How I Got My Baby on a Sleeping Routine

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I have always been a fan of orderly and routine based fixations in my life. Having a baby threw me totally off my game, but I learned to brush off the chaos and control what I could. She is now four months old and despite cutting her first tooth (!!!) she has been so great about sleeping regularly.

I’m sure some mamas are thinking HOW and honestly I’ll start by saying I lucked out with an easy baby. Nevertheless, this wasn’t always our life and we went through the waking up every two hours stage for awhile.

As you have a newborn, you learn that that little pea-sized belly can get filled very quickly, but also empty just as fast. When we first brought her home, we were on a constant cycle of feeding (trying to breastfeed, but also bottle feeding), changing diapers, consoling a screaming baby, and sleeping. I didn’t sleep much and would breastpump while my mom or J held her. Your newborn will also cluster feed at one point which is a super grand time. Regardless of the lack of sleep and exhaustion of pushing a baby out, we still had down a routine of sorts.

As she got older she was able to stay full longer, thus having more sleep. Only the problem was she was starting to sleep all day and be up all night. I was so scared we would be doomed forever and have her on the wrong schedule, but I slowly started changing the routine of things. I would let her take some naps during the morning, but come afternoon and evening I would keep her up as long as possible. Yes, she was fussy. Yes, it was hellish for a bit. But if she had a nap too close to when we wanted her to sleep it would just keep her up for those hours I wanted her bedtime to be.

With this being said, we caught on that putting her to bed when we went to bed helped big time. There was less noise and lights, giving her a more peaceful transition to sleep.

Now I know not every mama is pro formula, but we found having her drink a bottle before the “bed time” helped hold her over longer and I think this really helped establish a sort of bedtime cue. At around 2 months old this angel baby started sleeping longer stretches and before we knew it she began sleeping 4-6 hours through the night.

Now she goes to bed around 8-9, wakes up around 2-4 (honestly it ranges depending on when she finally went to bed) and then will wake up for the day around 7 or 8. Depending on the timings basically she will sleep 6 hours and then another 4. Something that really helps establish nighttime is to have a ritual down. She has a bottle, is changed, and then put in her swaddle. (I talk about my faves here!)

I lay her down and then give her a pacifier, holding it to help her fall asleep some. She has become a lot more independent where she can lay there and not need assistance. But for awhile we would have to constantly put it back in and sometimes pick her up and start all over again. I know some mamas will give their baby a bath every night and then put them to bed which can help relax them but I like to do this after we have dinner or in the afternoon.

The common theme is to try and do something consistently every night so your little one has an “oh we are doing this now and this means its time for bed” mindset.

This isn’t a catch all for every baby, some babies her age are still waking up every two hours. (Man does my heart go out to y’all!!!) But some sleep 8+ hours. Things you can attempt if you’re in a situation like this is to cut down on nap times (whether that mean frequency or length), make sure your baby is full after eating, ensure your baby doesn’t have reflux which can keep them up, and establish a constant bed time action. We downloaded “pink noise” and somehow someway it worked magic on her and she would sleep instantly! Slowly we weaned her off of it by turning it off after awhile and eventually not needing it at all! If you’re desperate I would give it a try and see if it works for your baby!

I would love to hear in the comments about your babe and how long they are sleeping! It’s so interesting to me how different these tiny humans can be.