About Baby Care

Posts Tagged ‘baby sleep’

Babies are all individuals and all have individual needs as far as their sleeping requirements are concerned. However, all babies need lots of sleep and if they are not napping during the day, this would generally indicate there is a problem somewhere else.

It might be that your baby is overtired. If she is not sleeping well at night, this could affect daytime sleeps. Ask yourself these questions:

• Is she overtired because she is very hungry at night and wakes often to feed? If so, perhaps you could try to increase the feed prior to bedtime. If she is still under three months old, it will be difficult to dictate the terms of feeding, as she is too young still and her stomach is very small. Try to wait till you get past three months before you worry about routines and sleeping. Once she hits the six month mark, she will physically need less milk and therefore it is easier to reduce night feeds.

• Is she overtired because she is waking up too early? Maybe the room she is sleeping in is too light or the temperature is not adequate. Try using blackout blinds to keep the morning at bay and ensure that your baby has appropriate covers to keep her warm or cool enough. Also, she may be the sort of baby that intensely dislikes having a dirty nappy. Maybe try changing her during the night or using more absorbent nappies. Some parents also swear by ‘white noise’ machines that you can purchase, which claim to aid babies toward more restful sleep.

Another problem could be that your baby is overstimulated. Is there too much going on in your baby’s immediate environment, prior to her nap time?

• Lots of visitors, noisy TV or radio shows or anything exciting and interesting to your baby to watch will inhibit her ability to fall asleep.
• Ensure she has a quiet wind down period before she is put down for a nap. Just like at bedtime, establishing a bit of a routine is helpful for giving your baby sleep cues.
• Also, make sure she has a quiet, comfortable place to sleep.

You may be trying to dictate a routine to your baby that is not fitting in with your baby’s natural sleep rhythms and confusing his sleep cycle. Do not try to impose strict nap times on a young baby. It is best that you respond to the signals that your baby gives you to tell you that she is tired and allow her to sleep. If you are still unable to fathom why your baby won’t nap, you should consult your health visitor.

One of the biggest talking points among new parents is how much their babies sleep. While certain newborns will live up to the old adage of ‘sleeping like a baby’ and sleep through the night pretty much straight away, others will take a bit longer to settle into a routine and might decide that it’s much more fun to be nocturnal.

Sleep is something that we often take for granted before we have children, but suddenly, when we find ourselves deprived of it on a daily basis, it’s all we can think or talk about! Here is a brief guide to how much sleep a baby needs for the first three years of life.

Newborns

Of course, each newborn is different, but in those first few weeks of life, babies tend to sleep for between 16 and 19 hours a day, generally in two-four hour stretches.
In these early days, it’s hard for babies to tell the difference between day and night; this, coupled with the fact that newborns have small tummies so need to eat little and often, can lead to a few sleepless nights!
Some newborns will sleep for longer periods at a time which is fine, unless perhaps they are premature or of a low birth weight, in which case you may be advised by your health visitor to wake them more regularly for feeds.

Three – six months

By the age of three months, many babies will have settled into more of a routine and, with any luck, will be sleeping for up to six hours a night.
Between the ages of three and six months, as a general rule, babies will be sleeping for approximately 14 hours a day, which may be distributed ten hours at night and four during the day, although don’t expect to have an uninterrupted night.

Six to 12 months

When your baby is aged between six and 12 months, you may start to think about cutting down his daytime naps to two naps of approximately two hours. If you’re very lucky, your baby may now be sleeping through the night, for up to 11-12 hours – if you put your baby to bed at 7pm, he might even sleep through to 7am! This will seem like bliss, but, as stated above, babies are individuals so don’t be too demoralised if your baby still wakes at night. Also, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that if you put your baby to bed late at night he will be more likely to sleep in late. In fact, the opposite may be true. If your baby doesn’t go to bed until 10 or 11pm, he may well be overtired and have a restless and disturbed night’s sleep, so try to establish a sensible bedtime routine in the early months which sees your baby in bed by 7pm.

12-18 months

Between the ages of 12 and 18 months, you may decide to reduce your baby’s naps still further, especially if you find that he’s still waking in the night. As every child is different, there is no hard and fast rule as to how long your one year old should sleep for, but you may decide that one long afternoon nap of two hours is sufficient.

Two years

When your child reaches the age of two and the toddler years are fully upon you, you may find that he is resistant to going to bed as there are too many other exciting things for him to do. You should be firm and establish some boundaries. If you find that your toddler is still waking in the night and getting up at 6am, then you may find our feature on Coping with an early riser helpful.

By the age of two, your child should definitely need no more than one nap during the day of between one and two hours. If you have a bedtime routine firmly in place, he will also with luck be sleeping through the night for a period of up to 12 hours!

Three years

By the age of three, your child should need approximately 12 hours’ sleep. You may decide to cut out your child’s daytime rest altogether or, alternatively, reduce it to one hour-long nap.  You can expect your three-year-old to sleep for about ten hours a night. The benefits of establishing a bedtime routine early on should not be underestimated; the calmer and more settled your child is before going to sleep, the more likely he is to sleep through, so avoid anything that might make him too hyper or over-excited before he goes to bed. Watch our video on bedtime routines for more information.

The following chart should serve only as a rough guide. Remember: every child’s different, so the amount of sleep needed will differ from baby to baby.

Sleep diaries

You may also find it helpful to keep a sleep diary as a record of your baby’s sleep patterns. As the name suggests, this is literally a diary in which you can chart everything from how long it takes your baby to settle to how many times he wakes in the night, how long he wakes each time and what time he wakes up in the morning.

This might be a useful guide for you, as it will help you to get a clearer picture of your baby’s sleep patterns. You can then talk to your health visitor about any worries or concerns you may have. You could draw up a chart consisting of seven columns across for the days of the week and twenty-four rows down for the hours. Colour in the hours that your baby is asleep during the day and night. You could also use the diary as a way of charting the times when your baby is feeding.