Even though newborns sleep a lot from the very beginning: It will likely take a few months before your baby can sleep through the night—meaning sleeping for 6 to 8 hours at a time. Sleep is important, and mothers in particular get too little of it during a baby's first months of life.
However, sleeping through the night is related to brain maturity and is a learning process that your baby must go through. To make your nights easier and support your baby in sleeping through the night, we have collected 6 helpful tips.
With our tricks, you will soon achieve more baby sleep and a fixed sleep rhythm that helps your baby sleep better through the night.
Quieter nights with baby – when do babies start sleeping through the night?
After weeks of restless nights, many parents wish their baby would finally sleep through the night. However, experience shows that you need to bring a little patience. While there are some "dormouse" children who can sleep through the night quickly and easily, and above all, all by themselves.
But that is not the rule. Until the end of the first year of life, babies' sleep cycles are very short, even if the sleep requirement is rather high at 14 hours. Waking up at night is common and completely normal, and for some babies, sleeping through the night is unthinkable before the sixth month of life.
About falling asleep and sleeping through the night
The term "sleeping through the night" is a bit misleading. Sleeping through the night does not necessarily mean that your baby sleeps for a full six to eight hours at a time.
Rather, it means that from about the sixth month of life, your child develops a regular day-night rhythm and, if they wake up at night, is able to fall back asleep without parental help.
Some babies learn on their own that the night is for sleeping, while others need a little more support. In any case, you should have patience with your baby. Do not expect too much, because sleeping through the night is a big and important developmental step in your child's life.
It doesn't happen overnight, but rather when your baby is ready for it. To still get enough sleep and make the day-night transition easier for your baby, we have tricks to help your baby sleep through the night.
1. Don't listen to the stories and rumors
All young parents know this: The supposed success stories of other couples whose baby falls asleep alone without further ado, sleeps through the night, and sleeps in another room. Don't let this put you under pressure. As with all things in a child's life, sleep also has its very own developmental rhythm. It is a maturation process.
In playgroups and also on the internet, many myths circulate about the role nutrition and night meals play. For example, the rumor that bottle-fed babies sleep better than breastfed babies has persisted for decades.
And you probably already guessed it: Whether breastfed or bottle-fed, neither has anything to do with your sweetheart's sleep. Evening porridge also has no major impact on a baby's sleep behavior.
Plus: There will always be restless sleep phases, whether due to a developmental leap, overtiredness, vaccination, or an infection that is keeping the little body busy.
2. Fixed routines
Babies like routines. A consistent and stable daily rhythm structures your little one's everyday life. This gives them security. So try to stick to similar times for your daily eating, playing, and sleeping times. Also ensure sufficient rest phases during the day where you and your child can relax together.
What might sound exhausting at first—because establishing new routines can be tedious and feel like it's completely in vain—will help your baby, and thus you, to establish a regular sleep-wake rhythm.
3. Develop bedtime rituals
A fixed bedtime ritual before going to bed helps your child distinguish between day and night. Be sure to pay attention to your little one's signs of tiredness. Are they yawning or rubbing their eyes?
Then it's time for your bedtime ritual. Dim the lights, cuddle with your child for a bit, read something to them, or sing the same goodnight song every time. All of these are signals for your baby that it is now time to sleep. Try to maintain fixed times here as well.
You should give your little one your undivided attention. Also, make sure to put your baby in their crib tired but still awake, so they experience it as a calm and safe place.
Conversely, the bed should only be for sleeping and not for playing. Often it also helps to give your child sleep aids that they can then use independently to calm themselves down.
This can be a stuffed animal or a pacifier, but also a story while they gently rock up and down in the swing2sleep and come to rest.
4. End daytime sleep in time
Sleep is important not only for you but also for your baby's development. Daytime sleep determines nighttime sleep, as the saying goes. However, this doesn't just mean that your baby should get enough sleep during the day.
It also means that the last daytime nap must not take place too late so that your child has an easier time going to bed. It is very helpful if your baby has finished their last nap during the day about three to four hours before bedtime. Of course, this does not apply to newborns: here, an infant may still sleep according to their own rhythm.
5. Time the feeding times
Naturally, your little one should be full at the last meal in the evening and should have drunk enough afterwards during breastfeeding or bottle-feeding. Many babies are hungry at night.
