn’t and remains awake don’t insist that she stays in her cot, as babies sleeping patterns do vary. She will also probably be indifferent to noises around her and “white noise” may even be soothing.

Ideas on Helping Your Child to Settle to Sleep

Daytime and Night-time

It is important that your baby learns to distinguish between daytime and night-time. When she is awake during the day, keep her room light and bright and play with her as much as you can. When it gets dark outside, draw the curtains and turn the lights very low. Make sure she is warm and covered and when she wakes in the night, feed her quickly and quietly without turning up the lights. In time she will learn the difference between day and night.

How do I know when my baby is tired?

There are some things you can look out for – for the first couple of months she won’t be able to stay awake for more that 2 hours at a time. Don’t wait too long to put her down otherwise she will be overtired and will find it difficult to fall asleep. Some of the signs that your baby is sleepy are: rubbing her eyes; pulling her ear and she may have faint circles under her eyes. If you see any of these signs put her to sleep in her carrycot or Moses basket.

How should I settle my baby to sleep?

How you do this is important as this establishes how your baby learns to fall asleep. Whatever your baby gets used to when you put her down for the night is what she will look for when she wakes at night. So avoid rocking her, walking her up and down or taking her for a drive in the car otherwise you may find yourself repeating these things in the early hours of the morning! You do of course need to do what is best for you, as you will need to gradually teach your baby to sleep through the night. Here are some ideas for settling at night:

• In the first month or so wrap or swaddle your baby – the sensation of being tightly enclosed gives babies a feeling of security
• Make your night-time visits to your baby as quiet and unexciting as possible
• Don’t turn on the light when you go in to her; use a night light in the room just for your safety
• Only change her nappy if it is dirty
• If she doesn’t seem to be settling down, stroke her back or limbs to reassure her rather than picking her up straight away
• Hang a musical mobile or similar to soothe your baby, Prince Lionheart Slumber Bear Plus provides a soothing sound and will reactivate if jostled or baby cries
• Some babies sleep through the night early on some do not, as a rule though, the more mobile your baby is during the day the more soundly she sleeps
• Establishing a Bedtime Routine will help her transition from wakefulness to sleeping

What is Swaddling?

Swaddling is the practice of wrapping a baby securely in a small blanket or shawl to create the sensation of being tightly enclosed. This sensation mimics the feeling of being in the womb and provides security. The Miracle Blanket Swaddler is specially designed to make swaddling easier.

Why Swaddle?

Research shows that swaddling helps to relieve colic by providing a gentle even pressure around the abdomen. Swaddling makes breast-feeding so much easier by keeping baby’s arms and legs secured and comfy. They are easier to position and it calms fractious babies.

There is not much that will disrupt a very young baby's sleep patterns, although newborns need to wake up at night so they can feed. Some babies may accidentally jerk themselves awake before they really need to be fed. Swaddling can help to eliminate this Moro Reflex, also known as the startle reflex, which is the tendency for infants to ‘jump’ or startle themselves awake for no apparent reason.

Babies also have an instinct to try to find a nipple, this is called ‘the rooting response’. If bedding touches their face during the night they wake and can then become frustrated when they cannot find the potential food source. Swaddling your baby correctly greatly reduces the rooting response.