How to make baby sleep through the night?

From around six months onwards, a baby may be able to sleep through the night without night feeding and without waking up her parents. She may actually wake up a few times at night, but she can put herself back to sleep without any help or assurance from her parents.

However, some babies may continue to wake up at night for many more months for various reasons. If you can tolerate night-time interruption, you may wait and let nature takes its course. If you feel stressed about waking up at night to entertain your baby, you may want to try some methods that we are going to share with you.

Why your baby will not sleep through the night?

Your baby is hungry.

Newborns will need to eat more frequently. Because breast milk can be easily digested, a breastfed baby may need to be fed more often.

When your baby is three months to four months old, he may need to be fed two or three times per night. This frequency will gradually decrease to one or two feeding per night as your baby grows.  

If you never practice night weaning, your baby may need to be fed one or two times per night until she is one year old.

Your baby wants your comfort and reassurance.

The baby simply just need reassurance that their parents are there for her. To some experts in the field, this is a bad habit that you should help your baby to kick off.

Teething

Teething makes your baby irritable and may cause her to wake up a few times per night.

How to make baby sleep through the night?

First and foremost, you should not respond to her every cry; You should wait at least for a while to see if she can soothe herself to sleep independently. Try not to pick up your baby, turn on the lights, sing, talk, play or rock your baby. All of these activities discourage your baby to learn to fall asleep on her own and encourage repeat awakenings.

By not responding to her every cry, you are training her to initiate sleep on her own. Once she can initial sleep on her own, she is very likely to sleep through the night without waking up parents.

If she still cries after a few minutes, you can go to her and pat her gently and tell her everything is fine and mummy and daddy are there for her, but it is time for sleep. After that, you can leave her on her own and wait for a couple of minutes, then check again. If after the third or fourth try, your baby still cries non-stop, you may want to pick her up to check she's all right. If all is well, repeat the process. Such a method is called the controlled crying method.  Many studies found that it does not cause harm to your baby and it can help your baby develop a good sleeping habit. However, you should never leave your baby to cry for an extended period at night.

Between six and twelve months, your baby may experience separation anxiety. To deal with this and help her sleep peacefully through the night, you can give her a security object. This can be a baby blanket or stuffed animal. Having a security object can comfort her at night and may help her put back to sleep independently.

Before you put the blanket or stuffed animal in her cot, you may want to hold it near you for a while so that it smells of you. The newborn is very sensitive to smell, and the smell of you can make your baby feel secure at night.

If she wants to play in the middle of the night, you should gently discourage her with some soft shushing, and avoid making eye contact.

If you rock or feed your baby to sleep, she may start to depend on it, rather than be used to settling herself back to sleep.

What other measures can be taken to help baby sleep through the night?

1.Wean your baby off night feeding.  To do that, first make sure your baby gets sufficient milk throughout the day and offer her extra food in the evening.

Besides, instead of soothing her with milk, you can calm her down with a massage.

2.Set a simple bedtime routine.  From as early as three months, you can help your baby establish a bedtime routine. A simple bedtime routine can start with a bath and follow with a story or lullaby. You could also try giving your baby a calming massage. A consistent bedtime routine will gradually let your baby know that it’s time to go to sleep. Finish the bedtime ritual in the room where your baby sleeps This routine should last no longer than about 30 minutes.