As a Certified Sleep Consultant, my passion is helping families find their way to a well-rested home. By following the sleep tips below and having patience, you will have a great little sleeper before you know it. Remember that your baby may not be ready to sleep through the night just yet as they may still require nighttime feedings.
Every baby is different, but by giving them all the tools for developing good sleep habits and supporting them through the adjustment, quality sleep will fall right into place and bring your family as a whole more restorative sleep.
It sounds simple enough, but we all know babies don’t come with instruction manuals. They are complex beings and are growing rapidly, especially in the first year of life. Keep reading below to learn the process towards having quality restorative sleep in your home…for everyone!
1. Create the ideal sleep environment
Having the ideal sleep environment for all sleep sessions is vital for developing good sleep habits. Restorative sleep can’t happen in a well-lit room with a lot of stimulation happening. A Certified Sleep Consultant can provide steps to help you like the ones below.
Steps to creating the ideal sleep environment:
- Be as consistent as possible with where your baby is sleeping. Naps and nighttime sleep should be in the same sleep space whenever possible.
- No light should be shining into the room. If you don’t have blackout blinds on the windows, this is your cue to get them!
- The temperature should be kept between 68-72 degrees to allow baby’s core body temperature to drop slightly. This allows for more restorative sleep.
- White noise should be set at no more than 50-55 decibels for all sleep sessions. The white noise will help drown out other noises within the home and help baby sleep.
- Babies typically need a comfort item, whether it’s their sleep sack, blanket, pacifier, or lovies. These comfort items will allow them to be comforted enough to drift off to sleep on their own. (Please note that according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, blankets and lovies are only allowed in cribs when baby is 12 months or older.)
Recreating a familiar sleep environment, even when on the go, makes it more likely for successful sleep sessions to happen. Otherwise, you’ll probably have an overtired, cranky baby on your hands. A Certified Sleep Consultant will help you create the best sleep environment for your little one.
2. Calories consumed = good sleep
A Certified Sleep Consultant will tell you that sleep and feedings go hand-in-hand. Your little one cannot have restorative sleep without good full feedings, and you most certainly cannot expect them to sleep through the night without consuming enough calories during the day.
Typically babies are able to sleep through the night at around 6-7 months old once they consume 3 solid meals daily and take in 24-28oz of milk during the day. At this time, your baby is ready to sleep through the night, but keep in mind every baby is different, and some may take longer to consume this many calories in a given day. Make sure your baby is at least 6 months of age and over 12lbs before you start cutting back any night feedings, and always consult with your pediatrician first.
3. Implement an age-appropriate daily routine
Having an age-appropriate daily routine for your little ones is crucial for sleep. Once you have a consistent daily schedule for all sleep sessions and a solid bedtime routine for each sleep session, you will notice your little one will learn to love their sleep.
No more having to stress over whether your child will take a nap or if they will be up all night. Little ones thrive off consistency, and once their body clock is adjusted to their daily schedule and bedtime routines, they can drift off to sleep easily. A Certified Sleep Consultant can help you put together a daily routine for your child’s age like the one below.
Ideal daily routine for a 1-year-old:
- 7:00 am – Wake up/Breakfast
- 9:30 am – Snack time
- 10-11/11:30 am – Nap 1
- 12:00 pm – Lunch
- 1:30 pm – Snack time
- 2:30-4:30 pm – Nap 2
- 5:30 pm – Dinner
- 6:00 pm – Bedtime routine
- 7:00 pm – Bedtime
For each sleep session, you should have a consistent routine to prepare your little one for sleep. 15 minutes before their nap, you should take them into their room and put them into a fresh diaper, jammies, and a sleep sack.
When they are ready to sleep, dim the lights, read a story, rock them (if you like) while softly singing a song, and finally turn on their white noise machine before laying them down to say “goodnight”.
When it comes to bedtime, you will extend their bedtime routine to at least 45 minutes to 1 hour long.
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4. Consistency is crucial
A Certified Sleep Consultant’s goal is to help create healthy boundaries, rhythms, and consistency. No matter how hard you try to fight it, your child is not giving up easily on the routine that helps them remain cool, calm, and collected. A sleep expert can help.
The most crucial factor to sleep success is consistency with your daily schedule, routines, and sleep environment. When you begin your journey towards better sleep, it is essential to stay super consistent for a minimum of 2 weeks.
After your little one becomes confident in their sleep, you can follow the 80/20 rule. The 80/20 rule means that you stick with your little one’s schedule 80% of the time, and for the other 20%, you can let things go awry and get right back on track without any hiccups. Life is hectic sometimes, and it can be hard to do it “all”. But, it’s possible to keep everyone well rested and still live a busy lifestyle.
