How to Make Babies Sleep All Night

Nighttime can turn into a nightmare if you have a baby who will not sleep through the night. Having to get up multiple times every night of the week can cause more than just lost sleep. It will definitely cause stress in your life and can even make you feel as if you're doing something wrong as a parent. While there is no one guaranteed way to get your baby to sleep through the night, here are some tips you can use to get both you and your baby more sleep.

Instructions

1. Create a daily schedule for your baby. Try to feed your baby around the same time in the morning, afternoon and evening and put your baby down for a nap at the same time every day. This is way to get your baby to distinguish between daytime (awake time) and nighttime (sleep time).

2. Find the place where your baby is most comfortable sleeping. This could be in a crib in the baby's own room or in a playpen in your room. Learning the best spot could take some time as you may have to change a few things around to find the perfect room and sleeping surface for your baby. Once your baby is physically and emotionally comfortable, he will be more likely to sleep through the night.

3. Make the room dark at night. This is another way to help your baby tell the difference between nap time and nighttime. If the room looks the same as it does during the day when your baby naps, your baby will think it is OK to be awake after a couple hours of sleep.

4. Calm your baby down at least an hour before you lay him down for bedtime. Your baby shouldn't be playing with toys or watching a TV program that may make him excited right before bed. Otherwise, he won't know that it's time to sleep. You don't want to rock your baby during this time so that he sleeps. You just want him to be settled down and ready for bed.

5. Get your baby into a bedtime routine and stick to that routine every night. There's a reason this is suggested for adults who deal with insomnia. This routine gets both your body and mind ready for bedtime. Doing this for your baby will have the same result. After using the same routine for two straight weeks, your baby will learn when it is time to go to sleep for the night.

6. Put your baby to bed right before he falls asleep. He should be tired and drifting off but not completely asleep. This way, your baby will learn how to fall asleep for the night by himself without having to be rocked or held. This is especially helpful for those situations when your baby awakes in the night. If he knows how to fall asleep without being rocked, your baby will be more likely to fall back asleep without keeping you up an extra hour during the night.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure your baby has eaten enough during the day. This will eliminate the chances that your baby will wake up in the night for a feeding. This doesn't mean you should feed your baby right before bed. You just need to make sure that he or she doesn't miss a meal during the day. Consider using calming noises as a way to put and keep your baby asleep. This could be anything from a radio to a fan running on low. If this runs all night, your baby will hear it when he wakes up. The noise will be calming, which will help your baby back to sleep.

• Avoid picking your baby back up if he cries during the night. It's fine to enter the room but you shouldn't rock him back to sleep. Otherwise, he will get used to this and will expect it. If your baby does cry in the night, check his diaper with your finger and change him if necessary. Otherwise, use your hand to gently rub his belly and sit in the room for a while until the baby calms down.