9 of the Best Fixes for When Your Newborn Fights Sleep

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When your newborn fights sleep it is so frustrating. You know they need it…and you need it too.

It can be especially difficult if it is your first baby. Everything is new and you’re second-guessing yourself at every turn.

That’s normal.

What is helpful is finding things to try when you know that your baby desperately needs to sleep but they seem to be fighting it with every fibre of their tiny being.

Keep reading to find out some simple things that can make all the difference in getting your newborn to sleep.

things to try when your newborn fight sleep

Not all of these tips are going to work for every baby but you may very well find that even just one of them will really help your newborn.

As a mom of three, I’ve had my fair share of troubleshooting when it comes to getting my babies to sleep. They’re all well past the newborn stage now, but I still remember what often helped.

#1 Shorten Wake Times (or lengthen them)

When it comes to getting babies to sleep parents often mistakenly buy into the idea that the longer you keep them up, the longer they will sleep.

This is false.

Keeping a newborn up for too long at a time will have the complete opposite effect.

Not only will they not sleep as long, but it will be a nightmare trying to get them to sleep at all.

If you want to get a baby to stop fighting sleep then reducing the amount of time that you keep them up for can really help.

Think about it…have you ever been so ridiculously tired but no matter how much you WANTED to go to sleep, you just couldn’t?

That’s what happens to babies when you keep them up for too long.

Check out this post where I talk about how to get your baby to sleep longer. It has links to appropriate wake time amounts according to your baby’s age.

While less common, not allowing your baby to stay up for long enough can also make getting them to sleep really difficult.

Again, refer to the post I linked to for ideas on what is appropriate for the age of your newborn.

#2 Swaddle

Swaddling your baby can have an almost magical effect when it comes to getting them to sleep.

The Happiest Baby On the Block talks about it in detail, but if you’re not already swaddling your newborn, I strongly suggest giving it a go.

We used the Moms On Call method for 2/3 of our children and they also have a heavy emphasis on correct swaddling in order to help your baby sleep.

It helps to replicate that cozy feeling that they had in the womb which brings a lot of comfort.

#3 Create a Conducive Sleep Environment

While some newborns can sleep anywhere, not ALL of them can. For that reason, it’s a good idea to set up a sleep environment that actually promotes healthy sleep.

It doesn’t have to be fancy, but a safe sleeping spot (crib or bassinet) in a darkened room is a good start.

We have always used a white noise machine (this one) as it helps block out all the intruding noises, plus is proven to help babies get into that deeper sleep state more easily.

Another thing to make note of is the temperature of the room that they’re sleeping it. Too hot or too cold might be what is making it difficult for them to get to sleep at all.

#4 Check for Gas

Newborns and gas…

I remember being fixated on finding the perfect burping technique because it would often make or break sleep for my kids.

If your baby is crying and wriggling around a lot then chances are that they have trapped wind.

I would often be able to diagnose that when they would initially fall asleep but wake up within 30 minutes with a high-pitched cry.

Picking them up and burping them would solve the issue pretty quickly.

You’re not always going to be able to to get all the wind up before they need to sleep, but making burping your baby a habit will help them to settle to sleep a lot more easily.

#5 Rule Out Hunger

We’re talking about newborns here so one of the major things that you need to rule out is hunger.

There are so many growth spurts during the newborn stage that it is always something to keep at the forefront of your mind when they just won’t settle.

The most notable growth spurts for my children were around 3 weeks and 6 weeks of age.

If they just won’t go to sleep then try feeding them. It could just be that their tummy is empty and they want it filled before drifting off.

#6 Rule Out Reflux

2/3 of my babies had diagnosed reflux. Thankfully, it was mild. However, it did impact sleep before it was diagnosed and treated.

I can’t tell you if your baby has reflux but you can read about the symptoms here and go get them checked out by your doctor.

Often times babies with reflux either won’t settle to sleep at all or have very broken sleep due to the pain.

#7 Babywear

If you’ve read much of my content then you’ll know that I’m a huge advocate of teaching babies to sleep independently from a young age.

Sleep training has been a tremendous asset to our family. However, newborns are not robots and there will be times when you just have to get them to sleep for their sake.

In those cases, I suggest babywearing.

Sometimes when a newborn just won’t settle it’s because they need to be close to you. It could also be that they’re overtired or overstimulated both of which can help be settled by babywearing.

Invest in a decent baby carrier like the Moby Wrap and snuggle that newborn close.

#8 Set Up a Routine

Things like hunger, overtiredness, overstimulation can really be reduced by setting up a routine.

As mentioned above, newborns aren’t robots but they are surprisingly good at adapting to a routine.

You can start by gently introducing the eat, wake, sleep cycle recommended in the book, Babywise.

You feed them as soon as they wake, let them stay awake for a little while, then after an appropriate amount of time put them down to sleep again.

That cycle continues throughout the day until bedtime.

The benefits of such a routine are tremendous and include but are not limited to regulation of their metabolism, less guesswork, a well-rested and satisfied baby.

#9 Work on Sleep Skills

Sleep training doesn’t have to wait until after 4 months (contrary to popular belief). It also doesn’t have to involve copious amounts of crying. In fact, sometimes there’s no crying whatsoever.

Related: What Is the Right Age To Start Sleep Training?

I started instilling healthy sleep habits in my babies from day one and it really paid off. There were only a few times when I found my newborns fighting sleep. It certainly wasn’t a common occurrence.

We didn’t have to bounce them on a yoga ball or go for drives around the block to get them to drift off. They were capable of doing it themselves.

Your baby is capable too.

The two resources I’ve found most helpful for this are Moms On Call and Babywise. Both methods are brilliant but they do have their differences and you may prefer one over the other so it’s worth doing a bit of reading.

It won’t last forever

It has been a little while now but I still vividly remember those sleep-deprived weeks.

I remember wondering when my baby would go to sleep without fussing and sleep through the night. Oh the glorious thought of having 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep for myself!

Let me encourage you, mama. It will happen. Right now it seems so far away but before you know it you’ll be there.

My kids are 4, 3, and 15-months and I can’t remember the last time I had to get up at night to one of them.

Nowadays it’s usually for a bad dream or sickness and it doesn’t happen often at all.

Babies don’t keep. I’m not going to tell you to enjoy the sleep deprivation cause that’s just ridiculous, but I will tell you to be encouraged that this is a challenging season that won’t last forever.