Baby Sleep

From LoveToKnow Baby

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Co-Sleeping

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Nap Solutions: Interview with Elizabeth Pantley

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Preemie Sleep Issues

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One of the biggest concerns for new parents has to do with how much sleep their baby gets. Are they not getting enough? Too much? Will she ever sleep through the night?

Like grownups, baby sleep patterns vary widely. Someone you know might have a “sleeper” while you spend the first six months of your child’s life wishing he could just sleep a few hours a night without waking you.

Baby sleep averages

Newborn infants need as much as 15 hours of sleep a day. Unfortunately, much of this sleep is grabbed during the day and even if the child does sleep eight to 10 hours a night there can be may interruptions. Most babies only sleep three or four hours at a time, especially during the first few weeks.

And even once they’re sleeping longer, they might not consistently sleep through the night for a long time. Some babies start sleeping through the night at six weeks, while some take as long as six months.

The amount of sleep baby needs will slowly decline, to about 14 hours from three to nine months, between 13 and 14 from one to two years and to about 12 hours (with at least one afternoon nap) for three-year-olds.

This sounds like a lot of sleep, and it is, but babies need a lot of sleep. If your child isn’t sleeping this much it’s not because he doesn’t need that much sleep. if your child always falls asleep in the car, has to be awakened every day and is often cranky and sleepy, you’ve probably got a sleep-deprived child.

Helping baby sleep

Like adults, children thrive on schedules, especially when it comes to sleep. Babies can’t tell you when they’re tired (other than by crying) so you need to be able to recognize the signs your child gives you that she is tired (rubbing eyes, tugging on her ear, etc.) and put her to bed when she starts acting tired.

Sleep specialists say that after the first two weeks or so you can start teaching your childe the difference between night and day by keeping the house bright and noisy during the day and playing with the child while it is awake. At night, don’t play with the baby when he gets up for feedings, and spend as little time talking to him or holding him as you can. Also, you can use this time to establish the habit of baby falling asleep on his own by putting him back in bed while he’s still awake.

As baby gets older—three to six months—you should establish regular nap times and bedtime and stick with those times, so your baby knows when it’s time to sleep. Experts say between 7 and 8 p.m. is a good time for babies to go to sleep. Establish a before-bed routine, including a bath, bedtime story, a song, etc. to get baby ready for sleep. All babies wake up several times during the night, and it will be up to you to establish or not establish patterns such as the child needing to be rocked before going back to sleep. Some parents let their children cry so they don’t associate waking up with getting attention, but it is up to you as a parent to do what you think is right for you, your child and the rest of your household.

Sleep and toddlers

As your baby gets older, she will eventually stop needing two naps a day, depending on how much she is sleeping at night (should be around 11 hours). Changing to one nap can be difficult, so be patient and consider alternating one-nap and two-nap days until your child gets used to the change.

Between 18 months and three years of age is when kids start to resist going to sleep. Again, the routines and rituals you have put into place will help, as will giving your child choices such as which book to read before bed. Again it’s important to make sure that your child can fall asleep on his own and doesn’t require rocking, food or anything else to go to sleep.

Between 18 and 24 months, baby will start trying to get out of his crib when he wakes up at night or if he can’t sleep. Try moving the mattress to the lowest setting, taking out toys that baby can climb on, telling him no but not giving him a lot of attention when he does get out (and placing pillows on the floor in case he falls) and watching from a place where he can’t see you so you can tell him no before he gets out.

Switching to a big-kid bed

Children are ready to move out of their cribs at different times, though most children move to big-kid beds between the ages of one and a half and three and a half. If your child is very big and active, always climbing out of the crib, you may have a good candidate for a big bed. But don’t rush out and buy a new bed just because your child can climb out of the crib.

If your baby is potty trained, she will need a regular bed so she can go to the bathroom at night. If not, usually around age three is a good time to make the transition. Of course it’s common for children to get a new bed because another baby is expected. If this is the situation you are in, let the first child have his new bed a few months before the new baby arrives so he won’t feel like the baby took his bed.

When switched to a regular bed, children can become harder to put down or they will want to get up more because they are able to. Try to anticipate the “just one more” requests your child will throw at you to stall bedtime, but be firm when they have unreasonable requests or won’t go to bed.