When your baby is born, your life will have a lot of new things happening pretty much at the same time. There are many great things that you will experience, and you will have some challenges; the change of your sleeping patterns is one of them.
In this article we want to tell you all about your baby’s sleeping patterns as well as yours, for you to know what you can expect, and if there is something that needs to be attended to so you can go through this as easy and enjoyable as possible.
The importance of sleep
Sleep is essential during your entire life, as involves physiologic and behavioral processes. Your baby will need to sleep a lot more than any adult as he/she is growing up, but each baby will find his/her own sleeping needs.
Sleep is a resting period in which the sensory activity is reduced, as well as the response of external stimulation, even so it involves intense brain activity; it has been related to cognitive and developing benefits. Studies have also shown that when a child is sleeping (particularly in daytime naps), language learning develops as well.
Many aspects of growth can be related to sleep, such as weight gain and hormone release; the fastest development and physical growth occurs in the first 6 months of life and this happens while your baby is sleeping. Shorter sleep duration early in life has been related to overweight or obesity later in life.
Sleep quantity and quality are important for the development of memory, language, and executive functions.
Sleep cycles
There are two types of sleep:
- Rapid eye movement sleep (REM) which is a light sleep when dreams occur and the eyes move fast.
- Non-REM sleep which has 4 stages:
- Your baby will have drowsiness, with eyes droop and he/she may open and close them during this stage.
- Your baby will be in a light sleep, he/she will move and may startle or jump and make sounds.
- Your baby will be in a deep sleep, he/she will be quiet and won’t move
- Your baby will be in a very deep sleep, he/she will be quiet and will not move.
Your baby will enter stage 1, then 2, 3, 4 and then back to 3, 2 and them to REM. Your newborn will spend about half of his/her sleep in REM sleep (older children and adults spend less time in it). He/she may awake as these cycles move, sometimes help will be needed to go back to sleep.
How long should my baby sleep?
The first year of life is a time of significant change, the concomitant growth and development that occurs during this time is highly important and your baby will be sleeping most of the time, newborns tend to sleep 8 to 9 hours during daytime and 8 hours at night, a total of 17 hours of sleep per day; even so, he/she will not sleep longer than 3 hours straight because of the size of the stomach which is very small and needs to be fed often.
Sleeping patterns during the first year of life:
- First 6 months of life: a baby tends to sleep 16–17 hours per day.
- 6-12 months of age: sleep tends to decrease to 13–14 hours per day, and the longest sleep period is about 6 hours.
- 1 year of age: the longest sleep period increases to about 8–9 hours on average.
Why does my baby’s sleep pattern change?
As mentioned before, each baby is unique and has different sleep patterns; but one of the main reasons why a sleep pattern changes is because as your baby is growing up his/her needs change, he/she will need less sleep and will sleep more during night and less during daytime.
As your baby gets older he/she will need less frequent feed and the sleep cycles will turn longer. This both means less waking and resettlement during sleep periods.
Sleep patterns can also be different due to a change in the environment such as different routine hours, dynamic and overstimulation during nap time; to name a few.
*If your baby is suddenly waking up during naps (when this didn’t happen before) it could be caused by developmental changes (which is normal and ok) or there could be something going on such as an ear infection, let your doctor know so your baby is checked and get proper treatment in case it’s needed.
What can I do to help my baby have a sleep routine?
Most babies will need help to settle to sleep at night. If you want to help your newborn to sleep more during the night, you can make a routine in which you stimulate him/her with light and games during the day and have a quiet and relaxing environment during night time.
Keep in mind that your baby will still not sleep through the night (sleeping longer stretches at a time such as 4-5 hours straight or more) before he/she is 3 months old or until his/her weight is 12 to 13 pounds.
Some babies even take a year to start sleeping through the night.
As a mom, what can I do to get a good rest?
We understand that any person needs a good sleep to keep on with his/her life, and specially a mom as having a baby takes a lot of energy from you; but we have to be honest with you: with a newborn, you will get less sleep than you used to, so it’s important to be prepared and to keep in mind that this will not be permanent.
Here we share with you some things that can make this easier for you:
- You can try sleeping in close proximity (not the same as bed sharing) to your baby, which can be helpful to reduce awake times for you.
- Prepare yourself for the first months of your baby’s life and for the effects that they will have on your sleep. You can discuss with your loved ones or with a professional about how you will cope with a lot less sleep than usual.
- Be kind to yourself, it’s ok if not everything is taken care of, this is a special moment that won’t last forever and you can get back on your feet on other things when your baby settles to sleep longer.
- Ask for help, the people around you have to understand that you need rest and that your hours have to be more flexible, so don’t be afraid to ask for some patience and help so you can get as much sleep as possible.
- For the first 3 months, if possible, minimize your responsibilities so you get more free time to sleep.
- Sleep while your baby sleeps, it is better to have a broken sleep than to not sleep at all.
In Breastfeeding 101 we hope this information has been helpful for you, we also invite you to follow all our content to learn about other mom and baby challenges. If you want to deepen more in the matter of sleep patterns, here are some of the sources that made this article possible:
A Review of the Effects of Sleep During the First Year of Life on Cognitive, Psychomotor, and Temperament Development I National Library of Medicine
Development of infant and toddler sleep patterns: real-world data from a mobile application I National Library of Medicine
Infant sleep and its relation with cognition and growth: a narrative review I National Library of Medicine
Infant sleep I Stanford Medicine
Maternal Sleep Patterns and Parenting Quality during Infants’ First 6 Months I National Library of Medicine
Normal sleep patterns in infants and children: a systematic review of observational studies I National Library of Medicine
Newborn-Sleep Patterns I Children´s Hospital of Philadelphia
Outcomes of infant sleep problems: a longitudinal study of sleep, behavior, and maternal well-being I National Library of Medicine
Sleep Tips for New Mothers I Sleep Health Foundation
Sleep Patterns and Fatigue in New Mothers and Fathers I National Library of Medicine
Tuned in parenting and infant sleep patterns I Researchgate
Annie Rueb
