What can I do if he wakes multiple times a night?

What can I do if he wakes multiple times a night?

Babies naturally wake several times during the night – up to 6 times. We, as adults, also wake naturally during the night, then can often put ourselves back to sleep quickly and easily. For babies, it is important to pay attention to how they fall asleep at bedtime. If you are helping your baby fall asleep at bedtime by nursing, rocking, patting her back, or even just being in the room as she falls asleep, this can be considered a negative sleep onset association since she is not falling asleep on her own (needing your help). This is important because when she wakes up normally in the middle of the night she will cry out to you so you come help her return to sleep after those natural wakings. Instead of needing to be present while she falls asleep at bedtime, work on helping her learn to self-soothe. Begin by putting her down in the crib drowsy but awake. If she cries, go in and check after a few minutes (5 or 10, for example) until she can fall asleep on her own. After several nights to two weeks of practice, your little one will develop the ability to self-soothe at bedtime. After that, night wakings tend to fix themselves. This is because your little one can now fall asleep on her own at bedtime and return to sleep on her own after those natural night wakings.