Getting Baby on a Sleep Schedule

To begin getting your baby on a sleeping schedule, begin by putting your baby in bed semi-awake, and then sitting by his bedside and "hush, hush, hushing" him to sleep. If he fusses, pick him up and feed him, but put him back in bed sleepy-awake. Your baby needs to know how to soothe himself to sleep in order to be able to manage the brief night-awakenings that naturally occur. Do this at both nap times and bedtime.

Once your baby knows how to nod off on his own, he'll stop waking up every few hours at night—or, when he does wake up, you'll know it's because he's hungry, and not because he's having problems finding his way to the land of Nod.