Help your baby sleep soundly through the night

When you watch your baby fall asleep, your heart may be swelled with love. They look so sweet and innocent. However, your heartbeat may pick up when you can't keep them asleep all night or sometimes you really want them to take a nap or sleep.

You can relieve stress and better prepare your baby's sleep schedule by knowing which parts of your baby's sleep habits are in your hands and which are not in your hands.

Understand your baby's sleep needs

During the first 2 months, your newborn will need to eat more than they need to sleep. If you are breastfeeding, they may feed almost every 2 hours, and if you bottle feed, they may be a little less.

Your baby may sleep 10 to 18 hours a day, sometimes 3 to 4 hours at a time. But babies don't know the difference between day and night. So they don't think about time when they sleep. This means that your baby's wake-up time may be from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m

By 3 to 6 months, many babies can sleep up to 6 hours. But just as you think your baby is developing good habits – usually between 6 and 9 months – problems can arise at normal stages of development. For example, when your baby starts to associate bedtime with being alone, they may start crying just to keep you around.

Set bedtime

A study of 405 mothers — infants between 7 months and 36 months old — showed that infants who followed the habit of going to bed every night fell asleep more easily, slept better, and cried less in the middle of the night.

Some parents start letting their baby go to bed as early as 6 to 8 weeks old. Your baby's daily activities can be any combination of regular bedtime activities. The keys to success:

Play active games during the day and quiet games at night. This prevents your baby from getting too excited before bedtime, but it can make them feel tired from the day's activities.

Keep the same activities and the same sequence night after night.

Make each activity calm and peaceful, especially at the end of the routine.

Many babies prefer to bathe before bedtime, which calms them down.

Save your baby's favorite activities for last and do them in their bedroom. This will help them look forward to bedtime and connect their sleeping space to what they love to do.

Keep the night conditions in your baby's bedroom consistent. If they woke up in the middle of the night, the sound and light in the room should be the same as when they were asleep. If you need to feed or change your baby at night, turn down the lights and minimize talking. Too much stimulation can make it difficult for them to settle down again.

Put your sleepy baby to sleep

Start at 6 to 12 weeks of age and soothe them until they are drowsy. When they are about to go to sleep, put them down and let them float on their own. Don't wait until they're completely asleep in your arms; it could be a behavior that could become difficult to shake off later in their lives.

This app will teach your baby to soothe themselves to sleep, and you don't need to shake or hug them every time they wake up to fall asleep.

If your baby has trouble settling down, try to move their bedtime forward, not delay it. Excessive fatigue can make it difficult to doze off.

Safety first: Reduce the risk of SIDS

Every time you put your baby to sleep, whether it's a nap at night or during the day, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that you do the following to reduce your chances of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome):

Always let your baby sleep on your stomach.

Always use a sturdy sleeping surface. Car seats and other seats are not recommended for daily sleep.

If your baby is asleep on the car seat or swing of the stroller, try removing them and placing them on a flat surface.

Your baby should sleep in the same room as you, but not in the same bed as you.

Place soft objects or loose bedding outside the crib. This includes pillows, blankets, plush toys and bumper pads.

Don't rely on devices that claim to prevent SIDS.

Do not use wedges and locators.

Give your baby a pacifier during nap time and bedtime.

Avoid covering your baby's head or overheating.

Do not use home monitors or commercial equipment that you sell to reduce the risk of SIDS.

Make sure your baby has all the recommended vaccines.

Make some skin-to-skin contact with them.

Keep your baby awake every day under supervision.

Do not smoke.

Breastfeed your baby.

If you feel tired, do not breastfeed in a chair or sofa in case you fall asleep.

If you are pregnant, get regular prenatal check-ups.

Make your baby cry – should you or shouldn't?

The well-known Ferber method is a laugh-out-loud form of sleep training, also known as "progressive observation" or "gradual extinction." The goal is to teach your baby how to fall asleep on their own and to put themselves back to sleep when they wake up at night. Richard Ferber, M.D., director of the Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders at Boston Children's Hospital, developed this approach. He advises parents not to start this training until their child is at least 5 or 6 months old. Here's an overview of how it's done:

Put your baby in their crib – sleepy, but awake. After completing their bedtime routine, please leave the room.

If your baby is crying, wait a few minutes before checking them. How long you wait depends on you and your baby. You may start waiting 1 to 5 minutes.

When you re-enter your baby's room, try to comfort them. But don't pick them up and stay no longer than 2 or 3 minutes, even if they're still crying when you leave. Seeing your face is enough to convince your baby that you're nearby so they can eventually fall asleep on their own.

If they continue to cry, gradually increase the amount of time you wait before checking them again. For example, if you wait 3 minutes for the first time, wait 5 minutes for the second time, and then wait 10 minutes each time.

The next night, wait 5 minutes for the first time, 10 minutes for the second time, and 12 minutes for each time thereafter.

Adopting this approach in the first few nights can be difficult. However, you may see an improvement in your baby's sleep patterns on day 3 or 4. Most parents will see improvement within a week.

Tip: If you want to try the Ferber method, make sure you get plenty of rest before your first night's sleep training. Especially in the first few nights, you'll spend a lot of time listening to your baby's cries, checking your watch, and going in and out of their room.

If it's hard to stay away from your baby while they're crying, this approach may not be the best option. Studies have shown that even if parents survive the first night or two, they often find that the pressure to force sleep in this way is too stressful. Many parents can't ignore their babies long or persistently long enough to stop crying and eventually fall asleep on their own.