🎥 Parent Like a Pro Webinar | Baby sleep from A to Zzz

NanitMackenzie
NanitMackenzie Community Moderator, Nanit Team
edited August 25 in Routines
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Experts share their tips for helping the whole family sleep better at night. In this webinar, we’ll discuss all things baby sleep - improving sleep health and understanding sleep cues, safe sleep, bedtime routines & schedules, what to what to expect in the first year, and more! This session is be most helpful to parents with children aged newborn – 12 months. 

Scroll down to find the recording below 👇

Top Q&A: 

Q: Do I have to give my baby a bath as part of a bedtime routine? 

Babies are creatures of habit and they are comforted by routine. Exactly what that routine is can vary and has to be somewhat malleable for the situation, but the key is to do the same activities in a pattern or order. 

For some babies a bath is actually not helpful for their sleep. While baths can be relaxing and theoretically should be, for some babies it can be playtime and can take longer or add delays before bedtime. 

In short, if a bath is working then stick to it, but if it isn’t working, it’s okay to cut that piece out of bedtime and bathe baby earlier in the day (also, remember that newborns don’t need to be bathed every single day!).

Q: When can I stop waking my baby up to eat in the middle of the night?

When they gain back to their birth weight - for example, if they were 8 pounds, 8 ounces at birth, you can stop waking baby up at night to feed when they’re at 17 pounds.

Q: If my baby was born prematurely, should I go off of their adjusted age or actual age when developing a routine and tracking their developmental progress?

It’s best to use their adjusted age for sleep and developmental milestones. For example, if they were born 4 weeks premature, at 6 months out of the womb you’d expect your baby to be developmentally at 5 months.

Q: My baby is 3.5 months and I’ve noticed that their sleep patterns have changed - I fear we’re on the verge of the 4 month sleep regression. What are some things I can do to help him as his sleep patterns change that help us both get some rest?

The 4 month sleep regression has a mind of its own, and not everyone experiences it. It’s expected that your baby’s sleep will fluctuate from things like developmental milestones, loss of routine, illness, and so on. However, by and large, try to pay attention to their sleep cues and stick to their routine as best you can.

If your baby knows you are anxious about their sleep patterns (and anything else) they will feel it too and that can actually make things worse for everyone. As much as you can, try to stay calm and unfazed and help baby feel the same. If all else fails and you’re extremely frustrated, it’s okay to go into another room and scream into your pillow!

From a sleep and routine perspective - in anticipation of a possible sleep regression, the biggest thing you can do is start trying to have baby fall asleep by themself at the beginning of the night. When they have mastered that it's going to be much easier for them to fall back to sleep when they wake up during the night - that can help those night waking and night feedings to drop very, very quickly.

Full Session Recording:

https://nanit.wistia.com/medias/bnoaqo4kyr

Check out the other Parent Like a Pro session recaps and recordings here!

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