Can You Sleep Train A Newborn Baby?

Understanding Your Newborn's Sleep Cycle

Having a baby is a beautiful experience, but it can also be challenging, especially when it comes to sleep. Before having a baby, you may have thought putting them to sleep would be as simple as laying them down. However, the reality is much more complicated. When a woman is pregnant, the baby grows accustomed to the rocking and noises of the womb, which creates a specific sleep pattern. After birth, the baby's circadian rhythm has not yet matured, which leads to reversed sleep schedules, with babies sleeping during the day and being awake at night. It takes time for newborns to adjust their sleep patterns to match their environment, and sleep training cannot begin until they reach the age of four months.

In the early weeks, newborns often fall asleep while being fed and develop a sleep association with feeding. However, this association often causes frequent night waking's after four months of age. Although sleep training can begin at four months, when infants can self-soothe and have adult sleep cycles, newborns only experience active or quiet sleep. Whatever sleep association is developed during this stage will cause night waking's as soon as the baby turns four months old.

As a new mom, I found myself driving my newborn around in the car to get her to sleep. However, I eventually discovered that my baby's bassinet could rock, which helped her baby sleep better. I also paid attention to her baby's wake windows, which are essential during the newborn phase. Wake windows are periods of wakefulness between naps, and they vary depending on the baby's age. By gradually dropping sleep associations, such as swaddling and rocking, I was able to teach her baby to sleep independently using healthy sleep habits.

I’d like to finalize this by emphasizing that newborns don’t need a schedule. That’s ok. You should never pressure yourself or be too hard on your self for that matter.

It's important to remember that newborns don't require a schedule, so don't stress about it. Be kind to yourself and try not to put too much pressure on meeting certain expectations. You are the expert of your child’s needs and you know them best!