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5 Tips for Newborn Sleep

Writer's picture: Dr. Jessica ChackoDr. Jessica Chacko



Newborns have unique sleep patterns, and it's essential to understand their cues and create a soothing environment. Here are five tips to help your little one sleep so much better - which means you'll be sleeping better too!


1: Day and Night:

Establish a clear day/night routine. Let the typical daytime noises happen. Go ahead and run the vacuum, let the doorbell ring, have the TV on, play your favorite music. During the day is the perfect time for you to do all your new favorite parent-baby activities. Newborn activities don't have to be elaborate. Simply talking to your baby, smiling at them, letting them look in the mirror, walking them around the house to show them the world, tummy time, etc. Check out this article for some more great newborn activities.


At night, create a quiet, dark space and limit all interactions. The room should be dark, and if you do need a light, use a dull red light that is on the ground or below baby's eye level. Remember babies are looking up at the ceiling mostly - so lights above them tend to wake them up. For night time feedings, avoid all screens - those bright flashing lights are sure to wake up your little one. Also we want to keep our interactions with our cute little love as limited as possible. Treat them the way you might treat your partner if you had to wake up in the middle of the night to pee -- you are not likely having long conversations, telling them how much you love them, playing with them, etc. You just get up, do your thing, and go back to bed. Treat baby the same way. Get them up, change their diaper, feed them, and then everyone goes right back to bed.


2: The Perfect Sleep Environment:

Contrary to what most people think, the perfect sleep environment for our newborns is a dark, cold, and loud room. We are trying to imitate the womb, so get the room as dark as you can. This may require blackout curtains and removing all electronics from the room that have little blue or white lights on them. Keep the room temperature between 68-72 degrees. And get yourself a great white noise machine. For white noise, you want a separate device - not your phone or ipad. It should not have a timer on it, because the sound turning off will wake your baby up. Some of my FAVORITE white noise machines are here and here.


3: Wake Windows:

Preventing your baby from getting overtired is key. An overtired baby, at their worst, will scream inconsolably, arch their backs, and look as though they are the most miserable human on the planet. One way to avoid this is to make sure your baby is not awake any longer than a typical baby can comfortably stay awake for. Most adults have a wake window is around 16 hours, but our newborns can only stay awake for about 35-60 min before they need a nap to reset their very busy brains. More specifically babies that are 0-4 weeks old are only able to stay awake for 35-60 minutes, and at 4-12 weeks of age they can generally manage about 60-90 minutes before they need a nap. This means if your 2 week old woke up about 45 minutes ago, and finished their bottle about 20 minutes ago, it is more likely they are ready for a nap than another bottle.


4: Recognize Sleepy Cues:

You may think your baby can't tell you when they are tired, but they actually can! Our babies talk to us by using their body. The cues they give us to let us know they are ready to sleep are called Sleepy Cues. Babies have cues that they are just starting to get sleepy, really ready for bed right now, and then when they are definitely overtired. We want to make sure that we put our babies to bed when they are giving us those earliest sleepy cues. These cues include staring off into space, flushed eyebrows, and looking away from you. If you see this, you should plan on putting them to bed within a few minutes, regardless of when you thought they were going to be ready to nap. When they are definitely ready for bed, they start rubbing their eyes, yawning, and maybe get a little more fussy. This is the time to drop everything, pick up that baby, and start getting them ready for naptime now. 


Once they become overtired, they will likely cry frantically, arch their backs or have a very rigid body, and push you or anything else you put in front of them away. This is the most difficult state to calm your baby from and it is important to try to avoid it as often as we can. While your baby definitely needs to sleep at this point, it is often difficult to get them there. This is when we may need to use our baby swings, our baby carriers, or strollers, or some other fail-proof method you have learned to get them to take that much needed nap. For more about sleepy cues check this out.


5: The 5 S's:

Dr. Harvey Karp's famous technique, the 5 S's, can be incredibly helpful. The main ideas are to mimic the womb as much as possible. To do this, we create white noise by saying "Shhhhhhhhh". We tightly Swaddle with that same snugness they felt inside. We gently Swing them while holding them in the Side position, and offer a pacifier to Suck. By following these tips and creating a nurturing environment, you can help your newborn get the rest they need to grow and thrive.


If you are still struggling. with getting your little one to sleep, sleep consults and parenting consults in general are all included in Blooming Bright membership. We are here to keep your kids healthy, and sleep is an essential part of health. Give us a call today to schedule your FREE Meet and Greet.




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