Why Won’t My Baby Sleep Through the Night?

Do you have a newborn baby who seems to only be awake when you are trying to sleep? Although it can feel at times like you are the only one going through this, you are NOT alone. Many parents of newborns face night after night of exhaustion as they are repeatedly awakened. Regardless of how it may sometimes feel, your baby is not trying to torture you. Newborn sleep patterns can be confusing because they are affected by many things. This is why your baby won’t sleep through the night:

• First of all, sleeping through the night for a newborn only means that your baby is sleeping five straight hours between midnight and 6 am. Not exactly the definition most of us have for sleeping all night.
• Babies need to eat often and sometimes are uncomfortable because they need a diaper change. Then can’t sleep through these discomforts.
• Your baby’s sleep can be disrupted by sickness, teething, or changes in regular routines.
• Sleep patterns change regularly with your baby’s changing developmental stages.

Here are some things you can do to help your baby sleep more peacefully at night:

• Avoid stimulating your baby with talk or singing. Provide care silently if at all possible and ease your baby back to sleep.
• Use very dim light and/or, preferably, red light during night wakings. This is less disruptive to circadian rhythms than white light.
• Try to establish a bedtime routine where you close the drapes, dim the lights, and sing a song that is exclusively for bedtime.
• Limit your baby to no more than 3-4 hours of sleep at a time during the day.
• Wrap your baby snugly or use a baby sleeping bag at night.
• Do not force your baby to ‘cry it out.’ This can be very damaging to your baby’s relationship skills. Instead, check out some of the suggestions in Elizabeth Pantley’s No Cry Sleep Solution, and other No Cry Sleep books.