Parenting Solutions

Sleeping Like a Baby

By Jamie Loehr, M.D. and Jen Meyers

One of the great challenges of parenthood is getting your baby to sleep. And to stay asleep. For a newborn, this really isn’t an issue. Newborns sleep, and sleep, and then sleep some more. (Though you should keep in mind that newborn night wakings can be as often as every couple of hours because they are hungry.) Bit by bit, your baby will have more alert times and longer awake periods, which are wonderfully exciting as you get to know your little one.

Did you know that “sleeping through the night” actually means that baby sleeps for just a five-hour stretch? That’s all. Nobody’s talking about sleeping for eight or nine hours when they talk about babies sleeping through the night. Though that’s what we’d like them to mean! If your baby sleeps for a five-hour stretch, then she is technically sleeping through the night. Eventually she will sleep longer and longer until she’s sleeping for a full night. That can happen early on, or it may not happen for a couple of years, even. It all depends on your baby. Each baby is different.

So why do babies wake up at night? Well, initially it’s because they’re hungry. Their tiny stomachs only hold so much, and as soon as that small amount is digested they’re in need of more. Remember that babies are growing at an astronomical rate. What fuels the growth? Food!

Unfortunately you cannot just stuff a baby’s tummy to make her sleep longer. That doesn’t really work. Babies can only take in as much as their stomachs will hold, so don’t try to force your baby to eat a little more in the evenings in hopes of getting her to sleep longer. That can interfere with her natural inclination to stop eating when she’s full, which is a valuable tool that can help her avoid weight issues later in life. Also, you shouldn’t give her any solid food before her body is ready for it. Solids that are introduced earlier than necessary are more likely to give her food allergies than to get her to sleep all night long. Eventually she will be sleeping through the night, but remember that some things you simply cannot rush.