So how do you achieve this elusive ‘Sleeping through the Night’ status?  Well obviously every baby is different and so the first thing you should do is make a conscious effort not to draw comparisons with your friends’ babies. . especially the friends who just can’t wait to tell you their baby is the perfect sleeper (as if it’s a sign of good parenting!)  Once your baby has learnt to sleep through the night, in turn, keep the bragging to a minimum for the sanity of those friends whose babies havent quite got there yet!  

So how can you help attain the 6 hours + sleep a night?

Here are a few of the best and most popular tips.   Try them and see what works for you and what doesn’t.  If in doubt, use your own judgement as the parent and pay attention to how you feel about each of the tips.  If you’re doing something that deep down you feel is wrong, then don’t do it.  The classic argument against this would be Controlled Crying where every parent feels ‘wrong’ leaving their baby to cry and yet in some cases, it can be a hugely beneficial technique to teach the baby to comfort himself to sleep.  What I’d say in response to this argument is that in these cases, even though the parents ‘voice in the head’ will undoubtedly be telling them that what they’re doing is not right, CC is often a very last resort when all other methods have failed and I bet that on some level, the majority of parents realise that what they are doing is ultimately for the benefit of their child.  If they didn’t realise this then I don’t believe they’d try CC at all.  So I stand by my advice to pay attention to your feelings primarily.  The mind is a great tool for researching the various techniques so you can make informed decisions but it cannot tell you the whole picture (even though it thinks it can!) 

Remember people have been raising babies for thousands of years without books, sleep experts or paediatricians and although science and research is hugely important in educating ourselves about the advantages and disadvantages of the various parenting styles, you should rest assured that you have an ingrained, natural ability to know what’s best for your child.

Tip 1.  Routine.  By far the most important tip I can give you is to establish a good bedtime routine that you can stick to every night.  Babies love routine and predictability and this is easily the most important factor in establishing good sleeping habits.  You can read more about this here:   Setting a Routine

Tip 2.  The Dream Feed.  This technique is useful for young babies who still wake several times a night out of hunger.  The idea is to go into the baby’s room just before you go to sleep yourselves and perform a dream feed that will ‘tank him up’ which should buy you an extra couple of hours of sleep.  The trick is obviously to get him to feed without waking up!  Most parents report that it usually takes their baby a couple of nights to learn to feed whilst still asleep but most of them do learn eventually.  Try to make as little noise as possible and use the landing light to provide enough visibility to see what you’re doing without having to turn the lights on in his room.  Add a drop of milk to his lips and he’ll taste it and probably open his mouth.  At this point you can try beginning bottle or breast feeding.  Obviously pick him up very gently and put him back down as soon as you’re finished.  It might need a bit of ‘trial and error’ in the beginning to see how you can make this work without him waking.

Tip 3.  Naptimes. Make sure your baby is getting enough rest during the day with regular and consistent nap times.  If he sleeps well during the day, you are unlikely to have many problems at night time.  You can read more about nap times here:  Nap Times

Tip 4. Give them chance to learn on their own.  From about six to eight weeks, give your baby the chance to fall asleep on his own.  Put him down when he’s tired and sleepy but still awake.  Many experts advise against rocking or feeding baby to sleep, even at this young age, because they will learn habits that are hard to break later on.

Tip 5.  Security Objects.  A baby blanket or stuffed animal can be given to baby to help comfort them back to sleep when they awaken in the night.  A great tip is to rub the object on you so it has your scent which is very comforting to babies.  Obviously, ensure that the object is suitable for newborns and, if possible, buy one made of organic cotton as it’s the best material.  We have a selection of Keptin Jr organic cotton comforter toys for newborns which you can view here:  Soft Toys

Tip 6.  Controlled Crying.  This is the most controversial of all the techniques yet it can be very effective.  I’d advise you don’t attempt this under the age of six months and use it as a last resort.  We have a wealth of information on this topic including night by night accounts from parents who have tried it themselves.  Do a blog search for ‘Ferber Technique’ using our search box at the top right.

Tip 7.  Share the burden.  If it’s practical, get baby used to both care-givers by sharing the responsibility of putting him down and comforting him if he wakes. This tip is for the time when he no longer NEEDS feeding during the night.  In fact Dad can often enjoy better success of night time comforting in breast-feeding families as the baby will detect the scent of breast milk when mum comes to comfort him which will alert his stomach that it’s feeding time and therefore wake up time!  Again, this tip is not for use until the baby has reached the stage where he no longer needs his night time feeds but wakes to feed because of habit.

Tip 8.  Don’t Pick Up Bad Habits.  Once your baby no longer needs to feed during the night to get the nutrition he needs, resist the urge to pick him up when you go into comfort him.  Doing so will only awaken him further.  Instead rub his tummy and speak comforting words to him softly, then leave the room confidently.

