Seven Steps to Better Baby Sleep: A Helpful Booklet for Parents

around four months it will be time to think about your family’s long term sleep arrangements. If your baby sleeps in the same bed with you and you do not want to continue this, make the change to a crib as soon as possible, as it will only be harder if you wait until the baby is older. Habits soon become associated with falling asleep.

An uncluttered crib close by the parents for easy monitoring is the safest. Babies may be brought into the parents’ bed for nursing, feeding or comforting, but should be put back in their own cribs before the parents fall asleep.

The “ideal” bedtime is somewhere between 7 and 8 p.m., with a morning wake-up time of about 7 a.m.

Be aware that even those babies regarded as good sleepers will have occasional sleeping or settling down problems. Sickness, teething, over-tiredness and some separation anxiety can cause distress and restlessness in your baby. Times of rapid cognitive or physical growth also make it harder for your baby to self-soothe and settle. When infants are first learning to crawl or walk, more frequent awakenings can occur, as they have a harder time settling themselves after entering the light phase of sleep. Some babies may even pull themselves up to a standing position, holding onto the sides of the crib, and then have a hard time figuring out how to lie back down again. They will often call their parents for help. These settling problems may result in babies forgetting how to self-soothe, and parents have to make an effort to encourage rebuilding this

If your baby goes down to sleep at about 7 or 8 p.m. and wakes up in the small hours of the morning to be fed, you could try waking him for a final feed just before you go to bed yourself, somewhere between 10 p.m. and midnight. Listen for a light sleep period as an opportunity to wake the baby with minimal disruption of sleep. This strategy may mean he will not wake up for feeding after you have just fallen asleep.

Remember partners can be involved through monitoring, bringing the baby to the mother, changing diapers when appropriate, and returning the baby to her crib. If your partner ever notices you have fallen asleep with your baby have him or her move your little one to a safe place for sleeping, such as a crib.

If your baby is having a hard time trying to self-soothe, she may not be tired enough for sleep, in which case you may keep her up for a while until she is a bit more tired. The opposite may also be true; she may be so tired and agitated that she is what I describe as “in overdrive,” and cannot settle down on her own. If you think this is the case, you may lay her down to sleep earlier the next night before she reaches this point of over-exhaustion, and make sure she is getting enough opportunity to nap during the day.

From about six weeks onwards, when your baby wakes up at night, try not to rush to his side, but give him space and the opportunity to self-soothe back to sleep without your help.

At bedtime babies should be laid down to sleep while drowsy but still awake so they can learn to soothe themselves to sleep.

Once your baby has learned to handle the light-sleep periods and can self-soothe back down to a deeper sleep without parental help (not being fed or held), sleep cycles may be linked together. Babies start by linking two sleep cycles together for about six to eight hours of sleep, and later three sleep cycles for around 11 to 12 hours