Dr Harvey Karp
By Harvey Karp
It’s totally normal and expected for newborns to wake often at night for a feed and a nappy change. In fact, the longest stretch of newborn night time ZZZ’s is usually about 4 hours, which bumps to roughly 5 to 8 hours of unbroken sleep by 4 months. That, of course, is an average. There will always be babies who snooze less and wake more. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do about it. If your little one is waking every hour, know that there are effective strategies for nabbing more rest…for everyone! Here’s how.
Set Baby up for success.
Babies sleep better and longer when wrapped in a snug swaddle and listening to rough and rumbly white noise that’s as loud as a shower. Swaddling helps babies recall the familiar warm-hug feeling of life in the womb, while just-right white nose reminds them of the loud, constant shhhhhhh sounds they heard in utero. Together, this dynamic and dreamy duo triggers what’s known as Baby’s calming reflex, which is nature’s “reset button” to calm crying and induce sleep. (By the way, the most effective white noise for sleep is a rumbly, droning sound that mimics, say, filtered rain on the roof.)
Don’t respond to every peep.
Babies are noisy sleepers, complete with intermittent whistling and rattling sounds, snorting, gurgling, hiccupping, whimpering, groaning, moaning, squawking, and even not-awake-yet crying. There are many nothing-to-worry-about reasons babies sleep loud, one of them being that their full circuit of sleep only lasts 60 minutes. So that means, about every hour, your sweet pea enters a light sleep where they may briefly wake up and make some noise. Ignore this! Unless your little one is wailing, give your baby a few moments to soothe themselves and dive right back into sleep.
Try waking baby.
Sounds crazy, right? But the idea is to gently teach your baby how to self- soothe and sleep through the night. Every bedtime, swaddle and turn on the white noise. Then feed and burp, allowing your baby to fall asleep in your arms before laying them down in their bassinet. But right after you put your bub down, gently rouse them with a light tickle on the neck. After a few seconds, your baby will close their eyes again and slide back into dreamland. That brief period of drowsy waking is the first step to helping your infant learn how to self-soothe and sleep through the night.
Rethink daytime feeds.
Breastfed newborns need at least 10 to 12 feeds a day and bottle-fed bubs require six to eight. And if your little one isn’t getting enough, well, they let you know all night long! To help keep your baby full and snoozing at night, feed them every 1.5 to 2 hours during the day for the first few months. If your nugget’s daytime snooze hits the 2-hour mark… wake Baby up for a feed. This during-the-day practice should help get you a couple of back-to- back longer stretches of sleep (3, 4, or even 5 hours) at night…and by 3 months, you’ll hopefully nab a blissful 7-hour stretch of ZZZ’s.
Try a dream feed.
Here, you gently rouse your baby—without fully waking them up—to feed them one more time before you turn in for the night between 10pm and midnight. If nursing, encourage 5 to 10 minutes on one side, then the same on the other. Burp and back in the cot Baby goes! Sneaking in this extra feed usually reduces night wakings, helping babies stay asleep until a more “reasonable” time of the morning. However, if your baby often rouses again around 3:30 am—even after swaddling, white noise, and a dream feed—consider adding a second dream feed into the mix at 3 am. The idea is to feed your little one before they wake, so they’re getting the nourishment they need, without getting rewarded for waking and crying.
Nursing? Just feed from one breast now. If bottle-feeding, for a few days add double the amount of water the formula directions suggest…just for the second dream feed, never during meals, which would lead to malnutrition.
In the end, know every baby is different, but you do have the power to make some impactful changes to Baby’s sleep…and your own. And never hesitate to reach out to your child’s pediatrician for help. That’s what they’re there for!
