How to Get a Baby to Sleep Through the Night

"Sleep while the baby sleeps" is common advice given to new moms. I always interpreted this as "nap as much as possible". Honestly this was and is frustrating for me to hear and even more frustrating to implement. So my strategy for sanity was and is to not rely on naps but to get the baby sleeping through the night as soon as possible.

It Can Be Done

The first obstacle was realizing that it was possible. Young babies can sleep through the night. It is perfectly normal... in other places in the world. Can they go all night without eating? Regardless of being bottle or
breastfed the answer is yes. Still need convincing? Then I recommend Bringing Up Bébé, chapter entitled "Doing her nights".

Don't Feed at Night

To get a baby to sleep through the night you need to let the baby learn how to fall back asleep after waking up from a sleep cycle. First thing I recommend is not to feed the baby when he wakes up during the night. I like my Mother-In-Law experience when talking to her pediatrician with her first baby, she said, "He asked if I knew I was going to get a steak dinner every time I woke up, then wouldn't I?" If a baby is getting feed at night, then he'll wake up for that treat.

Listen

It is important to listen to the baby's cry when he wakes up. What are you listening for? Priscilla Dunstan will help you distinguish each of the baby's types of cries and what they mean.

Act

If the baby cries for anything but sleep, address the need(s), sooth until breath is calmed and then put baby back to bed. If he is making "nah" sound, then give him his pacifier. 

If he is not making any of these cries, but making the tired cry then follow this strategy:

By doing this process the baby will be able to sleep through the night sooner. It has worked amazingly for me. Dewey sleeps through the night until 5:30ish (And that might be just because Talmage is wakes up then). I haven't cut out that feeding yet but will soon. Good luck!