15 Design Tricks to Help Baby Sleep Through the Night

One key to a baby’s sleep schedule is minimizing as many stimuli as possible. Keep an eye out for brightness in the room and make sure to draw the curtains when it’s nap time. Thicker curtains can reduce light and support a calm environment where your young one can get the rest they need.

A simple mobile suspended above the crib can give your baby something to focus on as they drift off into dreamland. Avoid a mobile with lots of bells and whistles like flashing lights and noises: a simple hanging fixture that gently rotates without any fanfare should suffice.

Night lights can wash the room with soothing colours that will go a long way in having your baby go down for nap time. Avoid bluish hues that can approximate daylight and trigger restlessness in your baby. We recommend sticking to warm sunset colours: reds, pinks and oranges.

Your baby may be hesitant to head straight to the crib. Set up a corner with a comfortable chair you can use to hold them and spend some bonding time while easing them into a nap. Rocking chairs can be great for holding your infant and gently coaxing them to sleep through the gentle, soothing motions.

A dull noise washing through the room while your baby sleeps can help disguise other disruptive sounds in the house, like washing machines, beeping appliances or vacuums. Set up a white noise machine somewhere in your nursery so your baby can slip into a soothing soundscape to support uninterrupted slumber.

Sometimes babies can wake from mild discomforts, like dry skin and congestion. A humidifier can help this problem by keeping the humidity within the nursery at a consistent level.

It’s important to not be noisily tumbling about the nursery at night when you come to check on your baby. Good storage is important for keeping toys and other infant care trinkets tucked neatly out of your (and your baby’s) way.

Minimizing disruption is key to keeping your little one asleep through both nap and bedtime. This can be challenging when you’re attempting to change a diaper in the middle of the night. Keeping a change table in the nursery will help make diaper changes a quick (and hopefully painless) affair so you can get your baby back to bed as soon as possible.

If you’re not yet ready to have your little one sleep in their own space (often the case during the first six months) or if your living situation is better set up for co-sleeping, consider rearranging your room to accommodate your infant. For instance, put a bassinet beside your bed so you can easily care for your young one throughout the night.

It’s important to invest in a sturdy, secure crib while also ensuring the mattress is placed at the lowest level once your young one (aka mini escape artist) can stand. Cribs are best placed away from windows so fluxes in temperature and light don’t bother your little one while they sleep.

Nothing changes the feeling of a room like a well-placed rug. And this isn’t just for adults, as this feng shui tip holds true for kids as well. A rug can help break up monotonous colours and add texture to an otherwise drab or underwhelming space. A rug in the nursery has an added benefit of being a soft place for a baby to crawl about and expend their energy: just in time for bed.

Newborns are sensitive to spikes in temperature and these fluxes have the potential to disrupt their sleep. Setting up a thermostat and temperature regulation system in the nursery can keep things as cool or warm as your baby needs to fall asleep comfortably.

Every time you tiptoe about the nursery or crack the door to check on your newborn is an opportunity to disturb their sleep. A video monitor with sound placed at baby’s bedside helps ease the fears that have us noisily dashing back and forth from the crib.

To help your child ease into nap time, ensure there are no screens in the nursery. Screen time is incredibly stimulating for young children, and infants in their early development often struggle to unwind and disconnect after immersing themselves in a show on the television or family tablet.