Baby Sleep Guide
No doubt, sleep deprivation can be a major challenge in the early stages of parenthood. While it’s generally accepted that a baby will wake several times a night during the first year, it is possible for babies, especially those following my 7pm to 7am Sleeping Baby Routine, to sleep solidly through the night within the first two months. Good sleep hygiene can be achieved at any age with the right plan tailored to your child’s situation and age, encouraging peaceful sleep. Broken sleep or lack of sleep can significantly impact mental and physical health, as well as recovery from birth and lactation. For some parents, sleepless nights are torturous but actually avoidable! Sleeping well is not only beneficial for parents but also for their new baby or toddler, supporting growth, brain development, and mood.
I have been helping babies and toddlers sleep for nearly 30+ years, often with bespoke plans tailored to personal circumstances but always based on my age-related sleep guides and routines for each developmental stage.
This Baby Sleep Guide is tailored to a child’s stage of development, categorised into four stages: newborn, baby, toddler, and child.
Newborn Stage (0-12 weeks)
This first stage focuses on digestion, lactation, feeding, and sleep associations, as well as establishing a routine. You can find a complete baby sleep guide in my first book, 7pm to 7am Sleeping Baby Routine. Your baby's digestion is key to peaceful sleep, which includes a frequent burping plan and a gas free diet while breastfeeding. Did you know that feeding on a routine with meal like portions leads to heavier feeds that need to be digested comfortably to support sleep?
You might be interested in some of my free support posts - Eating For Breastfeeding - What To Eat and Eating For Breastfeeding - What Not To Eat
Baby Stage (3-9 months)
Calorie and food intake, whether milk or transitioning to solids, greatly impact sleep during the first two years. Sleep regression can occur if your baby’s calorie needs are not met, which differs from calorie intake for overall growth. This stage may involve a weaning plan from month four, with the routine evolving from the newborn pattern. By this age, a baby may have developed sleep associations that need a sleep training and self settling plan to reverse. The older the baby, the more personalised the approach required.
Toddler Stage (9 months - 3 years)
At this stage, children begin phasing out day sleep, so nap schedules may vary significantly between children to support a full night's sleep. Consistent sleep training works well at this stage, as does working on general behavior and parental reactions. One major focus to support sleep training is upping physical activity, increasing activity levels can accelerate sleep training results.
Child Stage (3 years and up)
A consistent bedtime routine is crucial for long term sleep success. Maintaining boundaries and patterns helps children feel secure, settle and sleep well, even when delay tactics and long bedtime negotiations arise. For sleep training, I find a reward system really effective. Try my Marble Fairy system, which involves a game of finding a varied sized marble delivered by the fairy at night for good sleep. I find this reward system works much better than a sticker or star chart. The marbles can represent jewels or planets and saved out of reach but in view in the bedroom. Once the sleep training has worked the marble fairy moves onto another child who can’t sleep, leaving your child with a collection of marbles they can trade in for something special or as a reminder.
As you can see, a one size fits all approach will never work long term, nor will sleep training without the appropriate routine for your baby’s or toddler’s age and abilities. Need help with a personalised plan to achieve a full night's sleep quickly and gently? Take a look at my Baby Sleep Consultancy packages.
