Baby Sleep Training: How My Daughter Slept Through the Night at 6 Weeks

Almost every time anyone meets her, my daughter is complimented for being such a calm, happy baby. I attribute a large amount of that to the fact that she has a set schedule so she knows what to expect (and so do I)! At just six weeks old, she was sleeping from 10:00pm-6:00am and then went right back to sleep until 9:00am. At 8 weeks, she began sleeping from 10:00pm-9:30am in her own room. Below, I’ve simplified the baby sleep training technique that we used so you can start your own baby on the path to wonderful sleep at night.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nor do I claim to be. Always check with your pediatrician before implementing any type of baby sleep training.Please note that this method for me included using a Rock N Play. If you do not wish to use a Rock N Play due to the recall, check out my 5 Alternatives to the Rock N Play List. Always use baby equipment according to the manufacturer directions.

Here are the basics of baby sleep training:

This is NOT a cry it out method. You’re encouraged to soothe and bond with your baby! That was the number one selling point for me.
The basic concept of baby sleep training is: if baby is getting their total amount of needed food during the day, they will be able to last longer without it at night time. Just like us as adults!
You’ll add just 15 minute increments each day to get baby on a good schedule
The goal is to get baby on a 3.5-4 hour schedule between feedings during the day. A newborn baby should never go more than 4 hours without a feeding (except at night) so you should always wake the baby at the four hour mark.
You can begin at any age. We started our daughter as soon as my mature milk came in, at about a week old
This is a combined method of BabyWise and the Jassey Method. I highly recommend reading both books for more detail (and especially BabyWise as you navigate baby’s first year)

How to sleep train your baby:

If you’re breastfeeding, wait until your mature milk comes in before beginning sleep training. The mature milk is thin, white, plentiful milk that usually comes in 3-7 days after the baby is born. Prior to then, you will have what’s called colostrum which is a thicker, yellow colored milk.
Until your mature milk comes in, you should feed your baby on demand.
While feeding baby on demand, I recommend tracking your feedings with the free Sprout app. With the app, track how often baby is feeding so you know what your starting point will be (it’s also great for tracking wet and poopy diapers!)
Once your mature milk comes in, look at the Sprout app to see how often baby is feeding on average. At this point, it will usually be every 2.5-3 hours. This is our starting point for sleep training, also known as “Day 0”
Again, the goal is to get baby on a 3.5-4 hour schedule between feedings during the day. This ensures that when baby is eating, they are doing full feedings rather than “snacking” all day
We are going to add just 15 minutes per feeding starting at Day 0 to help baby get on our ideal schedule.
I’m going to use 3 hours between feedings on Day 0 as an example. Here are the first two days:

Note that when we add the 15 minutes, we add 15 minutes to the first feeding and then 15 minutes from THAT feeding. For example, 11:00am goes to 11:15am and then you add the three hours (2:15pm) PLUS the additional 15 minutes (getting you to 2:30pm).
Again, a newborn baby should never go more than 4 hours without a feeding (except at night) so you should always wake the baby at the four hour mark. That’s right, if the baby is sleeping, you will wake the baby up for the next feeding time.
It’s very important to stick to your first feeding time (in the case of our example, that’s 8:00am). This will help the baby to start developing an internal clock.
You will continue each day adding on the 15 minute increments as I have illustrated in the chart below. You can take this as slow or fast as you and baby are comfortable. If you want to add 15 minutes every other day or once a week, do it! Always trust your own parental instincts.

If you find that four hours is simply too much for your little one, stick with the time that seems to work best for them. For our daughter, that’s about 3.5 hours.
Once you get to Day 4 on the chart, it’s time to work on sleeping through the night.
Using Day 4 on the chart above as an example, after the 12:00am feeding, do not wake baby up for the 4:00am feeding. Let baby sleep as long as they’re able to and take note of the time they wake.
The following day, you’ll want baby to go at least 15 minutes longer than the time that they slept previously. So, if baby slept until 5:00am, you’ll want them to get to 5:15am. The day after that, you’ll want them to go until 5:30am, and so on. You will not wake them at that time, but try to help them get that at least that far. A one month old baby can sleep 8-12 hours at night safely
This is where the Rock N Play was essential. Those 15 minutes in the middle of the night are the hardest. We found that if we put her to sleep in the Rock N Play after the 12:00am feeding we could just turn it on when she started to get fussy. The rocking and white noise helped her to fall back to sleep and showed us how long she could really go in the middle of the night without a feeding.
Note: If you do not wish to use a Rock N Play due to the recall, check out my 5 Alternatives to the Rock N Play List
Once you get baby on a good sleep schedule, start to wean them off of the rocking portion of the Rock N Play. When they don’t need the rocking to self soothe, start putting them in their crib during the daytime for naps. And, when they sleep well during naptime in the crib, you can move them to their crib for nighttime.
Just a general note: don’t try to be quiet around the baby, especially at the beginning. When they’re in the womb, a mother’s heartbeat is as loud as a vacuum directly next to them, so they’re used to it being noisy. If you tiptoe around them, you’re setting them up for only being able to sleep in silence
Remember to always keep the first feeding of the day at the same time regardless of when the previous feeding takes place
Get baby on 7-8 hours of sleep at night before honing in on the ideal sleeping times for parents. When you start to move towards the parent’s ideal time, do so at 15 minute increments per day once again

