When you are in your last months of pregnancy and you are building your registry by choosing the most adorable unisex baby clothes just in case the ultrasound technician got the sex wrong among other items – you do on some level know that sleeping through the night will be a challenge. 

And after giving birth, you find this out the hard way. You are afraid you will never catch some decent sleep again because the baby just will not sleep through the night. And that is to be expected.

You have been carrying your baby for the last 9 months and while you are up and awake, you rock the baby to sleep because of the movement. And when you are quiet at night, your baby was more active due to lack of a lot of movement. And this is the pattern your newborn will have for some time.

However, the good news is, there are 5 hacks and tips that you can utilize that will help your newborn begin to realize the difference between day and night – and will help increase the chances of him or her going to sleep quicker.

And once the baby is a little older and no longer needs those middle of the night feedings, then that is when he or she will really start sleeping through 5 to 6 hours a night – which is sleeping through the night! Let’s go over those sleeping hacks now:

1. Stay Loud And Active During The Day And Stay Quiet And Inactive At Night

The best way to get your newborn to learn about the difference between night and day is by literally teaching him or her the difference. Daytime is when the lights are up, the window blinds are up, and the sun is shining. And daytime is when you put the TV volume high and talk on the phone loudly.

And when it is nighttime, the volume goes down, the lights go dim, and you talk quietly and softly. And this must become a habit so the newborn begins to see that sleep time is for nighttime and being awake is for daytime.

By the time the baby is 6 weeks old, he or she will begin to catch on and you will notice that he or she will display signs of sleeping through the night.

2. Feed Your Newborn As Late As You Can But Not Too Close To Bedtime

Initially, for the first 6 weeks, your newborn will need frequent feedings every few hours, especially if he or she is breastfed. However, it is always the best thing to feed your baby as late as you can at that point when your baby starts to grow and not need feedings as often.

Your baby may not be overly hungry but will take the feeding, and you don’t want to do it right before bed or else the baby will associate feedings with bedtime which is not what you want to see happen.

Feed your baby an hour before bed and that means there is a much better chance that he or she will not be up in the night for a feeding.

3. The Power Of White Noise Helps

In order to help your infant sleep well at night, you will want to invest in a white noise machine or some sleeping apps for the baby that you can download on Google Play or iOS. If you can think about how well you sleep with a fan going in the background, then this will have the same effect on the baby.

A white noise machine will help lull the baby to sleep which means there is a much higher chance that the baby will fall asleep and stay asleep quicker.

4. A Bath Before Bed Will Help

Bathing your baby before bedtime is a great hack to utilize when you want your baby to start sleeping through the night. A bath will help make the baby drowsy and calm, and that will only mean that he or she will be sleepy. And after a soothing bath, a full tummy, and lack of noise and distraction, that will only help increase the chance of your baby sleeping through the night. There are baby washes that are made with lavender which is very calming!

5. Routine Is Powerful

Once your baby is at a stage when he or she is sleeping through the night, then you will want to make sure that there is a routine to stick to. Babies and children (and yes, adults as well) do well on routine and by sticking to a routine when the baby starts to understand the difference between night and day will help your baby sleep through the night.

Be sure to have bathtime at the same time each night, a feeding time at the same time, and then bedtime! Keep the time the same as much as you can!

Just remember, before your baby is 6 weeks old, you will not be able to set much of a schedule because your baby is still getting used to being in this world.

However, by 6 weeks you can start to implement these strategies to help the baby sleep through the night. Another important thing is that your baby still needs to nap during the day as counterintuitive as it may sound.

A good nap will help your baby be rested enough to deal with bedtime. And no don’t change your baby into sleepers either during the day. You can keep him or her in the infant boy or baby girl clothes during nap time.

Because if your baby doesn’t nap, then your baby will be really overtired. And that will end up disrupting a good night sleep. You will know when your baby is tired and needs a nap during the day by yawning, being extra cranky, and pulling on the ears.

And just remember, this phase will not last forever as this will become a distant memory one day!