Can you teach a newborn to sleep?

March 13, 2019 Elizabeth King

Recently I was asked to contribute to the Association of Professional Sleep Consultant’s blog on the topic of Newborn Sleep. This is one of my favorite ages to work with because I love telling parents that YES it is possible for your new baby to sleep well. If you have a newborn who is struggling with sleep, or are expecting and want to sleep once baby arrives, I’d love for you to check out the article here or by clicking the picture below and then reach out to see how we can help you get started on the right track!

Newborn sleep is unique because it’s so disorganized. Babies are born and, quite literally, pushed out of their 24 hour all-you-can-eat buffet where they could eat and sleep at the same time. Imagine their confusion when now they have to do one or the other and they actually have to exert some effort to do both. On top of that, we take them out of their warm, snuggly home and expect them to sleep (per AAP guidelines) on a flat mattress with nothing around them. It’s no wonder that they need help getting there! This sounds daunting to a lot of parents; how do you even start teaching a newborn something that comes naturally to an adult? And this is where I get to share the news that makes me love working with newborns. Even though they might need some help figuring out how to sleep, a newborn wants to sleep. They aren’t a toddler who is ready to explore the world and wants to be up with the family. They are tired! Their little bodies are growing and changing so rapidly that they just can’t keep up and they want to sleep! The tricky part is finding the key to unlocking their good sleep habits and staying consistent. This is where sleep consultants come in and I’m going to share some of my newborn secrets with you.