Some parents also swear by breastfeeding once more between 10 p.m. and midnight and letting their child drink extensively before they go to bed themselves. For bottle-fed babies, care should be taken to ensure that the child is actually awake during feeding to avoid aspiration and overfeeding.
The time until the next meal becomes a bit longer, and you also get to have several hours of sleep at a stretch. As a rule, the time span until the next meal expands more and more anyway as your baby gets older, because your child can increase food intake during the day.
6. Ensure the right sleeping environment
A darkened room is certainly always helpful so that your baby can sleep through for several hours at a time – or learns to do so over time. However, not all children like absolute darkness.
A small nightlight can help here. The room temperature is also crucial; it should be between 16 and 18 degrees Celsius. Admittedly: In midsummer, this is not always possible. It can sometimes be warmer in the room and disturb your baby's sleep.
A good fan or a smart ventilation strategy can provide some relief. We tell you in this article what else you can do to help your baby in the heat. Some babies need a quiet background noise, others like white noise in the background.
Try out what is most suitable for you as a family. In general, it should be as quiet as possible so that your baby does not wake up at night anymore.
What to do if the baby wakes up at night?
First of all: There is no right or wrong here. However, you should think of a consistent strategy for what you do if your baby always wakes up at night, because that too is a process of getting used to it. It helps if you calm your child by stroking them or gently placing your flat hand on their chest. This way, they know that you are present, even if they are lying in their own bed.
The recommendation of many sleep consultants is also not to simply pick the child up and, of course, not to play, cuddle, or sing too much. Because that makes your baby happy, but not sleepy. If possible, leave them in bed, touch them, and speak quietly and soothingly to them.
More physical contact is usually not necessary, but that also depends on the child. When babies should sleep in their own bed is individual; some babies always wake up at night because they miss their parents' proximity, others manage to sleep well for several hours at a stretch if they have their peace.
However, children should sleep in their own room at the earliest from the age of 1.
If they do not calm down, it may be that your baby needs to burp. For this, you can slowly pick them up calmly and with a secure grip, let them burp, and lay them back down just as calmly. If they are hungry, it is good to feed the child in peace, without excitement and here too – without playing with them.
So that you don't have to turn on a light, it is recommended to simply leave the small night lamp from your bedtime ritual burning overnight. By the way: Nightly diaper changes should actually no longer be necessary after a few weeks or months of your little one's life.
Unless your child had a bowel movement. Then the diaper change should happen as calmly as possible, ideally in bed, so that your baby does not become wide awake in the process.
Falling asleep and sleeping through for babies
Finally, it should be mentioned again: All these tips can help your baby sleep through the night. However, there is no patent recipe that can promise success across the board. That's why it's especially important that you give yourself and your infant time and patience.
Of course, life always gets in the way sometimes. Long car journeys, excursions, and exciting visits can interrupt your family rhythm, and that is perfectly okay. Nevertheless, it is important that you maintain your rituals as best as you can and also follow through consistently on quiet days.
This way, it will finally be easier for your baby to learn to sleep through. And by 12 months at the latest, babies sleep at least four hours at a stretch.
FAQ on the topic of baby sleeping through the night
How do I get my baby to sleep through the night?
Babies learn to sleep through the night step by step. Fixed bedtimes, clear bedtime rituals, a quiet sleeping environment, and timely recognition of signs of tiredness help. Patience is important, because sleeping through the night depends heavily on the baby's neurological maturity and cannot be forced.
How long does it take for a baby to sleep through the night?
Many babies begin to manage longer sleep phases at a stretch between the sixth and twelfth month of life. However, some require significantly longer. Sleeping through the night is not a fixed age, but an individual development process.
How long can an infant sleep without eating?
In the first weeks of life, infants should be breastfed or fed regularly, even at night. As they get older, many babies can sleep for several hours without a meal. Whether and for how long this is possible depends on the age, weight, and individual development of the baby and should be coordinated with the midwife or pediatrician if in doubt.
What is the 2-3-4 rule for baby sleep?
The 2-3-4 rule describes recommended wake times for babies with two daytime naps: about 2 hours of wake time before the first sleep, 3 hours before the second, and 4 hours before night sleep. It serves as a guide, but does not replace observing the child's individual signs of tiredness.
