Seven Steps to Better Baby Sleep: A Helpful Booklet for Parents

around four months it will be time to think about your family’s long term sleep arrangements. If your baby sleeps in the same bed with you and you do not want to continue this, make the change to a crib as soon as possible, as it will only be harder if you wait until the baby is older. Habits soon become associated with falling asleep.

An uncluttered crib close by the parents for easy monitoring is the safest. Babies may be brought into the parents’ bed for nursing, feeding or comforting, but should be put back in their own cribs before the parents fall asleep.

The “ideal” bedtime is somewhere between 7 and 8 p.m., with a morning wake-up time of about 7 a.m.