Baby Sleeping Through the Night

Your baby does not know the difference between day and night as soon as she is born. This ends up in her staying awake at night and sleeping through the day. You can help the baby in sleeping throughout the night. Gradual withdrawal techniques such as Ferberizing and systematic awakening may help to make the baby's night sleep restful. However, there is still a lot of debate in parenting circles on the wisdom of using these techniques. Whichever method you choose, remember to try it for a reasonable length of time before concluding that it does not work.

Video on Getting a Newborn to Fall Sleep

Tips to Help Baby in Sleeping Through the Night

• Help your baby to stay awake more in the mornings and sleep continuously in the night. To do this, you can reduce the number of hours she sleeps during a morning nap. But, do not deprive her of her morning sleep completely as this can make her feel overtired. Overtired babies are difficult to be put to bed and may not sleep through the night.
• If your baby is nearly six months old and there is no specific reason for her cries, you may consider ignoring them for a while. Such babies usually stop crying at night very soon when they find that night time cries do not work.
• Establish a bedtime routine and adhere to it.
• Extend the last feed of the day to be as late as possible. Feed the baby at the same time every day. This prevents your baby from getting up due to hunger in the middle of the night.
• Place her in her bed or cradle when she is awake but not yet asleep. If she learns to sleep with lullabies and pats, she may find it difficult to sleep in the absence of one. This reduces her chances of sleeping when she is not patted if she gets up in the middle of the night. However, you may consider remaining near her till she falls asleep.
• Do not lift her from the bed if she cries at night. Change her diaper if it is wet, give her a quick pat and get back to your bed.
• Help her get attached to a soft blanket or any cuddly object that does not pose threats of choking. Keep this by her bedside when she sleeps. You may consider keeping the object near you for a while before placing it on her bed. If your baby wakes up in the middle of the night, her mother's smells from the object will calm her.

Video on Putting Baby (Older than Three Months) to Sleep

You may find an uncontrollable urge to rush to your baby's bed side at night to prevent her from crying herself to sleep. But, suppress and do not reach her bedside at the first cry. This may actually wake your baby up from her light sleep. Usually, babies who cry during a light sleep can fall into a deep sleep on their own without any help.

What is the Ferberizing method of helping my baby in sleeping through the night?

You must lay her to sleep when she is sleepy but still awake. Pat her and talk to her for a minute. After you do this, leave her alone before she goes to sleep. Also, remember not to pick her up. Watch out for her cries. When she starts crying, let her cry for about five minutes. If they do not subside, go to her and repeat all your actions again. This time, allow her to cry for a slightly longer time. Extend the time she is alone by a few minutes each night. The crying session decreases rapidly within a couple of days. By the end of the week, her cries last for just a couple of minutes before she puts herself to sleep. You may not even have to go to her bedside.

You can use a variation of this for older children. Sit near her without picking her up until she falls asleep. Distance the chair from her a little the next day. Repeat this exercise every day until you reach the door. As a final step move the chair out of the door. At this stage, your baby should be able to sleep without your presence.

How can I use Systematic awakening to ensure my baby's sleeping through the night?

As the name implies, this method uses a timetable like approach. It does not encourage neglecting her increasing bouts of cries. Make a note of the timings when your baby usually cries during the night. Set your alarm to ring about half an hour before you expect her to start crying. When the alarm rings, you may still find her asleep. But, go ahead and do the same set of activities that you would do to put your baby to sleep. Once again set the alarm to perform the activities associated with making your baby sleep about half an hour before you expect the next cry. Slowly increase the time intervals between the waking up sessions and finally eliminate them altogether.