How to Get Your Kid to Sleep Through The Night

Often, the one thing keeping your child from sleeping through the night is YOU, not the child. Find out why.

Instructions

1

So you think your baby is ready to sleep through the night? First, you should have an infant at least 1-2 months old. A newborn shouldn't sleep through the night that early since they need to feed so often. Your child should be able to nap for 3-4 hours at ANY time during the day. If your child still wakes up like clockwork every two hours, day and night, they may not be ready.

2

Knowing your child is very important. After about 6-8 weeks, babies typically do NOT need to feed so often, as their intake with each meal has increased. If you are breastfeeding, this may be harder, as babies tend to feed more often with breast milk. It just doesn't last.

3

So, to start, you must get your babies feeds as high as possible. I tended to breastfeed during the day and then at night, I would top off with formula. My husband would try to crank down as much milk as possible, which I don't recommend. I typically tried a two ounce bottle of formula after breastfeeding, though the baby rarely finished all two ounces.

4

The other step is to make sure your baby's sleep cycle is set to night time, as when they are first born, it is totally random (they've been in the dark for nine months, remember?). A quick way to ensure this is to try and keep the baby awake as long as possible during the daytime, slowly extending the time between naps.

5

Now there is another type of baby who doesn't sleep through the night. We'll call this the older type of baby...typically months old, or even more. It is obvious that the child SHOULD be able to sleep through the night, but for whatever reason, they don't.

You know which ones I'm talking about. They already eat solid food and may not be hungry but attention seeking. These kids typically start in their bed, in their room, and then end up in your bed.

6

To "wean" them from your attention, this takes tough love, so it is important to set aside a weekend (or long weekend) where you and your spouse have no other responsibilities, because you may not sleep much.

7

Once your child goes to bed, you sleep until they wake up in the middle of the night, typically after 3-4 hours. Then, you go into their room (if they are still in your room, you move them out if possible) and you pat them on the back and comfort them. DO NOT pick up your child! Sounds harsh, but you have been training your child to respond to your picking them up (and THEY have been training you with their crying)