Plus Toddler Update!
I initially wrote this article when our little one, Lio, was two and a half months old. A year and a half later, Lio is now almost 21 months old and will be turning 2 years old in October. I've updated the original post to include her toddler sleeping update.
Newborn Sleep Tips: How We Got Our Baby to Sleep 5 Hours in the 1st Month and 9 1/2 By Week 11
Plus Toddler Update!
We used the SNOO by Happiest Baby beginning Lio's first week at home and it was such a blessing! Read below for Lio’s newborn week-by-week sleep hour count, our baby sleep tips, books we swore by, and review of the SNOO.
Lio’s Newborn Sleep Hours:
Week 1: 2-3 hrs Week 2: 2-3 1/2 hrs Week 3: up to 4 hrs Week 4: up to 5 hrs Week 5: up to 5 1/2 hrs Week 6: up to 5 1/2 hrs Week 7: up to 7 hrs Week 8: up to 7 1/2 hrs Week 9: up to 8 hrs Week 10: up to 8 1/2 hrs Week 11: up to 9 1/2 hrs
Hatch Baby App
We used the Hatch Baby app to track Lio’s feedings, sleep, diaper changes, and weight. I went back through her sleep history on the app to document her sleep hours over her first 11 weeks; it’s interesting to see her sleep hours increased gradually week-by-week. The first month to month and a half, her sleeping hours would vary. (This is probably due to her beginning to differentiate day from night and simply figuring out her new life on earth!)
Newborn Stomach Size
It’s important to realize that the SNOO bassinet obviously cannot change the size of your newborn’s tiny stomach. Your little one has to feed often, especially in the first 6 weeks, because her stomach is so small – and from my understanding, it’s actually not a good thing for a newborn to sleep too long until her stomach size is bigger (around the 2-3 month mark).
About The SNOO
The SNOO was created by Dr. Harvey Karp (the pediatrician of the 5 S’s method and The Happiest Baby on The Block book). The SNOO is a bassinet with built-in white noise and rocking movement to help calm your baby – and according to their website, it is the safest crib on the market. As first time parents, bringing a baby home from the hospital and being solely responsible for another human life was incredibly overwhelming. Knowing that she slept in the safest crib was a HUGE peace of mind for us – and thus allowed us to catch some extra (and much needed) zzz’s!
The Functions of the SNOO
Basically, you use a swaddle made for the SNOO (each SNOO comes with a size small, medium, and large swaddle) and you clip it into the actual bassinet so your little one always stays safely on her back. The SNOO has four levels of white noise paired with a rocking motion to help soothe your baby. When your little one is calm, the first level is a soft white noise with gentle rocking. If your baby wakes up in the middle of a sleep session, the SNOO automatically ups the levels to increase the white noise and rocking motion. You can also manually increase the level through an app on your phone or button on the bassinet. (Yes, this means when your little one is crying in the middle of the night, you basically have a remote on your phone to try to calm her down.) This is especially helpful for newborns who are learning to connect their sleep cycles – refer to “the pause” method from Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman; a snippet of insight on this under #2 sleep tips below.
Sleeping Through The Night
I give much credit to the SNOO for my little one sleeping 8 to 9 hours at night by two and a half months. (At 2 1/2 Months): I actually had to wake her the other morning because she had slept 9 and a half hours and I was so engorged (I breastfed Lio for about 13 months) I couldn’t wait any longer to feed her. We asked our pediatrician if this is safe for her to sleep that long at night and he said it is “abnormal” and we should go to church and thank God! Joking aside, he said it is totally safe because our baby is gaining weight and healthy.
Each Baby is Unique
Please don't be discouraged if you're reading this and struggling with your little one's sleep! Even with only one child, we've learned that each baby is truly unique (just ask my sister who has four individually beautiful and unique children). As a baby and now, Lio still cries often (have I mentioned my endless list of challenges we are facing?). Each moment is different and we've found Lio is always growing, developing new skills and habits, and thus ever changing. We try to just take everything day by day and try our best, as that is all we really can do. But we fail often and simply try to learn each time. To hear from our pediatrician that her newborn night sleep was “abnormal” but in a good way, I wanted to share what we’ve learned to hopefully help other parents trying to learn from their tiny human. I hope sharing what we’ve learned helps you and your little one get some rest!
