Every parent of a newborn baby has gone through sleepless nights. Because babies’ sleep patterns are so different from those of adults, it’s not uncommon for nights to become shorter for new parents and for the hoped-for rest to fail to materialise.
Although sleep habits vary from baby to baby, there are a few tricks that can help your baby learn to sleep better. We have summarised the best tips for you in this blog article and hope that your child will have fewer problems getting to sleep at night on their own as a result.
What parents should know about their baby's sleep
Before we go into the specific tips on how a baby can learn to sleep better, we should first take a closer look at newborns’ sleep duration and habits. This is due to the fact that these cannot be compared with those of adults.
Sleep duration in babies
A newborn’s entire day consists of sleeping, because babies aged zero to three months sleep roughly 16 to 18 hours a day. The need for sleep and the length of sleep vary from child to child and are in part genetically determined. So, it’s not always helpful to compare your baby with those of your friends or family. Babies' brains develop extremely rapidly and they learn new information every day, which then has to be processed and stored during sleep.
Since newborns don’t not yet know the difference between day and night, they don’t have a regular sleep rhythm. When they’re first born, babies are still used to being in the womb and thus do not yet understand that nighttime is when we’re supposed to sleep. So babies sleep in a rhythm of about 2 to 4 hours at a time throughout the day.
In addition, babies get hungry quite frequently because their stomachs are still very small and can’t take in so much food in one sitting. For this reason, you should always feed your baby when they signal that they’re hungry. As time goes by, the time between feedings should become longer and longer and bedtime should shift further and further into the night.
Babies' sleep phases
Adults go through five sleep phases throughout the night. Babies also have different sleep phases; just like us, these are divided into the REM (rapid eye movement) and non-REM phases. The proportion of REM and non-sleep differs, however, in that adults spend about 20 to 25% of their total sleep time, while babies spend about a third of their sleep in the REM stage. This figure is even higher in newborns.
This fact explains part of the reason why babies wake up crying so frequently - the dream phase is a phase of light sleep, from which we’re easily awakened.
How can babies learn to sleep without crying at night?
Most babies start to develop a sleep-wake rhythm from the sixth month onwards. Once they’ve reached this age, they’re generally able to sleep for several hours straight at night, though it’s not uncommon for them to wake up once or twice. For babies, sleeping through the night usually means sleeping for around six to eight hours in one stretch.
To make it easier for your baby to fall asleep, you should establish a consistent routine, preferably with a few sleep rituals suitable for babies. A steady routine gives babies a sense of security that makes them feel calm and protected, which in turn relaxes them enough to fall asleep.
How can a baby learn to sleep during the day?
If you realise that your baby is tired during the day, put them down for a nap as soon as possible. If you miss your baby’s sleep window, it takes up to an hour before the next one opens. Therefore, be sure to pay attention to how your baby signals that they’re tired. Such signals can include rubbing their eyes, clenching their hands, yawning, fussing or glassy eyes.
Your child does not need to be put into a dark room during the day if they can fall asleep just fine when it’s light out. This can help your child to learn the difference between day and night more quickly and develop a night-day rhythm faster. However, you can darken the room a little if your child absolutely cannot get to sleep in a bright room.
When should I put my baby to sleep alone?
Anecdotally, babies seem to fall asleep better when held in the arms of their parents, because they crave security and attention, especially in their first years. If you want your baby to learn to sleep alone, however, it’s wise not to wait too long to introduce this step. However, there is no fixed point in time when you should start doing this, as every child develops at their own pace.
You should keep your baby’s bed in your bedroom until your child is at least six months old, because hearing the breathing and feeling physical closeness of their parents help children to sleep through the night. If you want to help your child sleep on their own, you should try to put them to bed after the night time sleep ritual and let them settle down on their own. This can be done by placing your hand on your baby or talking softly to them so that they feel your presence.
Products at Zizzz for safe baby sleep
The sleeping environment plays an important role in helping your baby get a good night’s sleep. Babies should not be dressed too warm at night to reduce the risk of SIDS and because they tend to sleep better in cooler rooms. The room should have a temperature of 16 to 18 degrees. We offer guidelines on how to dress your baby at night according to the temperature here.
Sleeping bags have several advantages over baby blankets. First of all, they keep your baby warm better than blankets do, as they distribute warmth over your baby’s entire body. Second, they can’t be kicked off at night. More importantly, they can’t be pulled over your baby’s head, which reduces the risk of SIDS. This is the reason the *Geneva University Hospital and the **Swiss Paediatrics Association recommend the use of baby sleeping bags and warn against the use of baby pillows and baby blankets.
That's why at Zizzz we have 4-season baby sleeping bags for babies that are made from purely natural materials: GOTS-certified organic cotton and Swisswool. Furthermore, we have pyjamas for babies and children that are also made of 100% organic cotton. For the tiniest babies, we carry a one-piece in ecru that is especially soft on your baby's delicate skin.
Conclusion - teaching your baby to sleep
When they’re first born, it’s difficult for babies to get used to the new rhythm and to learn the difference between daytime and night time. This takes some time and patience, but children gradually learn to adopt a sleep rhythm, though it depends on their developmental stage.
To support this, you can set a certain evening routine for your child, as this helps children to fall asleep. In addition, it helps the child if their day follows a similar pattern and their bedtime is also the same every night. You should adapt your child’s sleeping environment to their needs so that they sleep better through the night.
*p. 15 (German)
**p. 7 (German)
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