Babies really do sleep a lot! Feel free to count around 16 hours a night. That makes sense because the little brain is in full development. During sleep, we recognize 2 types of sleep: non-rem sleep and brake sleep. The latter you can recognise by alternating fast and slow eye movements.
Brake sleep allows brain to process information. These can be events, emotions or all kinds of impressions. The proportion of brake sleep will never again peak as high as during the first part of your entire young life. So for a child’s developing brain, sleep is very important for the brain to develop properly.
What to do if your baby is not sleeping?
Lack of sleep is a common problem among young parents. Because in theory, it sounds great: a newborn sleeps 16 hours a day. But exactly when your moment of sleep arrives… Unborn babies sleep almost constantly. From the time they are born, they really have yet to learn to sleep as we know it. That is why their sleep is often more fragmented.
They do not yet know the difference between day and night and can sometimes find it difficult to fall asleep or sleep through the night. Parents often don’t yet recognise all the signs and sometimes this can lead to a lot of stress. In this article, we’ll give you 5 tips to help your baby sleep better.
Tip 1: recognise your baby’s sleep signals
Babies give signals when they are tired. Pay attention to these signals to prevent your baby from becoming overtired. Fatigue signals include:
- Rubbing in the eyes
- Tickling the ears
- Red cheeks or ears
- No longer feel like playing
- Whining or just being very busy
Over time, you will recognise your own child’s signals and know when it is sleep time or when your baby is hungry.
Tip 2: create a safe sleeping environment
A baby needs to feel safe to sleep well. Therefore, make sure the bedroom is dark, quiet and cool for the night. The temperature in the room is ideally around 18 degrees Celsius. Until the age of 1 year and certainly until the baby is 6 months, your baby should preferably sleep, in a crib of his own, with you in your bedroom. This way you can hear, see and feel if everything is going well.
This does not mean that you have to put a baby in a dark bedroom during the day. A relatively quiet room, near supervision, and a comfortable bed for undisturbed sleep are sufficient. This is also how they slowly learn to recognise the difference between day and night. Because eventually we teach them to quietly adjust to a circadian sleep rhythm. Like us adults, they then sleep in a rhythm of day and night.
Avoid using pillows, cuddles or toys in the cot and avoid sleeping in a playpen. This can be potentially dangerous for your baby. Your baby doesn’t need a pillow! To avoid overheating and suffocation, it is best not to use a down comforter. Put your baby to sleep on its back from day one, unless your doctor prescribes you otherwise. A sleeping bag helps maintain the supine position.
The prone position is strongly discouraged. This has everything to do with the increased risk of crib death because breathing can be obstructed and there is a greater chance of overheating or heat congestion. A regular and quick check, when your baby is sleeping during the day or in the evening, is a good advice. This way you can check yourself everything is going well.
Tip 3: Make sure you have a fixed sleep ritual
A fixed sleep ritual helps your baby fall asleep. This is how your baby learns that it is time to sleep. The ritual has a calming effect and prepares your baby for sleep. A simple ritual can consist of a bath, some cuddling, a story or a lullaby. You will feel what suits you. And in time you will find that you can find some peace and quiet in it yourself.
If you use this sleep ritual from babyhood, a child easily learns even as a toddler or preschooler that it is sleep time and rest time. Do it together or alternate regularly. This way, your baby will learn that the ritual is not tied to mom or dad.
Tip 4: Your baby sleeps even when it’s noisy
Especially during the day, your home need not be shrouded in silence. After all, there is more noise during the day. Your baby just sleeps through this. In fact, there are certain ASMR sounds, such as “white noise” that your baby actually finds pleasant. White noise is a constant noise that babies find relaxing. There is no conclusive scientific evidence, but it is said to help your baby fall asleep or fall back to sleep if he wakes up at night.
Tip 5: Let your baby fall asleep independently
It is important to teach your baby to fall asleep independently. Therefore, put your baby to bed when he is still sleepy but not quite asleep. If you notice that your baby is sleepy or tired, don’t wait too long.
