With the long nights and unpredictable days that come with having a newborn baby, many parents wonder when they can start sleep training and whether it’s appropriate or safe to sleep train a newborn.
While it’s possible to start building healthy sleep habits in a newborn baby, the answer to “can you sleep train a newborn?” is no.
Read on for more on when you can start sleep training a newborn, alternatives to sleep training methods for newborns, and how to help your newborn sleep better starting tonight – without sleep training.
Take this free 3-minute sleep quiz to get a personalized plan for setting your newborn baby up for sleep success starting tonight.
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Can You Sleep Train a Newborn Baby?
No, you cannot sleep train a newborn baby. Sleep training is the act of helping your baby get used to falling asleep independently without your support, which is not recommended, safe, or even possible until your newborn is at least 4-months-old.
During the time a baby is a newborn, which is from birth through 3-months-old, they biologically rely on you to fall asleep, need to be fed around-the-clock, need help regulating their temperature, haven’t develop their circadian rhythm, and don’t weigh enough to sleep train. Many call this time the fourth trimester of pregnancy, as your baby continues to develop as they adjust to their new world.
When is it Okay to Sleep Train a Newborn?
You can’t sleep train a newborn until they are at least 4-months-old and no longer a newborn for many reasons.
- Eat Less Frequently: A major reason sleep training newborn babies is a no-no is because they need to eat around-the-clock to fuel their rapid growth. A newborn needs to eat every 2 to 3 hours, including at night – so therefore cannot sleep through the night. Even if they sleep longer stretches, you still need to wake a newborn to eat. By the end of the newborn stage, many newborns are close to doubling their birthweight and can often go longer stretches between eating.
- Are Developing Circadian Rhythm: It takes between 3 and 4 months for a newborn to develop their circadian rhythm. Until then, they don’t have regular sleep cycles either. While you can put your newborn to sleep in a dark room and start a bedtime routine to help shape their circadian rhythm, sleep training a baby should not begin until they are old enough to understand the difference between day and night.
- Have a More Predictable Schedule: An older baby starts to develop a more predictable schedule which is important for sleep training. Newborns typically sleep anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours at a time and can sleep anywhere from 14 to 17 hours a day
- Understand Patterns and Routines: Once your baby is older, they have a better grasp of patterns, which is key to them responding to a bedtime routine, which plays a big part in sleep training.
- Can Regulate Temperature: Newborns can’t yet regulate their temperature, so often need to sleep while being held. It is also normal and expected for a newborn to need additional external support to fall asleep such as rocking or feeding.
- Are More Comfortable with Their World: After months snug and safe in the womb, a newborn’s world can seem scary and overwhelming at the beginning. Responding to your newborn’s needs is essential to helping them feel secure, safe, and relaxed.
- Weigh Over 12 Pounds: A sleep training a newborn baby is not safe because a baby needs to be over 12 pounds (around 5.5 kilograms) to be sleep trained. However, it’s important to note that if your baby is older than 4 months, you can still feed during the night when sleep training. The purpose of sleep training is to help your baby be able to fall back asleep independently.
Always speak to your healthcare provider before starting to sleep train.
Alternative Sleep Training Methods for Newborns
If your baby is older than 4-months-old you can explore one of the many methods of sleep training. Until your baby is that age and the right weight, and you obtain approval from your healthcare provider, you cannot sleep train.
Since you can’t sleep train a newborn, here are ways to start building healthy sleep habits, so that when your newborn is older, they will have an easy time developing their independent sleep skills and sleeping through the night.
Set up a safe newborn sleep environment
- Room Share: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends sharing with your newborn until they are at least 6-months-old.
- Back to Sleep: All babies under 12-months-old should be put to sleep on their back in their crib or bassinet.
- Safe Sleep Space: Your newborn’s crib or bassinet should be free of blankets, soft toys, and loose bedsheets. Here's how to get newborn to sleep in bassinet or crib.
- Swaddle (Until They Roll Over): Newborns like to be swaddled. Swaddling is safe if done correctly until your baby shows signs they are going to roll over. This is when you should stop swaddling and switch to a wearable blanket or sleep sack.
Tips if you were initially wondering how to sleep train a newborn
Download the Smart Sleep Coach by PampersTM app to get step-by-step guidance on the below:
- Track Wake Windows: Newborn wake windows are sporadic for the first few months. By tracking your baby’s wake windows in the Smart Sleep Coach app, you can start identifying patterns to help you predict when their next nap will be. Additionally, the app’s Smart Schedule notifies you when a baby’s wake window is ending to prevent overtiredness. This makes it easier for your baby to fall asleep faster – and stay asleep longer.
- Use Dark Room for Naps: Putting your baby down for all asleep in a pitch black room can help regulate their circadian rhythm. The goal is to consolidate most of your baby’s sleep to happen at night and putting them down for a nap in a dark room helps them understand that when it is dark, it is time for sleep.
- Start a Bedtime Routine: Introducing the same set of steps each night that happen before bed (bath, story, cuddle, lullabies) helps your baby begin to learn when it’s time for sleep.
- Differentiate Day and Night Feeds: Feed your baby in the light and where the action is during the day and keep lights low when feeding at night. This helps them start to understand how nights are for calm and quiet and daytime is for fun.
Newborn Sleep Schedule
One reason newborn sleep training isn’t a thing is because a newborn's sleep schedule is constantly evolving and changing. Another reason why a newborn sleep training schedule couldn't exist!
In the first few months, a newborn’s sleep rhythm doesn’t align with our traditional day-night sleep cycle. Newborns often sleep between 14 and 17 hours a day broken into shorter, frequent naps ranging anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours or more. Sleep is largely driven by hunger cues, as newborns need to eat every 2-3 hours, whether it's day or night.
Curious how long should 6 week old sleep at night? Here’s an example sleep schedule
At this stage, the concept of a “newborn sleep schedule” is less about having set times and more about tuning into newborn natural sleepy cues, such as rubbing their eyes or yawning. This is why following a newborn’s wake windows, not the clock, is key to avoid overtiredness and help them have an easier time falling asleep. Following an Eat Play Sleep schedule can help bring some structure to your day with a newborn.
As your newborn grows, the stretches of sleep will gradually get longer, and their circadian rhythm and a more consistent sleep schedule will begin to take shape. By around 2-3 months, you may start to notice your newborn having more awake time during the day and perhaps beginning to sleep longer stretches at night.
When your baby is at least 4-months-old and has a more consistent and predictable sleep schedule, then you can consider if sleep training is right for you.
Final Thoughts
While sleep training your newborn is not an option, there are ways to set your newborn up for sleep success so that when they are at an age to be sleep trained or sleep through the night, it feels like second nature.
Newborn parents can start using the Smart Sleep Coach app as early as tonight to track sleep and wake windows, learn when to put your baby down for naps, and develop a bedtime routine.
When the time comes, the Smart Sleep Coach by Pampers app can guide you through one of the many methods of sleep training, including Chair Method, Ferber Method, and Pick Up Put Down.
It’s an exhausting time, but we promise once your baby gets older their sleep will start to consolidate at night. And if you start with the building blocks of healthy sleep habits now, they will have an easier time developing their independent sleep skills as they grow.
