How To Put Baby to Sleep
Your baby’s sleeping habits will change as he grows. Sometimes he’ll sleep a lot, sometimes, not so much. You can help your baby get the sleep he/she needs, and get more sleep yourself, by learning how to establish a good nighttime routine early on. Start a baby bedtime ritual with 3 easy steps!
Johnson’s® 3-Step Bedtime® Routine
Step 1:Warm
Bath
Step 2:Gentle
Massage
Step 3:Quiet
Time
There’s Science Behind Johnson’s® 3-Step Bedtime® Routine
With over a decade of scientific partnerships with behavior and sleep experts, we know just how important a good night’s sleep is to the overall health, cognitive ability and the mood of your little one—as well as the happiness of the whole family. We evaluated over 300,000 baby sleep profiles, and identified the importance of multisensory bedtime rituals, leading to the development of our clinically proven 3-Step Bedtime® Routine.
Did you know?
Research has shown that routine touch and massage improves sleep quality and quantity when part of a bedtime routine.
The Science of Lullabies
Song plays an essential part in helping your baby drift to sleep.
Sleep Guides
Newborns sleep a lot, but not for very long at any one time. Sleep deprivation is like a rite of passage for new moms. Thankfully, there are ways to help ease your newborn into a regular schedule so you can both sleep better, sooner.
Newborn sleep patterns can vary widely with quite a range in total sleep time (10-18 hours per day) and sleep usually equally spaced throughout the 24-hour day with no real difference between day and nighttime sleep. Newborns may sleep 2 to 5 hours at a time.
Your newborn most often wakes up because he/she is hungry or needs to be changed. Be aware of sudden changes in your newborn’s sleep patterns — it may signal illness or a hunger-inducing growth spurt.
To lessen the chances of SIDS, always put your baby down to sleep on his/her back, not tummy. Your baby should sleep on a firm mattress, with no fluffy or loose bedding, no stuffed animals, and no pillow. For more on newborn sleep safety, visit CPSC.com, aap.org, and keepingbabiessafe.org.
When your newborn sleeps during the day, keep the lights on and keep sounds at normal levels. At night, on the other hand, turn off the light or use a night-light, feed and change your baby as calmly and quietly as possible, and limit your interactions to holding gently.
Use your baby’s naptime as a time to catch up on sleep yourself. As tempting as it is to use naptime to get things done, you’ll be able to cope better if you nap when your baby does.
Even at this early age,creating a nighttime routine can help your newborn learn that it’s time for sleep.