Baby Sleeping
What Every Mother Should Know About Their Baby Sleeping Requirements
baby sleep
As a new mother, sometime it’s hard to know our baby sleeping behavior. There are guidelines of what to expect, but of course these can vary from baby to baby. Even if you’ve had children before, each baby will be different. Below is more information on the baby sleeping requirement, so you will know whether your baby is sleeping enough, or sleeping too much.
Newborn babies sleeping
Newborn babies usually sleep about 16-17 hours in a 24-hour period. Most babies will not sleep through the night until they’re at least 3 months old. There are several reasons why. First of all, their stomachs are very small and they’ll get hungry faster, especially if you’re breastfeeding your baby. Breast milk is much more easily digested than formula, and your baby will need to feed more often, especially in the beginning.
Babies also have shorter sleep cycles than adults do and have shorter dream cycles. In general, though, a newborn baby sleeping should sleep about 8 or nine hours during the day and 8 hours or so at night. These won’t be in 8-hour cycles, of course. In the beginning, those baby sleeping times will be very short.
Baby Sleeping for 4-7 months
Your baby should start sleeping through the night at about 3 months. But babies are learning and observing all the time and your baby could soon start to associate sleep time with time that mommy isn’t there. It’s called separation anxiety and it’s a normal part of development for many babies. But it can be especially trying for parents, as babies can be particularly strong-willed, especially about bedtime!
You may be introducing some baby foods at this time, and this can help your baby feel sleepy. Remember to introduce new patterns gently and slowly. If the baby isn’t going to sleep or keeps waking up and crying for you, then she needs to learn to self-comfort, but not all at once. Ease her into the habit of sleeping alone.
Don’t change your rituals at bedtime. You can still start out with a warm bath and feeding. Rocking and snuggling, singing or reading – these are all bonding times for mother and baby. If the baby doesn’t fall asleep right away, try putting her in her crib with the rocker or glider right next to the crib, singing or reading to her. You can stand at the crib and rub or pat her back.
In a week or two, move the chair a short distance away from the crib, so the baby can see you. You can talk or read or sing. If she cries for more than 10 or 15 minutes, then get up and comfort her, but put her back down in the crib and go back to your chair.
In another week or two, move the farther away, towards the door. Even these minor changes could be hard for your baby, but be patient. This is a time when you can fold her laundry and put it away, talking to her, so she’s aware of your presence, but your attention isn’t focused entirely on her. This way she can get used to the idea of separation gradually.
Baby Sleeping for 8-12 months
At the ages of 8-12 months, your baby will begin to need less sleep during the day and should be regularly sleeping through the night. But there’s also much more activity and stimulation during the day – babies are eating up the world at this stage, they’re learning so much.
If you’re feeding him baby food during the day, and decreasing bottles, make the last bottle feeding at nighttime. You can also have a bottle in the night to soothe him if he wakes up. Babies are teething at this time as well, and that can cause them to wake up in discomfort. You may be weaning the baby from breastfeeding, and that can be a difficult transition as well.
Take extra care at this time to make sure the nursery is conducive to sleeping. Make sure his diaper is clean and his sheets are clean and soft.
Make sure the room isn’t too cold or too hot; keep a humidifier in the room to maintain a good moisture balance, especially in the winter when rooms can dry out. Your baby just might be stubborn about sleeping, but try to figure out if there are physical problems that you can alleviate first.
Baby Sleeping for 1-2 years old
As your baby gets older and turns into a toddler, their baby sleeping time is less during the day, but about 11 hours or so at night. You’ll be transitioning to fewer naps and even a cranky tired baby can have difficulty getting to sleep.
If your child will to go to bed only if you’re around, he’s forming bad habit that will be hard to break later. The best lesson you can teach him is how to soothe him to sleep. Follow a nightly bedtime ritual (bath, books, and bed, for example) so he knows what’s expected of him and what to expect at night. You can tell him that if he stays in bed you’ll come back in five minutes to check on him. Let him know that he’s safe and that you’ll be nearby.
Final note
Now that you understand the baby sleeping requirements, you will probably see things differently in your baby life. Most people simply weren’t aware of sleeping time for newborn, 4-7 months, 8-12 months, and 1-2 years baby have different sleeping time. So next time you see your baby can’t not sleep or sleep too much, you will apply to above tips. Have a nice sleeping.
You may be interested in reading my other guide about baby seat or free baby stuff