Baby Sleep Patterns

baby sleep patterns

All baby sleep patterns will be different. When he is new born, you will notice that your baby sleeps quite a lot. Over the coming days he will start to be awake much more, but still sleep a lot through the day.

When your baby is brand new, he knows nothing. He sleeps when he feels tired, over the coming months it's your job to teach him that his main sleep will be at night, but this doesn't mean that he won't still need one, two or even more naps through the day.

Baby sleep patterns - Sleep baby sleep!

When he is under 3 months old your baby will average out at around 16 hours sleep (maybe more or maybe less) in every 24 hour period. He will sleep half of these hours at night, and half during the day. Mainly because he needs to feed every 3 or 4 hours. His daytime sleeps are likely to last for around 2 hours, if you're lucky his night time sleeps may last around 4 hours before he needs a feed.

As he gets older he will start to establish a pattern to his sleeping. After 3 months of age your baby may be sleeping half as much in the day as what he does at night. His day time sleeps will start to dwindle down from many to possibly two or three, but you will notice that as they decrease in frequency, they will increase in length. By the time my son was 9 months old, he only had one daytime nap of around 2 hours.

You really need to get your baby into a good sleep pattern as early as possible, even though he will need feeds at night to start. Don't interact with him too much during the night time feeds. Keep it as chilled out and as quiet as possible. This will teach him that nights aren't as fun as day time, and mum is much keener to interact during the day. Click here for more tips on getting your baby to sleep through the night.

Day time naps may stop at around a year old, or it could take a lot longer. My son had a nap every day at around 11am for 1 to 2 hours until he was two and a half years old. Whereas my daughter still napped at nearly four years old. I had to break this habit through the summer ready for her to start school (She was one of the early starters at just 4 years and 1 month old!)

Baby sleep patterns - Basic facts

Newborn to 3 months, around 16 -19 hours a day.
3 - 6 months will sleep around 13 - 15 hours a day. 5 to 6 hours during the day, the rest at night.
6 - 12 months will sleep for around 12 to 14 hours a day. If you're baby is still waking for feeds now, try some of these methods.
A child between the age of 1 and 3 years will normally sleep for around 10 to 12 hours a day. By this age your child shouldn't need night time feeds and hopefully should be settled into a good sleep routine.

These are just rough estimates of baby sleep patterns, and of course every child is different. If you are at all concerned or worried about your baby's sleep patterns then do talk to your health visitor.

It is a good idea to start off with a bedtime routine early in your child's life. A warm bath, followed by a feed, story and then bedtime, will help your baby to understand this time of day is the time to relax and wind down. Letting your baby fall asleep while feeding, or rocking your baby to sleep may cause problems as he gets older, by needing these things to fall asleep and not being able to fall asleep on his own. Click here for more details about sleep problems.

Click Here for solutions to sleep problems.

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