When I came home from the hospital with my oldest daughter, Olivia, I was focused on getting her to sleep through the night. I thought the rules didn’t apply to me; my baby would not wake up every two hours, and sleep most of the day and be up all night — not if I had anything to do with it. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a champion for sleep, and I’m no good without it.
I remember a friend coming to visit in my first weeks as a mom and looking at the feeding and sleeping schedule I had posted to the fridge. My hot pink Post-it included the times Olivia slept and for how long, as well as when I fed her. My friend laughed and thought I was overly ambitious. “She won’t get into a schedule for at least the first six months!” A part of me felt sad and the other part of me told myself to stay focused. I continued writing down her feeding and sleeping times and soon noticed a pattern. This pattern would help me shift her to a schedule; a schedule that would work for the whole family. I also read a book. I can’t remember the name, but it had some amazing, if not simple, takeaways:
Differentiating Between Night and Day Babies, especially newborns, have a habit of sleeping more in the day than at night. This would make any person insane! The key to avoiding this is getting them to know the difference. The author suggests opening blinds and curtains to allow light to shine in to your home when it’s daytime. Daytime is also the time for play, not at night. Engage your baby with playful interaction when she’s not sleeping.
It’s Okay To Wake Up Baby Many parents will advise against waking a sleeping baby, and I agree, up to a certain point. Both of my girls slept through the night (eight consecutive hours) from six weeks. Yes, they set the standard high, and I’m thankful. Once babies are six to 10 weeks old, they should be sleeping a lot more through the night. So, if it’s 6 or 7 pm and your baby has been sleeping for an hour, wake her up. Play with her, bathe her, feed her, and try to keep her up to a more suitable bedtime.
Have a Bedtime Ritual Having a bedtime ritual is important for any sleep-training parent. It signals to baby that there is order, and she knows what to expect next, or will slowly learn. At home, our bedtime routine starts at around 8 pm with bath time, baby massage, getting into PJs, and story time. For younger babies, you may want to give a final feeding. This isn’t the time for playing. Instead, show baby that this is quiet time. Between 8:45 and 9 pm, my little ones are usually fast asleep.
CCE
May 6, 2025 at 10:02 pm (4 months ago)Love this post!
Angelica
May 7, 2025 at 8:27 pm (4 months ago)Thanks!
Shannon Peterson
May 7, 2025 at 4:45 am (4 months ago)I was blessed with a super sleeper who started STTN around the same time your daughters did! I agree with how important it is to differentiate day and night, I always have the blinds open and spend as much time outside as possible while it’s ‘awake time’.
Angelica
May 7, 2025 at 8:29 pm (4 months ago)You are lucky, Shannon. Super sleepers make all the difference in mommy’s mood
Laurel Regan
May 7, 2025 at 10:08 pm (4 months ago)I don’t have children, but this sounds like a good plan! Thanks for sharing.
Angelica
May 8, 2025 at 2:55 pm (4 months ago)Thanks for visiting Laurel!
Sacha
May 8, 2025 at 1:24 am (4 months ago)This is great information for mothers…Love it
LEslie
May 8, 2025 at 1:52 am (4 months ago)Those are great tips! Need to bookmark this for when I have my first baby.
Amy
May 8, 2025 at 1:32 pm (4 months ago)I, too, was pretty pro-active in getting my babies on a good sleep schedule. I wouldn’t let them cry it out, but I didn’t find that that was necessary if I just was careful about their daytime sleeping. I didn’t let them take late afternoon naps (if possible) and also woke them up if they napped too long. It takes some effort and attention, but it’s worth it to have them get most of their sleeping in at night, when you are sleeping!
Angelica
May 11, 2025 at 7:43 pm (4 months ago)Amy, you sound a lot like me. Having them sleep at night (when I was sleeping) was the ultimate goal!
Jessica Dimas
July 14, 2025 at 4:59 am (2 months ago)I wish I would’ve read this back when my first baby was learning how to sleep! Both of my boys have been horrible sleepers and I definitely wasn’t doing anything to help them get into a better sleeping schedule. Neither of them slept through the night until two years old!!
Angelica
July 14, 2025 at 7:58 pm (2 months ago)Oh boy! That’s rough This was such a priority for me that I feel like my girls “got it.” I hope your boys are better sleepers now- us moms need our rest!