5. Sleep training doesn’t mean cry it out or Ferber methods
As a Certified Sleep Consultant, I take on each case with fresh eyes and thoughts. With my background in mental health and diagnostic ability, I have a unique skill set for hearing a parent’s concern. Then I find the issue and put a plan together to resolve it.
The #1 misnomer of sleep training is that your baby/toddler has to cry themselves to sleep independently, which is simply not the case. Sleep training is gentle and sleep experts work happily with individual families and circumstances. There are a few sleep training methods out there that give sleep training a bad name. The main ones are known as the Cry It Out method and the Ferber Method, which do involve an increased amount of crying.
Please keep in mind that you DO NOT have to implement these methods to have a good sleeper. This is why working with a professional sleep consultant is important if you’re looking for a gentle approach. As every child and family is different, A Certified Sleep Consultant will be able to customize sleep plans that best suit each family and baby’s needs.
Some families would like minimal crying, which requires more work and may take longer, and some families don’t mind a little crying and would like their sleep back yesterday! Either way, when implementing sleep training, you don’t have to resort to Cry It Out or Ferber to have restorative sleep in your home again.
6. Hiring a Certified Sleep Consultant is worth the investment
Once you recognize that your family dynamic starting to shift because of lack of sleep, you should consider hiring a professional. A Certified Sleep Consultant will help break down what is happening with your baby’s current sleep patterns and how to make adjustments to move towards a better sleep routine for the whole family.
When working with a Certified Sleep Consultant, you should see dramatic changes by the end of week two. There will be hard days, but remember that successful sleep can happen and you will get there. As long as you are committed to the process, everything will come together for your family.
7. Don’t worry about sleep regressions
The dreaded sleep regressions! As parents, we are always concerned about when a sleep regression is going to hit, and the whole family’s sleep is going to be turned upside down. But surprisingly, sleep regressions are a good thing. They are a sign that your baby is on track growing and developing new skills.
Ages of sleep regressions to watch for:
- 4 months – Learning to roll/Shift in sleep cycles
- 8 months – Developmental growth/Crawling
- 10/12 months – Pull to stand/Walking
- 18 months – Developmental growth/Talking/Running
- 2 years
- 3 years
The good news is that a sleep regression will only last 4-6 weeks when you stay consistent with your daily routines and do not implement new sleep associations like rocking, holding, or co-sleeping. Before you know it, the regression will be over and your baby will go back to being a great little sleeper.
Read more about sleep regressions here.
Summary of sleep tips from a Certified Sleep Consultant
After reading this article, I hope you can implement this information to move towards a more-rested home. Remember to be patient, and consistency is the key to sleep success! Every baby is pretty flexible, so make your routines work for your family, and don’t forget to follow the 80/20 rule. Life can be chaotic sometimes, and that’s okay as long as you can get back on track and provide your baby with the necessary consistency.
If you need support, don’t be afraid to reach out for help. Call your pediatrician for reassurance or look into hiring a Certified Sleep Consultant to hold your hand on the journey to better sleep. Remember, it’s not shameful, nor are you a “bad parent” if you choose to sleep train your child.
Tonja Bizor is a Certified Child Sleep Consultant and Public Speaker who helps parents teach their children healthy sleep habits. She specializes in getting children aged 3 months to 3 years old to sleep 12 hour, uninterrupted nights. She’s helped over 50 families move from sleep deprived to sleep filled nights.
Tonja offers group seminars and private, one-on-one coaching with families, where she develops individualized customized sleep plans for parents to follow.
Tonja completed her Masters degree in Psychology with an emphasis in Clinical/Counseling. She studied under Dana Obleman and achieved her coaching Certification with the Sleep Sense Program.
Tonja was a guest on Talk of Alabama on ABC and she’s been featured in numerous magazines and websites such as Romper, Military Spouse Fest, Birmingham Parent Magazine and Dr. Laura.
Tonja can be reached through her website: www.tonjabsleepconsulting.com or by email at tonjabsleepconsulting@gmail.com. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram for sleep tips! @tonjabsleepconsulting
I’ve been searching for this exact subject. My baby sleeps to badly. I never get any sleep and I’m ready to start!!!
On good nights, my almost 15 month old sleeps 7 hours. Some nights, he’s awake after only 3 hours. Googling a sleep consultant now!
So blessed to have our little one sleep well even very early on. Just speaking to a friend this weekend who is on the struggle bus with their little one. At 18 months is now getting up several times a night. So hard on them. Because they were not expecting this at this age. I’m going to share this article and hopefully it will bring them some relief.
I hired a sleep consultant with my second child at 8 months. Worth every penny!! He’s 15 months now and still sleeping through the night. Our consultant recommended a sound machine and “OK to Wake” clock which we take with us when traveling.
I disagree with a lot of this but always interesting to hear different peoples perspectives. I fully believe that when it comes to sleep (or anything else really) when they’re ready, they’ll get there!