Baby’s sleep

A newborn baby will sleep and wake up at their own pace at first, but with your support, they will gradually learn to distinguish day and night.

During the day, there is light, sound and interaction at home. When you play, talk and go outside with your baby during the day, you are also supporting a better night’s sleep. 

In the evening, it is time to calm down for the night: turn down the sounds in your home and dim the lights as night approaches.

The baby expresses tiredness through signals such as rubbing their eyes, yawning and being tearful and whiny. You should help your baby settle down for a good night’s sleep when they are ready to do so – neither too early nor too late. You will find the right time through practice and experimentation.

Babies usually fall asleep quite quickly after giving out little sleepy sounds, cries or babbling. If the tired baby has had time to start crying hard, it may be more difficult to settle them down back to sleep.

At night, you can keep interaction with your baby to a minimum. Your baby will wake up to eat several times a night in the first few months, but you can avoid talking to your baby and looking them in the eye to avoid perking them up. Also, keep the lighting dim during night feeding and any nappy changes.

You can prepare your baby for a good night’s sleep with a clear, calming and recurring set of bedtime routines. Routines will help your baby transition from daytime activity to nighttime rest.

You can start the evening routines when the baby is newborn. The routines can be carried out by any adult important to the baby.

An adult’s closeness and lap will help the baby calm down in the evening. For example, the routines can include a bath, putting on a night nappy and pyjama, and giving the baby their evening milk in a calm atmosphere with dim lighting. Once the baby has grown their first teeth, you can add teeth brushing to the routines. 

Night feedings are important both for the baby’s growth and for sufficient breast milk production. In general, a baby under the age of six months will eat at least a couple of times a night and a newborn much more frequently. 

Once your baby is over six months old, growing well and starting to eat solid foods regularly, you may want to try to reduce the intervals between night feedings. 

However, for many babies, night feedings are important throughout their first year. Night feedings will secure your baby’s nutrition, growth, development and closeness. 

You can have a separate bed for your newborn. Place the bed in the same room as the adult who wakes up at night. The sleeping place can also be a “sidecar,” meaning a small baby cot on the side of the parents’ bed. Sleeping on a sofa or armchair is not safe for your baby. 

It is important that the bedding is firm, that the baby cannot fall off it and that they sleep on their back until they learn to roll over in their sleep. There should be nothing extra in your newborn’s bed: save blankets, pillows and other paddings and cushions for later.

If you sleep in a family bed, consider your baby’s safety – just as you would with other options. The adult sleeping next to the baby must not smoke, be under the influence of substances or medication that affects the central nervous system or be overly tired. However, normal tiredness due to lack of sleep is fine when co-sleeping. Co-sleeping with a prematurely born baby is not recommended.  

Falling asleep on the parent’s chest is completely natural for a baby. However, as your baby gets older, you can gradually teach them to fall asleep independently in their own bed if you wish. 

The skill of falling asleep independently can reduce the baby’s tendency to wake up at night: it is often easier for a baby to resume sleep after waking if they are in the same place where they fell asleep.

When you want to put your baby to sleep in their own bed, lay them down at the end of the evening while they are still awake. You can be near the baby if they need you for falling asleep. You can also gently stroke the baby’s back with the palm of your hand to communicate to them that it is safe to fall asleep in their own bed.

If your baby is making demanding noises, calm them down. Soothe the baby by calmly stroking them with the palm of your hand on the lower back or butt. Calming the baby down for sleep with the palm of the hand is often called “pawing” or the “paw method.”

The paw method is often a good and safe way to teach a baby over six months of age to sleep more independently if they wake up repeatedly at night and require breastfeeding to fall asleep.

Often, babies older than six months learn to sleep for longer periods or even through the night without waking up in their own bed. As the child develops, they may start waking up more often at night again. For example, they may practice crawling in bed at night.

Again, to calm the baby down, you can provide them with presence and soothing pawing. If the pawing does not help, you can take the baby in your arms to calm them down and put them in their bed once they have stopped crying. The child will learn to trust that you will come and help them go back to sleep if necessary.