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0-3 Months Newborn Baby Sleep Survival Guide

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One Day Old Baby Boy

Newborn babies are those tiny wrinkly little peanuts that we bring home from the hospital even though we’re sure we’re not ready to care for such an impossibly tiny creature.

While your immediate focus should be mastering the basics of feeding and soothing your newest relative, if you want your newborn to be a great sleeper start with this newborn sleep series:

How and Why to Use and Loose the Paci

Baby Sleep: What is Normal?

Bedtime What Time?

Five Reasons to Swaddle Your Baby?

Baby Swaddling Tips and Tricks

Are You Keeping Your Baby Awake TOO Long?

How To Get Baby to Sleep Better Part 1

How to Get Baby to Sleep Better Part 2

Why Babies Love White Noise

The Ultimate Baby Swing Guide for Swing Hating Babies

Common Newborn Baby Sleep Mistakes

What to Do About Short Naps

Sleep Regressions 101

My 2 cents on which baby swing is right for you.

Where Should Your Newborn Sleep?

This series will be further developed over the next few months and will be supplemented by some how-to videos focused on helping baby fall asleep. If there is something you would like to see addressed here let me know!

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    48 Comments

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      Colleen
      December 1, 2012 at 3:25 pm

      Thank you so much for all of the wonderful information. I have a 5 week old who has been sleeping in his crib since we brought him home from the hospital, but we were having problems getting him to sleep AT NIGHT. We had been told by multiple people to just keep him awake during the day, but that lasted less than one day because he was miserable and I felt horrible keeping him awake when he clearly needed to sleep. Luckily, that night I found your website. We purchased a swing and made a point to get the baby more sleep all around. When he is overly tired and refusing to nap, into the swing he goes. Yesterday it was a lifesaver because we had been running around all day so he didn’t get quality sleep. I had my husband bring the swing into the nursery and he slept for 6 hours straight — even longer than I did! Just a few days of following your advice and there are fewer tears in our house and we have a much happier family overall. Thank you!

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      Jill
      December 6, 2012 at 10:39 pm

      Thanks for the wonderful info on your site. I’ve spent many hours reading it, but haven’t stumbled across much for the baby who fights sleep like my 10 week old does. He absolutely hates taking naps during the day. He is a happy baby and usually only fusses when hungry, over tired, or doesn’t want to nap. Just the other day, I was holding him and as his eyes would be getting heavy and almost close, he would shake his head to wake himself back up. He would keep repeating this until he finally he couldn’t fight it anymore. It’s almost as if he’s afraid he will miss out on something! I try to be boring and reduce stimulation during sleep times. He’s a good sleeper at night though. He sleeps in his crib and wakes up a couple times to nurse, but goes right back to sleep. It’s just getting him to fall asleep on his own for naps that is giving us trouble. The swing works sometimes, but the only thing that works 100% of the time is Mommy’s arms. I know he needs the naps because when he naps crappy, we have a very fussy over-tired baby in the evenings. Im guessing your answer will be to keep doing soothing techniques for naps. But why is he sleeping so much better at night without needing additional soothing besides the nursing?

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      Nicole
      December 8, 2012 at 4:55 pm

      My baby is 9 weeks and falls asleep while nursing or in the ergo. Basically those are my two options! Once in a while she will pass out in the swing if it close to her bed time. (at 8 pm she will normally sleep til about 2 or 3). My question is, when is it important for her to fall asleep on her own?
      PS- fussy turns into flat out crying if I let it go on longer then a few minutes.

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      Katrina
      December 19, 2012 at 6:22 am

      Hi, Riddle me this Batman

      I have a 11 week old daughter and last week I thought we were making progress on the sleeping front (silly me). Once she is asleep she normally wakes once a night to feed and then back to sleep easily. A few weeks back she was an awesome (and yes I know how lucky I was) morning napper as well, sleeping on average 3 hours, then up for lunch. Afternoon naps were kind of take it or leave it.

      So the last week she hasn’t been so keen on napping in the day, even though she is very obviously tired (red eye, nodding, crying and yawning). When I notice the first of these signs I make moves to settle her into a nap. If I am lucky she will drop off, but the recent development here is that she doesn’t stay asleep for long, normally 45-60 mins. She then wakes up and is grumpy spacer Plus then she is more tired in the afternoon and resists sleeping even stronger.

      Then the worst bit is after dealing with a cranky, tired, fussy baby all afternoon if not all day, she is very hard to get to go to sleep in the evening. Last week she was happy to go off to sleep at around 7, sleep for 6-7 hrs AND the best part was that she was learning to self settle (ie I would put her in the cot sleepy but not asleep and she would grizzle half heartedly for 15 mins or less then drop off like an angel!). Now somedays the only way to get her to sleep in to nurse her to sleep in my bed and my husband will come move her when he comes to bed.

