In a 24 hour period, newborn babies generally sleep for 16 to 18 hours, and this
happens at regular intervals during the day and night.
By three months of age, with development of the brain, sleep patterns will generally
become more predictable with most of the sleep occurring at night, and then two
to three naps during the day.
The pattern of napping usually includes a morning, afternoon and early evening nap.
Always remember all babies are different and as such there is quite a variation
in the napping patterns of babies. Some babies will not sleep much at all during
the day.
From 3 months onwards your baby can stay awake longer during the day, with periods
of wakefulness lasting anywhere between two to four hours.
The following is a guide as to how much sleep your baby should be having:
Newborn
|
Number of sleeps per day
|
4
|
|
Average time up during the day between sleeps
|
1 hour
|
|
Time it may take to settle
|
15 minutes
|
- Newborns will be asleep 16 to 18 hours per day.
- Will sleep for 1 to 3 hours at a time.
- Anything less than 1 hour is called a catnap or a power nap.
- It is expected for baby to wake overnight for a feed.
3 to 6 Months
|
Number of sleeps per day
|
2 to 3
|
|
Average time up during the day between sleeps
|
2 to 3 hours
|
|
Time it may take to settle
|
1 hour
|
- Will sleep for 2 to 3 hours at a time.
- Will sleep 6 to 8 hours overnight.
6 to 9 Months
|
Number of sleeps per day
|
2
|
|
Average time up during the day between sleeps
|
2 to 3 hours
|
|
Time it may take to settle
|
1 hour
|
- Will sleep for 1 to 2 hours at a time.
- Will sleep 10 to 12 hours overnight.
9 to 12 Months
|
Number of sleeps per day
|
1 to 2
|
|
Average time up during the day between sleeps
|
4 hours
|
|
Time it may take to settle
|
1 hour
|
- Will sleep for 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the afternoon.
- Will sleep 10 to 12 hours overnight.
Why Some Babies Have Trouble Sleeping
We all sleep in cycles consisting of blocks of:
- Light sleep and
- Deep sleep,
where we wake and are able to resettle ourselves.
Babies who have trouble sleeping are generally unable to resettle themselves after
waking from a deep sleep. This will almost always occur because of the way they
have been put down to sleep to begin with.
Babies can be put to sleep a number of different ways.
- They can be placed in their
cots awake and allowed to fall asleep by themselves.
- We can rock them to sleep
in our arms, allow them to fall asleep at the breast, rock them in the pram or have
them fall asleep in mom ’s bed.
In these situations, once the baby goes off to sleep they are transferred into their
cot. They then wake with a fright not knowing where mom and the rocking has gone
to. Imagine yourself being all cosy in your own bed and you wake up and you’re sitting
in the bathtub, you’d get a bit of a fright too.
At about 8 months old a baby’s sleep cycle changes to around 60 minutes. They also
experience what we call separation anxiety, where if mom is not around they become
quite anxious.
If these babies are being rocked off to sleep in mom ’s arms and resettled sleeping
into the cot, they will wake up in 1 hours time, with a huge fright because mom is not there. They cry out, mom goes back into the room and not knowing any other
way of resettling the baby, will pick them up, rock them back off to sleep and put
them back into the cot. These become bad habits and they are called sleep associations.
Routine
A regular routine is the surest way to get a baby or toddler to sleep independently.
Babies respond well to a familiar pattern of events, and sleeping in the same environment
each night offers them a sense of security and comfort.
Establishing a bedtime routine will not only benefit your child, but also you and
your partner. A good night sleep works wonders for tired parents and allowing yourselves
a bit of ‘quiet adult time’ together at the end of the day will be just as beneficial
to your relationship.
You can begin to establish a routine as soon as you bring your newborn home from
the hospital. It is important to encourage a pattern with your newborn. This in
turn will become a routine, and babies learn from repetition. Keep in mind that
it only takes 3 days to create a habit.
When bringing a newborn home it is very easy to get into the habit of passing baby
around from visitor to visitor, everyone wants a cuddle. If your baby is obviously
in need of some sleep, or sleeping in their arms, rather than feel rude in whipping
baby from under them, encourage your family or friends to watch how you settle them
into their cot. After all, they could be potential baby sitters at sometime and
wouldn’t it be great if they could settle them off to sleep too.
The best way to establish a routine is using the
Feed / Play / Sleep method. During
the day when baby wakes, first feed them and then place your baby on the floor for
some playtime. The age of your baby will determine how long they will play before
showing tired signs. Watch for the tired signs and then act on them by implementing
the
settling techniques.
In the evening, after dinner or a feed, replace play time with a relaxing bath.
Have some cuddling time and perhaps a story or two.
Massaging your baby with baby
lotion can also be very useful for relaxing your baby. Never over-stimulate your
child before bedtime or think that the longer you keep them up, the more tired they
will become and the easier it will be to get them off to sleep. An overtired baby
is always harder to settle.
