If you are a new mom, you probably know babies can be notoriously bad sleepers. All of my boys have had different baby sleep issues. As a baby, my first son was the lightest sleeper in the world and hated naps. My second son slept well as a baby, but he sleepwalks now. My third son still hasn’t recovered his normal sleeping patterns since transitioning to a toddler bed almost ONE YEAR AGO. With my fourth son, I focus more on developing healthy sleep habits early. Along the way, I’ve learned some things that make a big difference that I was unaware of when I first became a mother.
5 Things New Moms Should Know About Baby Sleep
Sleep is one of the biggest challenges for new parents. Here are five things I wish I had known from the start.
1. Sleep Habits Are Important
This sounds strange and obvious, but I never knew my first child’s sleep habits were anything to focus on. Instead, I focused on loving my son and wasn’t thinking about much else. While I feel that it’s (the most) necessary for a mom to bond with her baby after birth and get feeding established (I cannot highlight that enough) — I would say that establishing a healthy sleep routine should come next, especially if you plan to have more than one child.
2. Breastfeeding to Sleep Does Not Help You Long-Term
I am a huge proponent of breastfeeding. It would be a lie to say I’m anything else. I added up all the months I breastfed until now with my fourth son, and it’s a total of 70 months! I LOVE it. However, when I first became a mom, I looked at the breast as an end-all, be-all tool for everything related to baby. And it is. However, if the breast is always used to put a baby to sleep, I have found that most babies won’t naturally outgrow that pattern, which I initially assumed. If anything, it encourages a night-waking habit where a baby wakes up and wants to breastfeed to go back to sleep.
For my first son, this didn’t bother me. But with my second son, I realized that consolidated sleep for myself and my baby was needed to sustain enough energy to make it through the busy days of motherhood. And it seemed they began waking more as they got older instead of less. This led me to put them in bed with me. While I love co-sleeping, the more children I’ve had, the more I see why this pattern is sometimes unrealistic. There is a great benefit to teaching them to fall asleep on their own. While I am NOT a proponent of obsessing over scheduling a baby, BabyWise by Dr. Gary Izzo and Dr. Robert Bucknam focuses on helping parents develop a schedule that stops eating to sleep patterns from forming. If you want to learn more.
3. A Sleep Object Is Beneficial
Introducing a pacifier, stuffed animal, and/or blankie from the start can help you. My kids have never been drawn to an object, but I noticed that children with a sleeping object could be signaled for sleep in various settings. As mentioned earlier, it also helps break the association between eating to sleep. We have always struggled to put our kids to sleep in an environment that isn’t their bed, but having some kind of object can help. (Sleep tip: If you travel often, occasionally have your child nap in their pack-n-play at home so that when you travel, the pack-n-play isn’t a foreign setting to them. Read more travel baby sleep tips.)
4. An Overly Cranky Baby Resists Naps
Before having my first son, I assumed you knew a baby was tired when they started acting cranky. And that once you notice they seem tired, you lay them down. But I’ve learned that when a baby is cranky, it is infinitely harder to lay them down than if you catch them in their window of drowsiness (not crankiness). And when you wait for cranky, you either have to find an elaborate routine to get them to fall asleep or listen to a lot of crying. And neither is fun. So, learning more about a baby’s natural sleep patterns is helpful!
Did you know the average baby gets drowsy after one hour to one hour and a half of wakefulness? But many parents do not know this. They keep them in a stimulating environment for too long, which gets them overtired.
5. The Earlier the Bedtime, the Better the Sleep
An early bedtime may seem counterintuitive, but is it ever true. Essentially, the more rested a baby is, the less they resist sleep and will sleep better. I initially thought that if a baby is kept up until 10 p.m., they will sleep through the night better. I started reading about sleep and discovered a common theme amongst varying approaches to sleep: the earlier a baby is put to bed, the better they tend to sleep at night. I first learned about this in Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth, and I have found it true. For more details, check out his book.
All Babies Are Different
To avoid setting unrealistic expectations, it’s important to remember that no two babies are alike, no matter how well you follow the “rules.” Every baby has their own personality and likes. Some babies naturally love sleep and do not fight it. One parent could have great habits and still have a baby who resists sleep. Another could never do one thing to help promote good sleep and have a rockstar sleeper. It’s not always fair! My first son would wake up from sleep with the creak of a floor. But my fourth son sleeps better when he is surrounded by noise. My two-year-old has always slept better with someone beside him, and our family friend’s daughter can only sleep in a quiet room alone.
No matter what kind of sleeper your baby turns out to be, you’re doing an amazing job. Keep learning, stay flexible, and give yourself lots of grace. I hope some of these tips are helpful to you. Cheers to good sleep!
