Sleeping through the night

This is the much longed for holy grail of parenthood. Pacing the corridors at two am with a screaming baby is nobody’s idea of fun and it is natural that you yearn for a more mature approach to sleep from your infant! In the beginning, sleeping through the night will probably mean about seven hours of interrupted and not particularly restful sleep for all concerned. By one year of age, he will probably be able to sleep for much longer, uninterrupted chunks of time.

It is important to remember that your newborn has a tiny stomach and part of the short sleeping cycles are due to the fact that he is hungry and needs to feed. This is perfectly normal and as he grows, so will his stomach and his digestive abilities allowing you a bit more respite from the seemingly endless demands for food all day and night.

A much touted approach to this problem of feeding at night has been to go about your task in the quietest, most business-like way you can; that is, keeping the lights dim, speaking in a whisper (if at all) and basically administering the milk in the most practical way possible. The idea behind this is that the baby will soon cotton on to the fact that this is not time to play and have fun with mummy or daddy. It will help him to differentiate between night and day and make him realise it is time to go back to sleep.

After the age of about six months, you may wish to try and wean your baby off his night feed. This can be tackled by offering a bigger feed before he hits the hay and by gradually offering him less when he wakes up. It won’t take him long to establish that the trickle of milk you are offering is a pretty poor incentive to wake up for. Some parents find that watering down the night-time milk feed (once the baby is getting enough milk and solids during the day), works a treat. This would mean gradually diminishing the amount of milk scoops you put in your baby’s bottle over the course of a week or so. That way, the withdrawal is not such a shock.

Of course, the bedtime routine is another important way of helping your child to differentiate between the daytime and the nighttime. Try not to stay with your child as he drops off, for he will begin to associate you with sleep and will start to need (read: demand) you be there as he goes to sleep. Some experts recommend you supply him with a security toy, such as a blanket or teddy (suitable for his age) that he can fall asleep with. This is a much better idea rather than for you to be his prop and in the long run will make your life easier. You can still go to him and show him you are around but make sure you leave the room after comforting him.

Why not chat to other mums about sleeping through the night, by leaving a message on the sleep and bedtime area of our chat forum. Alternatively, if you want to meet other mums in your area with similar age babies, visit our people section of the site to find out what is happening in your area. If you have any unanswered questions, use our questions page to gain wisdom from other mums or our resident experts for all those pregnancy or parenthood related issues. Have a look at our Kit section where we list our top ten favourite cots.