First-time parents may struggle when it comes to getting a new baby to fall asleep at night. Those lost hours of sleep can translate to feelings of exhaustion throughout the day.
Countless parents often find themselves exhausted, frustrated,and wondering if their baby will ever sleep through the night. If you are feeling this way, you are not alone. Like other parents, you've read all the baby sleep books, but nothing seems to be working

The amount of sleep children need is based on biological rhythms. We all have internal clocks that make us feel drowsy at certain times both during the day and in the evening. At those times it is easiest to fall asleep and the sleep we get is most restorative. Our biological clock evolves as we grow and our brains mature; thus over time you will see shifts in both the timing and the amount of sleep your baby needs. The natural change in our biological rhythms as we age also explains why we cannot influence sleep during the first couple of months of a baby’s life – these biological rhythms do not yet exist.

For newborns, sleep comes when it wants to and there is no discernible pattern to their sleep. Let your baby sleep as often and for as long as he would like.It is impossible to put newborns on a sleep schedule as their brains are not yet developed enough to influence a sleep pattern.Unfortunately, most newborns have day and night confusion and tend to have long stretches of sleep during the day rather than at night.Many babies are fussier in the late afternoon. Most will grow out of this behavior at around 6 weeks of age.At this age it is ok to do whatever is necessary to soothe your baby and get everyone in your family the sleep they need.

Many babies start to sleep longer stretches of 4-6 hours during the night. This is an indication that your baby’s brain is maturing. However, your baby is still too young to be put on a sleep schedule.Afternoon fussiness starts to go away and you might even start to notice your baby smiling socially

At 3 months you will still need to be watching the clock to ensure your baby doesn’t become overtired. However, you will start to see some daytime sleep patterns forming at around 9am, 12pm, and 3pm. At this point you can expect that your baby will take 4 naps a day.Bedtime should be between 6pm – 8pm and your baby may need 2-4 feedings at night.Now is a good time to let you baby “practice” self soothing. If he wakes early from a nap try giving him a few minutes to see if he will return to sleep

Your baby is now old enough to be on a daytime sleep schedule. Most babies this age should be taking 3 naps a day at approximately 9am, 12pm, and 3pm.Short naps should be pushed to 1 hour. To do this, try leaving your baby in his crib for a full hour even if he is awake. (This is called the “hour rule.”) This is a perfect opportunity for a baby to learn and practice self-soothing skills, and there is always a chance he will go back to sleep.Bedtime should be about 2-2.5 hours after the end of your baby’s last nap.Try your best to put your baby down sleepy but awake to promote self soothing skills.At 4-5 months your baby’s daytime sleep is just starting to become organized. Therefore you will need to be patient and as consistent as possible in scheduling naptimes and giving your baby the opportunity to soothe himself back to sleep when he wakes early from a nap. The most important thing you can do is to be consistent so your baby understands what is now expected of him.

Your baby should be taking 3 naps a day now (at around 9am and 1pm with a variable third nap starting about two hours after the end of the second nap). The third nap will be a shorter nap because it only serves as a buffer to keep your baby rested until bedtime. You should not start a third nap after 4pm.Bedtime should be about 3 hours after the end of your baby’s last nap of the day and should vary based on the quality of daytime sleep (i.e. bedtime should be earlier if the quality of day sleep was poor). Your baby may need 1or 2 feedings at night.

Around this time period your baby will start to drop his third nap in favor of two naps at 9am and 1pm. The second nap should be the longer of the two.It is important that you pay special attention to making bedtime earlier when the transition from two naps to one nap occurs so that your child does not become overtired. Bedtime should be no more than 3-4 hours after the end of your child’s second nap. One overnight feeding may still be necessary through the ninth month.