Are you the father or mother of a baby? If so, you probably wondering if that magical night when your baby will sleep through the night. Did you know that a stretch of 5 hours is considered sleeping through the night? I can remember when a stretch of five hours of sleep sounded like a little slice of heaven.
I have two children. I will not say that I have used these methods and magically started sleeping through the night. There are so many variables involved with different babies and their schedules. What I will say is that I have used these strategies with my kids and I had success with them.
To begin, let me say please do not expect your baby to sleep through the night until at least 6 weeks of age. I've heard of children who have done it before, but not many. Babies are too small and the need to bottle feed at night. I always when my babies weigh 10 pounds before starting these techniques really after. Why 10 pounds? Not sure. I just seemed to have a weight where you really do not need constant nighttime feeding.
The first thing is to keep your baby that much of a routine as possible. Try to keep feeding at intervals of 3 hours during the day. Even if your baby is hungry more often then that, by all means feed him / her. The meal they eat during the day, less is needed at night. But do not force feed them. That will only result in a very fussy baby with gas. If necessary, wake for a feeding schedule. Unless you have just fallen asleep. Babies need to sleep for good. Just like their moms!
Put your baby to be at a specific time. But make time 10-11pm. Thus, if your baby starts sleeping 5 hours, will be 11 am-04 am. That is much better than 9 pm-02 am.
Put your baby ready for bed, but not all the way asleep. They learn to calm this way. This can help them get back to sleep by themselves when they wake up at night. Never was able to allow my children to mourn themselves to sleep. I'm sure it works. I could not. I was able to let clutter and clamor for short periods of time, check on them. To me, this was easier. It is likely that it took them longer to learn self-soothing skills, but it was easier in my heart.
Finally, try to make as little noise as when you go to your baby in the middle of the night as possible. If allowed to tease a bit and obviously not going to go back to sleep alone, get the bottle before you leave your room. Do not turn on the light. Do not talk, just give them the bottle and put them back down. This is done to avoid being seen in search of interaction with you. I know its hard, but try to enjoy this moment with your baby at night. Believe it or not, it will end and you can even lose.