Helping your baby to sleep

It seems that everyone has advice about how to get your baby to sleep and stay asleep. Many books and many sleep programs, if only our babies have studied them!

Being a parent is tiring and having a wakeful baby can be stressful. Here are some ideas that you may find helpful for when you’re sleep deprived.

What about feeding my baby to sleep?

Most babies naturally feed to sleep, even older babies. There is physiological evidence that it is normal.
Breastfeeding baby to sleep is a common and helpful parenting tool for many mums. It satisfies baby's hunger and thirst, brings them comfort and helps them relax.
Breastfeeding your baby to sleep isn't a ‘bad habit’. They will still learn to settle in a different way for other people. But it is certainly quick and convenient if you want your baby to go to sleep so you can eat dinner or go out!
When you breastfeed, a hormone called cholecystokinin (CCK) is released in your baby as they feed. This makes your baby sleepy which is why they often drift off during a feed. If your baby feeds to sleep, then may wake again shortly. If you then give your baby a top-up feed, they will often drop off into a deeper sleep due to more CCK.
The hormone melatonin helps us to sleep. Young babies don’t make their own melatonin and receive it through breastmilk.
In some families, however, baby doesn’t easily feed to sleep and they need to find other ways to settle them.

Ways to help your baby to sleep

Rocking, patting and holding our baby is a common way to settle your baby to sleep. Try different ways of holding your baby and rhythms to your rocking and patting.
Take your baby for a walk, it could be in your house, or a pram or baby carrier. Sometimes going over a gentle bump can help.
Breastfeed while standing up and rocking. Or try breastfeeding lying down
Some babies sleep better if they are lightly wrapped. Because they are sleeping on their backs, baby’s startle reflex means they may wake themselves more easily. Being wrapped may help them feel secure and prevent this. Be careful that baby isn’t too tightly wrapped however.
It may help to hold your baby until they are in a deeper sleep. When babies first fall asleep, they are in active sleep’. Their breathing is faster and uneven. After about 20 minutes, they fall into a quiet, deeper sleep and are easier to transfer into their sleeping place.
Many babies don’t like being put down into a cot for sleeps. You could try feeding your baby to sleep on a mattress on the floor. When baby has finished, you can easily roll away without having to move them.
Gentle noise, humming, quiet whispers or signing the same song over and over. Other white noise such as a washing machine, vacuum cleaner, radio or soft white noise app

What doesn't help babies to sleep?

There is no evidence that introducing formula to your baby will make them sleep better. Evidence shows that breastfeeding mums get more sleep than those who formula-feed their young babies.
Starting solids earlier than 6 months is unlikely to improve your baby’s sleep. In fact, if they are too young, their digestive system may not cope well with other foods and they may be more wakeful.
Some parents try cutting short their baby’s daytime sleeps or keeping them up later at night so they are more tired. However, you may end up with an overtired baby who has an unsettled night and is cranky the next day.

There are many common reasons why your baby may wake during the night. Knowing these may help you to take steps to manage them.

Helping baby stay asleep for longer

Sleep near your baby. It is quicker and easier to attend to your baby during the night, with minimal sleep disturbance. In fact, many babies actually sleep better if they are close to another family member. There are ways to co-sleep safely.
Some mums like to give their baby a top-up breastfeed late at night when they aren’t fully awake and before they themselves go to sleep. This is often called ‘dream feeding’ and may help baby to sleep a bit longer.
During the night, when you hear your baby stir, you might like to wait a bit to see if they wake fully. Some babies are able to resettle without mum’s help.
Alternatively, reaching baby as soon as you can for a quick resettling feed, can help them not to wake fully. This is one way for everyone to get more sleep.
Babies who ‘learn’ that their parents will respond to their needs promptly, may settle more easily as they get older.

As babies grow older their sleep change to those of older children and adults. They will sleep for longer periods and night, and their sleep will become more predictable.