Baby sleep is such a hot topic! I am going to start off by saying I am not a baby sleep expert by any means. But I did a lot of research on baby sleep while pregnant and found lots of great information. After I had Oliver, I took the tactics I’d learned and once I was ready to work on my child’s sleep, I started implementing them. All of the information I gathered, I found on the internet. The best part? It was all free! What’s even better, is I’m going to share all that information with you!
First off, a baby’s age is going to play a part in their sleep. For instance, a 4 week old baby and a 10 month old baby won’t take the same number of naps. In that same thought, a 4 week old baby is not going to be able to stay awake as long as a 10 month old baby. You need to address your baby’s needs at their specific age group.
Wake Windows
I found this image on the Taking Cara Babies Instagram, click here to visit her website. It has been a major blessing to me! My child has been spot on with these wake windows which means that I have been able to keep up with his needs very easily!
A few things to note about these wake windows. First, you will want to have your baby laying down 15 minutes before their wake window is up. On average, it takes a person 15 minutes to fall asleep and a baby is no exception. So in order to properly follow these wake windows, you want to allow for your baby to have that 15 minutes to fall asleep. In order to make sure that I allow for that time, I start getting Oliver ready to lay down 25 minutes before his wake window ends. This allows for me to get his toys cleaned up, close the curtains, and go through his nap/bedtime routine. Which brings me to my next topic!
Nap/Bedtime Routines
As Cara says on her Instagram, if someone told you to go to sleep right this moment, you probably wouldn’t be able to. You’d have a hard time falling asleep because you’ve not had a chance to wind down. Your brain will be in overdrive still. Your baby is the same way. They need a chance to wind down before they will truly be ready to go to sleep independently. A naptime and bedtime routine will help your baby wind down and let them know it is time to sleep. If I remember right, they say babies recognize routine as early as 8 weeks old.
You don’t need a big complicated one. Mine is super simple. The nap time routine is just a tiny bit different from the bedtime routine. I change Oliver’s diaper, put lotion on him, put his Owlet Sock Monitor on, put his sleep sack on, give him his wubbanub, and sing him a song, then lay him down. For his naps, I just skip the lotion. That’s it. Super simple but by time I’m sliding his arms into his sleep sack he’s rubbing his eyes because he knows it’s time to go to sleep.
Nap Lengths
As I said earlier, at different ages, babies’ naps will be different lengths. A newborn taking a 20-30 minute nap is perfect! A 9 month old taking a 20 minute nap, not so much! Below is a chart that helped me understand just how long my child should be napping at what age.
I used this chart as a reference so that in the early days I wasn’t feeling defeated when Oliver decided to only take a 30 minute nap when I was hoping for 2 hours. I hope that it helps you as much as it helped me!
Sleep Environment
A baby’s sleep environment is also going to play into how long they are going to sleep. Just like it’d be hard for you to sleep in a bright room with an interesting TV show on, it’s hard for your little one to sleep in a bright space with their favorite song on. Darkness helps our bodies know that it is time to sleep so make their room as dark as possible. I’m talking “can’t see your hand in front of your face” dark. Children don’t get scared of the dark until around 2 years old when their imaginations kick in. So black out those windows and turn off the lights!
Another thing that will help, especially in the beginning is a good sound machine. Babies are used to the loud noises from inside their mother’s womb. There are several different options out there for sound machines but not all are made equal. You will want one that does not automatically turn off. Or at least as an infinity length option. Also, having a mobile one helps too for those naps on the go. Cara from Taking Cara Babies really likes this sound machine.
But these are the two that I have and they work great for us!
Things That Affect Baby Sleep
Sadly, just because you do everything just right, doesn’t mean your baby is going to be the perfect sleeper each and every time they lay down. Many things factor into why a baby isn’t sleeping well. Sickness, sleep regressions, growth spurts, the list goes on and on. But by implementing these tips, nine times out of ten, Oliver is a great sleeper! Hopefully, these tips will help you and your little one as much as they’ve helped us.
Thank You For Reading
Thank you so much for reading! Like I just said, my hope is by sharing these tips that you will have just as much luck as I have with your child’s sleep. Before truly implementing these, nap times and bedtimes were mostly a battle. My husband and I were in survival mode 90% of the time.
Now that I’ve implemented these tips and Oliver is a little older, I have to wake him from at least one of his two naps a day. I do this to ensure he doesn’t get too much day sleep which would lead to a rough night with lots of wake-ups.
For additional tips and tricks for baby sleep, please visit Taking Cara Babies website (or her Instagram), and Tiniest Dreamers website. Both have lots of great information!
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