When couples get married, they hardly know that the birth of a new born baby could result in them losing sleep. It is tough to make a new born sleep at night and for that reason, couples often lose remarkable sleep time.
Indeed, putting a new born baby to sleep at night is not as easy as blinking your eyes.
The baby wakes up to eat, of course, breast milk, and that could mean the end of sleep for hours following.
A husband goes late to work, comes to work stressed out and some take permission to take a nap, especially in countries where there is no paternity leave.
The only cushion to this loss-of-sleep-time is the joy that a baby brings to a home.
But would you want to try some things that could make a new born baby sleep at night?
Here are a few things you can do to help a newborn baby sleep.
1. Breastfeed Baby With Breast Milk Expressed As Night
This is the number one solution for making a baby sleep at night. We discovered this when we had our second child.
Can you notice how your baby just sleeps off when you feed it at night lying on the bed?
That should tell you something.
Research has shown that the composition of your breast milk changes over the course of the 24-hour.
At night your breast milk has more melatonin — the hormone of drowsiness — and higher levels of nucleotides thought to promote sleep (1).
Simple logic then says: “To make a child sleep at night, give him this breast milk that is high in melatonin to take prior to the time you want to the child to sleep”.
Feed the child between 6:00 and 7:00PM, but make sure it is breast milk that you must have expressed at night.
Just so it is clear: The same study found that breast milk pumped in the morning features higher concentration of cortisol, a stress hormone that makes babies more alert.
What you do is label the breast milk you have in the feeding bottle night and day so that the help will know the right ne to feed a child.
2. Create A Bedtime Routine
Having a routine around bedtime is one way to begin.
You know the baby is just coming into an environment that is quite different from the womb.
There is a routine the baby had adopted before now, but right here in the physical world, that routine does not work.
You need to make the baby begin to adapt to how things work right here.
Your best bet is to have a routine.
In fact, the world is ruled by routines and the earlier you make the baby used to this the better.
Find a calming bedtime routine that may include a bath, a lullaby, and a feeding.
One of the things that often work for me is putting the baby on my body and rocking the it.
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Remember that there is this warmth that the baby feels right there in the womb and the baby still needs that kind of body warmth to stay calm and fall asleep.
The foam or beddings cannot give that human warmth.
Lie on your back, place the baby on your body and rock gently. The result will wow you.
3. Keep Room Dark And Quiet
One of the things that make a new born baby sleep at night is how quiet and cosy the room is.
To achieve this sleep-inducing environment, use blackout curtains, turn off the TV or any other noise-making devices, and use a white noise machine to create a peaceful sleeping environment.
This way the baby relaxes and falls asleep.
4. Swaddle The Baby
You see, one of the reasons a baby battles to sleep is because of the way you keep it.
That baby enjoys the swaddling position in the womb and it has to come handy here if you want to make the new born baby sleep at night.
Swaddling is a traditional practice of wrapping a baby up gently in a light, breathable blanket to help them feel calm and sleepy.
It helps soothe and comfort a newborn, as it replicates the feeling of being in the womb.
5. Put Baby Down Drowsy But Awake
If you carry the baby on your body as suggested above, make sure that you keep the baby down when it is drowsy.
Remember that the baby needs to begin to learn to sleep by itself.
Doing this helps the baby learn to self-soothe and fall asleep on their own.
6. Stick To A Schedule
Try to establish a regular feeding and sleeping schedule to help regulate the baby’s sleep patterns.
As said earlier, the sleep pattern of the baby in the womb is quite different from what it is now.
Sticking to a routine makes the baby adapt better to the sleep pattern you are teaching the baby.
Remember, every baby is different.
Indeed, it may take some trial and error to figure out what works best for your little one.
Also you can consult with your pediatrician if you have any concerns about your baby’s sleep.
Let us know what worked for you in the comment section.