If your baby wakes up at night, wait a while to see if he falls back asleep on his own. Because babies sleep so fragmented, they often fall asleep again. Of course, they may be hungry, going through a lot of emotions, experiencing a growth spurt or being sick. As parents, you will recognize over time the signals that may, temporarily or not, confuse your baby’s sleep rhythm. Pay extra attention if your baby is sick or behaving differently than usual.
Especially when big changes occur, your baby often really has to get used to them. For us seemingly simple situations such as a move, a vacation or the first days in daycare, can generate quite a lot of stimuli in your baby. This sometimes affects sleep patterns. Taking time to let your little person get used to it will ensure less stress in these situations.
How do you get an overtired baby to sleep?
An overtired baby is often overexcited, and the stress this causes makes your baby unable to sleep well. Especially when big changes occur, your baby often really has to get used to them. For us seemingly simple situations such as a move, a vacation or the first days in daycare, can generate quite a lot of stimuli in your baby. This sometimes affects sleep patterns. Taking time to let your newborn get used to it will ensure less stress in these situations.
Just stay calm; more stress won’t help. Shorten the sleep ritual and get your baby to bed quickly and quietly. A dark quiet room is recommended. Your proximity, in a sleeping bag or just rocking quietly can sometimes help. Then put your baby to bed quietly.
Is your baby often overtired or overstimulated and no major changes are known? If so, be sure to discuss this with your doctor or at the consultation center.
How much sleep is actually normal for a baby?
A baby up to 6 to 8 weeks needs feeding every 2 to 3 hours on average, but they can sometimes sleep for up to 6 hours at a time. Starting at 6 weeks, babies learn about the biological clock. As a result, according to the Belgian ‘Kind & Gezin‘ (Child & Family), more than half of 6-month-old babies will already sleep 6 to 8 hours in a stretch and especially at night.
From the age of about 1 year, you notice that sleep time during the night really increases. Of course, naps still follow during the day. As age progresses, until about three years old, that slowly evaluates to a 1 or 2 hour afternoon nap.
Is it bad if a baby doesn’t sleep much?
Help! Suddenly things are a little different and my baby is sleeping noticeably worse…. You can! We call this period a sleep regression. This period is linked to learning a new motor skill. A jump can also cause temporarily worse sleep, but is more linked to mental processes.
Babies also have shorter sleep cycles than adults. They actually string together shorter sleeps. On average, a sleep cycle for a baby is about 45 minutes. Then they wake up briefly and fall asleep again. If your baby temporarily sleeps a little less and you offer more than enough sleep time, sleep will naturally become more regular again. Thus they slowly learn to sleep in this wonderful world.
Waarom vecht een baby tegen slaap?
A baby develops his or her sleep daily. Babies do not yet have a sleep rhythm and fall asleep when they are tired. When a baby becomes overtired, he will seem to fight sleep, after which he will still fall asleep.
Hoe krijg je een huilende baby in slaap?
To get a crying baby to sleep, the key is to calm your baby down again. Often this succeeds by holding and comforting him for a while. After this, repeating the sleep ritual again ensures the development of the sleep pattern.
What to do when baby won’t sleep – conclusion
Keep in mind that it may take some time for your baby to get used to a new routine. As parents, you are trying to teach your child to sleep, and this is a process that takes a long time and involves trial and error. In the meantime, take good care of yourself and try to agree among yourselves as well. That way, not one of you is alone. And enjoy the peace and quiet when your baby sleeps during the day. If you can, get some extra sleep, too.
Here are some additional tips that may help you:
- Make sure your baby eats and drinks enough before going to bed.
- Create a calm atmosphere before your baby goes to bed.
- Avoid using electronic devices near your baby’s bed.
- If your baby has trouble falling asleep, you can give him a gentle massage or sing softly.
If you’ve already quietly tried everything you’ve read and notice that your baby is still having a lot of trouble falling asleep, consider getting professional help.
Useful links for young parents about sleeping with babies:
- Nederland: Opvoeden
- België Kind en Gezin
- The Discontented Little Baby book, Dr. Pamela Douglas (nu ook in het Nederlands via vakbladvroeg.nl, met een voorwoord van Marilene de Zeeuw en Maartje Luijk)