      What I would like to know is this – is this a stage she is going through, or am I conditioning her somehow into bad habits at evening bed time? Will the day time sleeps come back? And what do you do with a baby so so so tired and so so so against going to sleep??!

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      Elle
      December 25, 2012 at 5:30 pm

      Hi Alexis.

      I desperately need some advice my 1 month old baby girl has been extra fussy lately. I’m starting to think she has colic, after every feed she finds it very difficult to wind. I try everything to relieve her bicycle excurcises/ baths/ massages. I’ve been eating well so dnt think it’s from my end but I do find when I’m breastfeeding her she’s gulping in alot of air. My problem is everytime I nurse her to sleep- her sleep is interrupted from
      Needing to burp or fart n then she becomes wide awake, so I’ve been rocking her to bed (which I feel so stressed about) I feel like I’m
      Starting a bad habit.

      What to you recommend?
      I know it’s a matter of being patient and just waiting for time to pass till she gets older n her stomach will be more mature…

      Thanks in advance

      Reply
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      Michael Panole
      January 24, 2013 at 5:52 pm

      I think of these things all the time, but the way you put it now makes me rethink alot of that.

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      Emily
      January 27, 2013 at 10:30 pm

      Hi there
      I really love your website, its hilarious and full of wonderfully useful information. My little man is eight and a half weeks old and over the past 2 weeks his day time sleeping has gone out the window. He has cut his sleeping to 40min naps (2-4 per day if I’m lucky). He will either wake up extremely upset or will wake up and kick around in his bassinet for 20mins before starting to cry. I’ve tried settling him back to sleep as soon as he stirs or leaving him until he starts to cry by keeping him in the bassinet and patting a shhhing him, I’ve tried picking him up and rocking him back to sleep, I’ve tried putting him in the pram and pushing him around to get him back to sleep – the pram is the most successful option at the moment. Each time I try for anywhere between 20 mins and 1 hour. He’s gone back to sleep twice in the two weeks and gone on to sleep for two hours. When he doesn’t go back to sleep he’s incredibly irritable which I figure is because he is tired as if I try to feed him before three hours from the start of his last feed, he will go on for under 5 mins and be totally disinterested when he will feed for 15-20mins per side on the three hourly feed cycle. I know newborns should only be awake for max an hour 45 and I try and try and try to put him back to sleep but he is ending up being awake for 2.5+hours from wake up time to when I feed him and put him back down. I feel like I’m trying everything and nothing is working and I’m starting to get really frustrated and upset as I know he’s tired and I’m doing everything I can to help him sleep but am failing!! He sleeps well at night – waking twice for feeds when he goes down at 6.30ish and wakes up at 5ish. I don’t know if he’s waking so quickly because he is doing longer stretches at night to maybe catch up in a missed feed. He had a great few weeks before this all started when he would sleep for 2-3 hours twice a day with one or two smaller naps and still be doing the longer stretches at night. I wouldn’t mind the smaller naps if he wasn’t so irritable when he was awake but he cries and cries and yawns and he gorgeous little eyes are red so I know he’s tired but whatever I do doesn’t seem to work. Do you have any suggestions as to what my be going on and what I can do to help the little man get back to sleep after the 40?

      Reply
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      Amanda
      March 4, 2013 at 9:57 pm

      Hello! My little angel is 6 weeks old. She goes to sleep so well during the day. She seems to be awake for about 1.5 hours at a time and takes around 3 naps. Her morning and afternoon naps are between 2-3 hours. At night (after 6) I would think she would fall asleep round 8. She will not.. She falls asleep and wakes quickly within a half hour until around 11. Is this the wiitching time? Should I bring her down from her room every time she wakes after 1/2 hour? Will this pass As she gets older? I swaddle her and have white noise. I even rock and swing her and this won’t work. When she falls asleep at night it’s only for 3 hours. She weighs 10 lbs and eats 5oz formula every 3-4 hours. Any Advice will b greatly appreciated!!!

      Amanda

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      Erin Munning
      March 26, 2013 at 11:14 am

      Hi Alexis,

      Thank you so much for your site and efforts. We are now utilizing your swing method for our 5 week old, and it seems to be working most of the time. We are so thankful!!!!!

      My question for you is: what about vacations? How do we get our little munchkin to sleep when there is no swing in our hotel? We have a trip at 3 months for a week but we also have a few weekends away at grandmas planned in the next few months. I’m this close to sending a swing to our hotel in Hawaii for one week’s use.

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      Charlie Hendricks