Believe it or not, there are things you can do that will dramatically improve your baby's sleep instantly.

However, there are some long-lasting myths that hold parents back from making these changes.

These simple mistakes that result in your baby not sleeping anywhere near as well as they could.

Baby sleep is one of the biggest challenges any new parent will face.

When you're exhausted, trying to figure out how to improve your baby's sleep can feel like an impossible task.

Instantly Improve Your Baby's Sleep (3 Must Know Tips)

First Must Know Baby Sleep Tip

A common piece of advice you might have heard is that you should make sure your newborn sleeps in a bright room during the day so they don't get confused between day and night.

But this isn't actually correct.

And doing this can actually ruin your little one sleep.

Babies have no concept of day or night and they don't rely on the circadian rhythm to regulate their sleep.

This is because at birth, your baby's brain only produces tiny amounts of the hormone melatonin and this hormone promotes drowsiness and encourages sleep.

Instead at this age your baby simply falls asleep whenever they're tired and wake whenever they're hungry or uncomfortable.

It isn't until around four to six months of age that your baby circadian rhythm is mature enough so that they're actually producing enough melatonin for night and day to actually have an influence over their sleep patterns, which is why it isn't until around four to six months of age that babies start to develop a more predictable sleep routine.

Babies, including newborns, actually find the dark extremely comforting.

Sleeping in a dark room for daytime naps will help your baby settle and fall asleep quicker and stay asleep for longer.

Particularly if your baby is over two months of age.

If your baby's over two months of age, the darkness will tell your baby's body that it's time to produce melatonin and this will make your baby drowsy and sleepy, making it easier for them to fall asleep.

Though it isn't enough melatonin for them to actually establish that day/night pattern yet, which is why you don't need to be worried about them getting confused between the day and the night.

In addition to promoting sleep, the darkness will also help your little one stay asleep when they wake between sleep cycles which they start to do at around three to five months of age.

So daytime sleep cycles are only about 30 to 45 minutes and your baby will actually wake briefly in between each sleep cycle, and the darkness helps to neutralize their surroundings and make it less interesting.

Second Must Know Baby Sleep Tip

So during these small wake periods, it's much more likely that your baby will go back to sleep if they're in a dark room than if they're in a bright one.

Something else parents are often concerned about is their baby being scared of the dark.

And a common response to this is to use a nightlight to brighten the room, which you can probably guess at this point actually has a negative effect on their baby's sleep.

What's important to know is that babies are not yet developmentally capable of having a fear of the dark or having nightmares.

And this is simply because children under the age of two years of age do not have the imagination to think that a shadowy monster could be lurking under their closet or under their bed.

Also, they have just spent the best part of nine months in almost complete darkness.

If anything, darkness should be a comfort to them.

And this is definitely true because with a young baby if they're extremely distressed, as soon as you take them into a dark quiet room, you'll notice that they start to calm down.

For these reasons babies do not need night lights.

Any light will actually be stimulating and can prevent them from falling asleep or staying asleep.

So you should just avoid using them altogether.

Third Must Know Baby Sleep Tip

Another belief I hear all the time is that babies need to sleep in noisy, unpredictable locations in order for them to get used to sleeping in less than perfect environments.

The idea is to make them more adaptable, but in reality it doesn't work like that.

Everyone, including babies, sleep best in a quiet environment.

Babies, particularly newborns, spend a lot of time in light sleep which basically means that they can be woken up from their sleep really easily.

And in addition to that, up until three to four months of age, babies have a startle reflex which is triggered when there is a loud sudden noise and activating their startle reflex will also wake them up.

And on top of that, sometime between three to five months of age, your baby's sleep will mature and they will start to wake up between sleep cycles.

So as you can see, it's very easy to wake a young baby up.

Now I know you might be thinking, oh, but my baby sleeps in a noisy environment all the time or you've seen other babies doing this.

But what you're actually seeing is behavior known as habituating.

And this is where the baby looks like they're asleep but they are actually awake or in a light sleep state at best and they're trying really, really hard to sleep but they aren't getting that restful sleep that they need which comes when they go through full sleep cycles.

And if they aren't getting that quality sleep, they're likely to be overtired and fussy when they do wake up from that sleep.

Now I'm not saying your baby needs to be in a completely silent room.

I understand a lot of us live in a noisy household which is just part of life and we can't expect a perfect environment every time.

So the easiest solution in that case is actually to use a white noise machine.

And this is just a machine that generates static or a consistent gentle sound which helps to mask other sounds, especially sudden loud noises.

And this will help your baby stay asleep and reduce that potential startle reflex because those sudden loud noises aren't going to be triggering them.

A white noise machine is definitely something that I do recommend using in a baby's bedroom to promote a healthy sleep environment.

But if you want to create the safest sleeping environment possible for your little one, there are a few common items that you should never be placing in their crib.

Newborn Sleep