The newborn stage is intense, beautiful, and often overwhelming - especially when sleep feels unpredictable. This guide is designed to help you understand what’s normal, what actually helps, and how to support your baby’s sleep in a way that feels realistic and reassuring.
Newborns are not expected to self-settle or follow routines. Their sleep is biologically different, fragmented, and highly dependent on comfort, connection, and regulation. This guide works with your baby’s development - not against it - focusing on calm foundations rather than rigid schedules or sleep training.
Inside the guide, you’ll learn:
What newborn sleep really looks like (and why short naps, frequent wakes, contact naps, and evening fussiness are normal)
How newborn sleep biology works, including sleep cycles, active sleep, the Moro reflex, and circadian rhythm development
How to support sleep through simple, effective cues like darkness, white noise, swaddling, and consistent sleep environments
How awake windows work in the first 12 weeks and how to avoid overtiredness
Feeding and sleep explained - including breastfeeding, bottle feeding, cluster feeding, growth spurts, and common misconceptions (like “formula before bed”)
How to structure your day using gentle rhythms rather than schedules
Practical tools like bridging naps to smooth out tricky days
Calm settling strategies, including the Shush–Pat technique for swaddled newborns
How to pause before responding to noise and recognise active sleep versus true waking
Support for common challenges such as short naps, frequent night waking, reflux-like discomfort, wind, and evening fussiness
Why newborns cannot self-settle yet - and why responding does not create bad habits
What typically changes across weeks 1–12 and when sleep usually starts to feel easier
New Zealand safe sleep guidelines and red flags for baby and parent wellbeing
This guide is ideal if you want:
Clear, evidence-based information without judgement
Reassurance that you’re not doing anything wrong
Practical strategies you can use immediately
A calm, confident start to newborn sleep - without pressure or rigid rules
Format: Digital download (PDF) + Audio Version
Age range: 0–12 weeks