Tip 9. Basics.  Ensure the baby is comfortable- does his nappy need changing? Are his clothes too tight? Is the room temperature correct?  Also things like black out blinds can be really useful in making the conditions in his room favorable for sleeping.

Tip 10.  Don’t rush in.  Once baby is past the stage of needing on-call nutrition during the night, don’t rush to his every beck and call.  This is very hard to do initially and I am not suggesting you leave him to cry out for long periods.  But why not try waiting a few moments before you go in?  If you’re comfortable with this try extending the time you take gradually over a couple of weeks.  You might find that your baby starts to learn how to comfort himself back to sleep.  This is a filtered down version of the Controlled Crying technique but much less severe and has a good success rate.

Good luck!

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The author starts by examining the merits of breast milk but goes on to give some good suggestions for what to do when baby reaches the stage of wanting to eat everything that’s on your plate! She says the greenest way of feeding your baby at this stage is to prepare local organic fruits, veg and even meats in your own kitchen.  The author says not to go out and buy the foods separately, but instead put a few items aside that you’re preparing for your own dinner and mash them up with a fork or mix in a blender to create your own organic baby food! Apart from being the healthiest, least wasteful method of feeding baby, this should also be the cheapest.

She recommends making a few extra portions and freezing them so that you can thaw them out whenever you need food on demand.  Those who benefit from having jarred baby food available could buy organic and wash and reuse the jar whenever they’re out and about with baby.

The article continues along the same theme, discussing decorating the baby’s room, baby showers, equipment and nappies. You can read it here: http://www.greenandsave.com/green_news/green-expert-tips-opinions/raising-green-baby-properly-disposing-diapers-5134

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• Nursing.  During the fist year it’s very normal and developmentally appropriate for babies to be nursed to sleep. Breast feed or bottle feed her until she drifts off naturally.

• Swaddling. This is a traditional technique for making a baby feel secure.  To swaddle your baby, spread a cotton cot sheet out flat, with one corner folded over a little. Lay your baby face up on the sheet with her neck resting against the fold. Wrap the left corner of the sheet over her body and tuck it beneath her. Bring the bottom corner over her feet, and then wrap the right corner around her, leaving only her head and neck exposed. Don’t cover your baby’s face with the sheet, since that could cause her to overheat or suffocate. Beware of overheating your baby; the aim is to make her feel secure rather than to keep her warm. Avoid using a blanket for this and make sure you don’t wrap your baby too tightly, or his circulation could be impaired.

Swaddling creates a slight pressure around your baby’s body that gives most newborns a sense of security because it mirrors the pressure they would have felt in the uterus. For some babies it becomes the trigger for sleep, but it can irritate others. You should stop swaddling your baby once she is about a month old because after that it can interfere with mobility and development. When your baby begins to kick off the covers, it’s a sign she no longer appreciates being bundled snugly (Bates et.al.. 2007).

• Try a dummy. This is a great comforter to baby and she will often be able to fall asleep more quickly with one. It has been shown to be completely safe and there is evidence to suggest it even lowers the risk of SIDS. The obvious disadvantage is that if the dummy falls out of baby’s mouth, you will be woken each and every time to retrieve it!

• Fathering down. Just before placing the baby into bed, the father should cradle the baby in such a way that the baby’s head rests on the father’s neck. The father should then talk gently to the child. Because the male’s voice is much deeper than the female’s, babies are often more soothed by it, and will fall asleep more easily after being exposed to it for some time. Once baby is asleep, ease the sleeping baby into his bed and sneak away. Obviously, if dad is not around to perform this technique regularly, move on to the next one (technique I mean!)

• Rocking or walking down. Try rocking baby to sleep in a bedside rocking chair, or walk with baby, patting her back with a lullaby playing.

• Wearing down. Works well if you have an active child that has trouble winding down at night. Place your baby in a baby sling and wear her around the house for a half-hour or so before the designated bedtime. When she reaches the deep stage of sleep, ease her out of the sling and onto her bed.

• Last resort:Place your baby in a car seat and drive around the block until she falls asleep. This has a high success rate but its impracticality means that it should be saved for the times when you’re getting desperate and really need some sleep. If baby is in a deep sleep when you return home, you may safely ease her out of the car seat and onto her bed (Lavin, Glaser 2007).

Remember, babies will associate falling asleep with the sights, sounds and experiences of the pre-bed routine. Routine is the key to a consistent sleeping pattern and it’s obviously impractical to employ all of the above techniques every night. Therefore, start with some of these more active techniques (if needed) and then slowly ease baby out of them and develop a consistent and practical pre-bed ritual.

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