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Whoa, I never thought I’d be up at 3 a.m. panic googling about sleep tricks for infants, but here we are! There has to be some evidence-based, surefire way to get a newborn baby to sleep, right? I know sleeping through the night is asking for too much, but what about sleeping … at all?
—Help. Me.
There is no sure-fire way to get a baby to sleep, but there is some evidence-based advice that might help. Many of these ideas are organized and summarized in Harvey Karp’s book Happiest Baby on the Block, which I highly recommend if you can find the time to read another book.
Karp gives five S’s — swaddling, shushing, sucking, side position, and swinging. Of these, the first two have strong evidence.
- Swaddling: Babies who are swaddled tend to sleep longer; we have randomized evidence that shows swaddling reduces the chance that the initial phase of waking up leads to being completely awake.
- White noise: Helps babies sleep longer. While you are holding them to get to sleep, you can create your own white noise by “shushing” them. A white noise machine can then take over.
The other three have less direct evidence but are worth trying. This includes a pacifier — don’t worry about nipple confusion — holding your baby on their side, and rocking them in a swinging motion.
These are all worth trying, but some babies have a very hard time staying asleep early on. One of my children, for weeks, would literally only sleep while being held, even overnight. When you’re in this boat, the best thing you can do is ask for help. If you have a partner, try to share the burden and let one person sleep. If you have in-laws, parents, or siblings nearby, ask them, too. Friends with older children will be happy to come and help you, to take a nap, or a shower.
This phase does end — although sleep remains an issue, it gets so much better. Hang in there.
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