Toddler Update
Lio will be turning 2 years old in October. I could make a long list of challenges we are facing with Lio through her current toddler phase. However, her sleeping remains positive. We created a bedtime routine while she was still a baby that continues to be helpful. Here is her current bedtime routine: (we initiate at 30 minutes before lights out), give her a bath (wash her hair every other night), brush her teeth, after the bath we lotion her up and put her nighttime diaper on plus pajamas, then have a little playtime, read a couple board books, turn on her sound machine, walk her to her bedroom window to wave goodnight to everyone (we live in a high rise apartment building), close the blackout curtains, sing twinkle twinkle little star, give her a big kiss and lay her in her crib, place her babydoll next to her, say goodnight, turn off her bedroom light, and quietly close her bedroom door. Lio currently sleeps 7PM-7AM without waking; and she takes a daily nap from 1-3PM. She sometimes makes a few soft cries as she is trying to put herself to sleep but we've found that she is always able to put herself to sleep unless she has an issue that requires mommy and daddy's help. This would be something like she is teething or sick and might need medicine. And her cries are different for each need; i.e., the soft cries might be that she can hear us on the other side of her bedroom door, and the cries that she needs us are more intense. But she knows it is her job to put herself to sleep and she is confident that mommy and daddy are nearby if she needs anything. And we tell her just that for the times when she is sick or if we are traveling and we put her to sleep in an unfamiliar place. We will say something like, "Goodnight, we love you. If you need anything just let us know, we will be right outside your door."
Baby and Toddler Sleep Tips
Overall, we credit Lio's continued positive relationship with sleeping for the following:
(1) SNOO Smart Sleeper
The SNOO helped her learn to connect her sleep cycles and put herself to sleep.
(2) "The Pause" Method
We used "The Pause" method since she was a newborn to observe her body language, differentiate her cries, and figure out when she needed us vs. when she was figuring out things on her own.
(3) Differentiating Day vs. Night
We worked on helping her differentiate day and night right away as a newborn. During the day: we didn't try to be too quiet, i.e., allowing the dog to bark, allowed for plenty of light, lots of playtime and stimulation. During the night: dark room, little to no noise, not talking to her or playing with her during night feedings and diaper changes.
(4) Eat, Play, Sleep book
I swore by the book Eat, Play, Sleep by Luiza DeSouza for a parent's guide to 0-3 months.
(5) Daytime feeding
As a baby, feeding her plenty during the day so she wasn't too hungry at night.
(7) Hatch Baby App
Tracking her feeding, sleep, diapers, and weight with the Hatch Baby smart changing pad and app during the newborn months. (I think you can download the app for free even if you don't purchase the smart changing pad. And we lived by the app for the first several months with baby.)
(8) Self-Confidence
Building her self-confidence. "The Pause" method and the SNOO bassinet helped her learn to work out things on her own. And now even if she can't fully understand us, we talk through things with her, and we try to have confident and calming body language and energy so she trusts her parents and then can trust herself. We try our best (which is definitely a challenge for us!) to not get emotionally charged when she is upset; and we think if we have calm and confident energy it carries over to her. I am currently reading Parenting With Love and Logic (recommended by my pediatrician) to better understand how I can continue to help build her confidence.
(9) Consistent bedtime routine
(10) Clean, calm bedroom
We keep Lio's bedroom clean and minimalistic. (Checkout my "Nursery Tour" saved on my Instagram stories for an inside look.) We currently use our apartment living room as her play area. We think associating her bedroom with sleep and keeping it decluttered helps calm and destress Lio.
(11) Dark bedroom with blackout shades
We purchased this drape set from Amazon and they have worked well in Lio's bedroom.
(12) Sound machine
We have tried a few and this one is our absolute favorite. We even bring it with us when we travel.
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xx Lauren
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