Rockabye baby

How to get a peaceful night's sleep - expert Jo Tantum's secrets

Sleep starvation is a huge problem for today's parents.

New mums and dads put themselves under immense pressure to be perfect, and having a baby who sleeps well is seen as a sign of being successful parents.

It's not easy though, young babies need to feed at night and they take months to settle into a good night-time routine.

Follow a bedtime ritual consistently every night - if you're not convinced that it makes a difference when your baby goes to bed, think how debilitating jet lag can be. Chopping and changing your sleep times can be very wearing

Getting your baby to sleep through the night is every first time parent's biggest concern, so here is Jo's essential guide to getting it right:

• Treat every hour between 7pm & 7am as night time
  
  
• Never let your baby fall asleep in your arms or while feeding - always lay your baby down awake
  
  
• Use spaced soothing to calm down and settle so he can learn to fall asleep by himself
  
  
• Don't rush in at every sound - many of the noises a baby makes are his attempts to fall asleep 
  
  
• Give your baby a dream feed at around 11pm - Until he is ready to sleep through the night
  
  
• Set a base time for his middle of the night feed and never feed before it: stretch that time gradually until your baby sleeps through the night
  
  
• For twin babies you should recreate the closeness they experienced in the womb. They have been together for nine months and are used to this closeness, so letting them sleep in separate cots is the worst thing parents can do - place them side by side but feet to end. You will know when it is time to separate them - they will wriggle so much they will wake each other
  
  
• Remember a new born baby cannot stay awake for more than one and a half hours