While sleep training isn’t appropriate nor effective for newborn babies, introducing good sleeping habits and environment can set the stage for restful nights ahead.

Newborns' sleep is unorganised because their brains still develop. They are essentially neurologically premature. The baby's blood system is filled with maternal melatonin (sleep hormone) which keeps them very sleepy.

A note about settling newborns: it helps to sit and hug your swaddled baby until they are calm before actively starting to settle them. Yet when this isn’t possible, swaddling early can help your newborn calm down and prepare for settling.

At 4-6 weeks, as melatonin production is still underdeveloped, baby can be very wakeful for long periods of time.

At 6-8 weeks melatonin production begins, sleep duration extends, and night-time becomes more organised.

Newborns don’t need sleep training. The focus is on establishing good sleeping habits, to set them up for success when self-settling is possible.

We establish a consistent sleep environment, observe age-appropriate wake windows, introduce sleep cues, and regular feeding times.

Sleep cues: sleep routine, white noise, lullaby, books, bath, dummy, darkness, swaddle.

First month:

Baby sleeps 16-17 hours a day. Twins (premature babies) up to 18 hours

During this time baby has equal sleep time at night and day. Baby struggle to stay awake for full feeds.

Once reaching 2.7-3.2kg, baby can do a long stretch of 3-4h sleep. As baby gains weight, they can sleep longer, and even have one 4-5 hours sleep in 24hr.

1-2 months :

Baby sleeps 15-16 hours a day.

Baby consolidates sleep for longer stretches at night. 3-4 naps of 4-6 hours sleep in total.

2-4 months:

Baby sleeps 13-15 hours a day

3-4 naps daily of about 2 hours. REM sleep stage is shorter, and non-REM sleep stage gets longer.

Newborns have very short wake windows:

1 month: 40-60 min.
2 months: 1h 30 min.
3 months: 1h 45 min.
4 months: 2 hours.

Avoiding getting baby overtired will help settling them down easier, and prevent them waking up before the end of their sleep cycle.

Circadian Rhythm

This is the internal clock which begins to develop between 6-12 weeks. Circadian rhythm is set (entrained) by light, food and social interactions.

There’s emergence of consistent and rhythmical body temperature, day sleep patterns begin to establish, and day and night are more distinguished.

At 7 weeks, it’s time to bring bedtime closer to 6/7pm.

Dr Harvey Karp’s 5 S ‘s For Calming Down A Newborn

Dr Harvey Karp has found these 5 S’s are invaluable in settling your newborn. Not just for sleep, but to help them calm down when the world becomes too much for them. The order is not random, so if you want to try these, go as indicated:

Swaddling
Side/Stomach
Shushing
Swinging
Sucking

Dummies/pacifiers

While it is very effective in soothing newborns, there are a few important notes about using dummies:

It’s important to introduce only after 2 weeks, once breastfeeding has established.
Use for sleeping, not settling, to not miss baby’s communication efforts.
Remove by 4 months, or keep until 2.5 years old.
To phase out (with newborns): use to help baby settle to sleep, then remove once baby is asleep.

To help your newborns sleep better, book a sleep consultation package today, or find out more in a free discovery call.