How I got my newborn to sleep 12+ hours every night.

Its true. My one and a half month baby is sleeping through the night. And not just six or seven hours… I’m talking ten, eleven, twelve, even THIRTEEN hours straight! The first time it happened, I was a nervous wreck, I thought there was something wrong with my baby! Luckily I had a doctors appointment the next day, and after a reassuring weigh -in, he shrugged and said we were lucky that night. Well, time would pass and Baby D would prove that it was not just a fluke. That boy is a SLEEPER! Here’s what Paul and I did to encourage his sleep patterns:

1. Establish day and night routines

   Ever hear the phrase “baby has its days and nights mixed up?” Its a thing. The best thing you can do for your baby is to help them through this confusion. They need to know the difference between day and night. I decided that 6pm to 6am was night, and 6am to 6pm was day. (Later we would change this window to 8:00-8:00, but for our newborn it was 6:00 to 6:00) Day is for play, night is strictly for sleep. Here’s how to make that difference very clear.

   • Keep night time feeds/changes boring. I know its super hard, but resist the urge to sing, play, tickle, and even talk to baby during the night. This may sound cold and cruel, buuuuut for the sake of healthy sleep patterns, ultimately worth it.

   • Keep night time dark. Baby D was born during a Michigan winter so it was DARK. But even during night feeds and night changes, we kept it as dark as possible. We used a red light to keep the contrast even darker than a white light. I really believe the red light is magic. It sounds weird, but red light is not as bright as a white light. Even if it was 5:59 am, I was not turning on the bright overhead light until 6:00am.

   • Have a specific swaddle for night time sleep. I wanted Baby D to understand that when he slept in his Halo swaddle, it was different than a nap, it was the night.

   • Have a specific spot for night sleep that is different from day sleep. In the beginning, that looked like bassinet in the bedroom for night sleep, and bassinett in the living room for day sleep. I wasn’t always consistent about where naps were- sometimes on us, sometimes in a seat, sometimes on a blanket on the floor, and I think that is ok. But it is important that the night sleep is always the same.