How New Babies—and Moms—Can Sleep Well During the First Year
Written By: Jen Varela, Certified Gentle Sleep Coach® - Pediatric Sleep Consultant.
A new baby brings your family more love, more joy, more laughter—and more sleepless nights. As a new mom, you may not be getting the same hours of sleep you used to, but there are ways for you and baby to get peaceful sleep during those precious hours, and set the stage for many good nights of sleep in your future.
Safe Sleep = Peaceful Sleep
You’ll rest easy knowing that your baby is sleeping in a safe environment. Use the same energy you put into babyproofing your home towards creating that nurturing sleep space for your little one.
- Use a crib that meets all safety standards and has all its parts so it can be properly assembled. Keep an eye out for any recall notices.
- Make sure the mattress is the appropriate size for your baby (there shouldn’t be any gaps between it and the crib) and use the correct side; some mattress have an infant side and a toddler side.
- Keep crib bumpers, comforters, blankets, and stuffed animals out of the crib during baby’s first year. All you need is a mattress pad, a fitted sheet, and, if you’re concerned about warmth, some cozy wearable blankets or footed pajamas.
- Clear the space around the crib. As your baby learns to sit up, crawl, and stand, they may want to explore their surroundings. Eliminate any safety hazards, like cords on window blinds, lamps, or hanging mobiles that can be pulled down.
- Create a safe space if you’re sharing a room with your baby. A co-sleeping bassinet keeps your baby close by in a secure spot of their own next to you.
- Always place your infant to sleep on their back to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Get Into a Bedtime Routine
As your infant progresses through the first year, you’ll have the opportunity to start setting healthy sleep habits. However, the period between 4 months old and 12 months old is marked by many developmental milestones (crawling, standing, walking) that can affect a baby’s sleep patterns. World view changes, such as the introduction of new caregivers, can also impact sleep. Establishing an adaptable bedtime routine will help you and baby weather these shifts without losing a lot of sleep. Some things to keep in mind:
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Don’t set bedtime according to the 12-hour clock. Instead, look at the awake window, or the hours your baby is up between the last nap of the afternoon and bedtime. Babies who are awake too long will get a second wind thanks to a rush of cortisol in their system, and that will make it harder for them to get to sleep at night. Here’s an example of timing naps and bedtime so your baby gets enough sleep over a 24-hour period.
- Ages 4-5 months: 3 to 4 naps with 90 minutes of wakefulness between naps.
- Ages 6-8 months: 3 naps, with 1 ½ to 2 hours of wakefulness between naps.
- Ages 9-12 months: 2 naps, with 2 to 3 hours of wakefulness for babies 9 to 10 months and 3 to 4 hours for ages 11 to 12 months. So if you want bedtime to be between 6 and 8 p.m., make sure to stay within the window for wakefulness according to their age.
- Keep the bedtime routine to about 15 to 20 minutes, and follow it in the same order every night. That will be your baby’s cue that it’s time to go to sleep.
- Keep lighting as dim as possible in the baby’s room. Avoid blue light, which can interfere with sleep/wake cycles. If you need to use a night light, choose one that is a soothing amber in color.
- If you have a partner, both of you should be involved in the bedtime routine. It’s a wonderful opportunity for bonding that your family can treasure.
If you’re concerned about your infant’s sleep habits, talk with your pediatrician or consult a sleep coach. Sleep coaches can work with you to find the best solutions for your family’s specific needs and situation. When you invest the time in creating healthy habits, your whole family will sleep easy at night.
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WRITTEN BY:
Over the course of the last decade, sleep coaching expert Jen Varela has helped more than 4,000 families find the sweet sleep they’ve been deprived of and desperately needed. These families have benefited from her expertise at workshops and on phone consultations — and more than 800 of them in the U.S. and around the world have achieved their sleep goals through private one-on-one coaching with Jen via her company, Sugar Night Night. Jen received “on-the-job training” while teaching her son and daughter how to self-soothe and learn good sleep habits. Through her experience, she aims to provide parents with solutions that bring hope and strategies that work with each child’s temperament in the sleeping location that the parents prefer from bed-sharing, room-sharing with the baby on a separate sleep surface, or the child being in their bedroom. She is a member of the International Association of Child Sleep Consultants and a Certified Gentle Sleep Coach® trained by Kim West, The Sleep Lady®; she also trained with the Infant Mental Health Community Training Program–Hospital for Sick Kids. In addition, Jen holds a bachelor’s degree in Human Services with an emphasis in Counseling from California State University, Fullerton. Jen has co-authored a book with Andrea Strang titled “Loved to Sleep.” The Loved to Sleep Method is a nurturing strategy that trades tears for time — parents invest time to reduce the amount of crying from their child and improve sleep. The “Loved to Sleep” e-book is available on Amazon. For more information, visit lovedtosleep.com or sugarnightnight.com. Another passion of Jen’s is supporting families who are struggling with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs). In 2020, she was named the first California chapter liaison of Postpartum Support International (PSI-CA), which promotes greater awareness of perinatal mental health and supports families with PMADs. Prior to coming on board with PSI, Jen was the president of San Diego-based Postpartum Health Alliance.