6 Parent Tricks to Help Your Baby Fall Asleep

Master the art of sleepytime with these clever tricks to help your baby drift off to sleep.

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  By: Tali Ditye, Ph.D., Co-founder

  Updated: October 29, 2023

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From sound machines to smart cribs, six parents provide their best tips for helping your baby fall asleep and sleep through the night.

Research shows that sleep is critical for the health and well-being of both babies and parents.

But we also know that sleep can be elusive and challenging during the first several months of a child's life.

Below are some tips from parents who developed effective strategies to help their baby fall asleep faster and stay asleep for longer! Once you've mastered these tips, check out some tips for the next transition: helping your baby fall asleep alone.

Table of Contents:

• Consistent Routine
• Sound Machine
• Rock-a-bye Baby
• Comfortable and Safe
• Sleep Accessories
• Keep them Fed

Keep in mind that some strategies will be easier or more effective than others, and some might be simply impossible! Always take your lifestyle and realistic expectations into consideration when implementing new sleep strategies!

Create a Consistent Bedtime Routine

I think one of the best ways to help your baby fall asleep is to create a soothing and consistent bedtime routine. There might not be one set way of doing this - every baby is different after all - so try to experiment to see what works for you. 

The key thing is that you are establishing a regular schedule for activities occurring before bedtime. Maybe this means having a bath, reading a story together, singing a particular lullaby, or other quiet, calming activities that will signal that it's bedtime. Ensuring the environment is kept dark and quiet, as well as having a comfortable room temperature will also definitely help. 

One thing I'd add - it might feel like lots of effort (and hard work!) but once you've got the routine sorted, you won't have to worry about changing it, so night after night you can repeat the same process.

James Townend, Foster Agency Director, Fitzgerald Fostering

Use a Sound Machine

I have an 8-month-old baby girl at the moment. The best tip I can give is to buy a sound machine. This has helped us the most out of everything. The issue we were experiencing was the dog would bark or just make noise and wake up the baby. We would try our best to keep the dog quiet, but when deliveries or people walking by, he would bark, and then we had to deal with trying to get the baby back to sleep. 

The sound machine makes just enough white noise to prevent the dog from waking her up. It was very inexpensive and I wish we had ordered a sound machine earlier.

Evan McCarthy, President & CEO, SportingSmiles

Swaddles and Rocking Motions

The best way to get your baby to sleep is to try gently rocking them. It's an old-fashioned method that is effective for babies who cannot fall asleep on their own.

Place them in a swaddle or sleep sack to help calm and soothe their body, hold them in your arms, or use a smart bassinet with motion, and rock them gently back and forth. This will help them fall asleep faster and make it easier for them to stay asleep, so they can get uninterrupted rest without waking up during the night.

Nathan Hughes, Founder, Art Ignition

Comfortable and Safe Sleeping Area

My advice is to keep your baby close to you while sleeping, using a bedside bassinet or mini crib. Create a bedtime routine with the same calming activities every night so the baby understands that it’s time to sleep. Maybe a bath, a book, singing sleepy songs, and nursing.

But keep in mind that falling asleep in this big new world, like everything else, is brand new to them and that they are constantly changing. 

Teeth, growth spurts, learning to roll over, grasping objects, etc. With all of those changes, who can sleep!? Keeping your baby close throughout the day and night will help you understand and respond to their needs - even during the wee hours of the night. 

Logan Nguyen, Co-Founder, MIDSS

Quality Sleep Accessories

A sleep sack or wearable blanket can be a good option for helping a baby fall asleep and sleep through the night, as it can provide a sense of security and warmth without the risk of loose blankets causing suffocation or entanglement. 

In addition, you want to make sure you have a firm crib mattress, follow Safe Sleep practices, and have a nursery with a comfortable temperature to help your baby sleep through the night.

Marc Werner, CEO & Founder, GhostBed

Make Sure your Baby is Well-Fed

The best tip I have for helping a baby fall asleep and sleep through the night is making sure they're well-fed. Establish a routine that involves either breastfeeding or bottle feeding your baby before bedtime to make sure their little bellies are full and they are satisfied. 

A hungry baby is a cranky baby, and a cranky baby will fuss or cry until the problem is solved! 

Nick Varga, Chief Riding Officer, ERide Journal