Notes on weight gain:

The average baby gains about one ounce per day for the first month, and about 16-32 ounces per month (1-2 lbs) until month six. A good rule of thumb for breastfeeding is baby eating 15-20 minutes per side. This time will shorten dramatically as you both become more comfortable. I’m a little neurotic, so I used this scale to ensure baby was gaining properly. That said, if baby has regular wet and poopy diapers, all is generally well.
For formula parents, you want to provide 2.25oz of food multiplied by the baby’s weight per 24 hour period. For example, if baby is 10lbs, you’ll do 2.25 x 10 = 22.5oz in 24 hours. If you’re on Day 1 of the table above, you would divide 22.5oz by 8 feedings, so baby would be getting about 2.8oz per feeding (more is always welcome!)

A Few mantras that helped me:

Take this as slow or fast as you feel comfortable. It is not a race.
As long as you’re increasing the time between feedings each day you are going forward, not backward. Even if that means 1 minute longer than baby went yesterday, that’s progress.
Don’t judge the baby’s progress off of another baby. Any progress is forward progress and some regressions are bound to happen.
Trust the method in the occasional backslide. If baby has a regression, give both your child and yourself some grace and try again tomorrow.
Crying is to talking as crawling is to walking, it’s communication and isn’t always communicating discomfort. It’s ok for baby to cry. So many parents panic when their baby cries, and I believe that baby can feel that energy.
Just because your baby is crying does not mean that they’re hungry. It could be discomfort from a diaper, gas, or just being tired. As you get to know your baby, you’ll get to know what each cry sounds like. This video was actually very helpful for us in “translating” what she was saying
The same goes for a baby “rooting” for food. Babies have an innate need to suck. Though rooting can be a sign of hunger, sucking is also a method of self soothing. Milk/sucking is relaxing to a baby whether they’re hungry or not.
The relationship of the parents is paramount. Happy, well rested parents are the best parents and partners in raising a child. The best thing you can do for the three of you is to take care of yourselves. “Use the oxygen mask on yourself before assisting others”
Know by sleep training your baby you’re playing the long game on behalf of your baby, not grasping for your own quick fix. This overnight crying is more difficult for you than for your baby. Don’t sacrifice what is best for your baby to soothe yourself
Our culture loves to treat parenthood as martyrdom. You should be able to enjoy your baby and not feel guilty for wanting to do so. You will feel slightly guilty when you get the “when was the last time you slept” question and your response is “I slept 11 hours last night” but, trust me, that feeling goes away very quickly as you go to bed each night 😉
Sleep training helps the baby to learn to self soothe and helps them to know what to expect from each day. My daughter is almost always a happy baby and I truly believe that that’s because she is well rested both during the day and at night and her body knows when to expect food and sleep. Plus, as a mom, knowing my own schedule makes me a much better parent
Don’t let third parties derail you. If you decide that this method is right for you, and it works for you and your child, that’s wonderful. You are not starving your child, you are not harming your child in this method. And, believe me, when they see what a happy, well balanced kid you have, they won’t have any valid arguments against it. If you are ever concerned about the well being of your child, talk to your pediatrician.

a few Soothing techniques:

Parent holding/ rocking/ singing etc.
White noise machine (my favorite is the Sound Bub!)
Bouncers/ rockers/ swings
If baby has reflux, put them upright for around 20 minutes after feeding. The Rock N Play is a great option for this
Swaddling the baby
Check out the Happiest Baby for his 5 S’s: Swaddling, Side/stomach position, Sush-ing, Swaying/rocking, and (after the first month) sucking

Finally, if you’re looking at all of this and want a simple print out for reminders when baby is born, click here to download my free baby sleep training printable. It combines all of this so you can have it handy when baby is here. Wishing you the best on your baby sleep training journey!