When your newborn first comes home it may seem your
baby is sleeping all the time. And to a fatigued parent,
it may feel your baby is just not sleeping as much
as other babies. On the average a newborn sleeps 17
hours out of 24, with some babies sleeping 11 hours
and others sleeping up to 20 hours a day. There are
no straightforward answers to how much sleep your
newborn needs as they have no regular patterns
True, most babies are very quiet and sleepy in the
first 1-2 days following birth. After that they tend
to become more active in the night, keeping you awake
with their intermittent cries for either a feed, a
diaper change or simply to be held. Though their alert
periods are very short in the start, this will change
and gradually lengthen by the time baby turns a month
old.
There
is a considerable variation in sleep
patterns of every baby; therefore there
is no right or wrong number of sleep
hours or awake time for your baby. The
main thing to look out for is if your
baby is thriving, and adequate sleep
helps achieve that. |
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Did you know..
• Sleep is very necessary to help babies and
children of all ages to develop correctly in terms
of physical, cognitive and emotional growth.
• Sleep is a learned behavior which can be influenced
by surroundings, and because of that you are your
baby's best guide when it comes to establishing appropriate
sleep patterns.
• Regular feeding schedules that complement
sleeping schedules help a great deal; newborns get
driven into the sleep-wake cycle by the need to feed.
It is a good idea to separate feeding time from sleeping
time that is your baby should be awake during feeds.
Typically newborns need to be fed every 2-3 hours.
• Sleep patterns differ with every baby (and
child) although largely consistent across babies (and
children) at the same stage of development.
• Sleep patterns are always changing though
in a predictable way throughout childhood; it just
doesn't stay the same.
Interesting Sleep Facts
There are two main kinds of sleep: REM (rapid eye
movement) and NREM (non-rapid eye movement). In REM
sleep though the brain is active, you are actually
in deep sleep. The heart and breathing rates tend
to fluctuate along with your eyes under your eyelids.
It is easier to wake up during this stage. NREM sleep
is a deeper, restorative kind of sleep. During this
stage breathing and heart rates are fairly consistent
and because your brain is not as active, you do not
dream as much.
Newborns spend half of their
sleeping time in REM sleep compared to adults who
spend a quarter of their time in REM. Newborns
go through REM and NREM every 50-60 minutes while
adults do so every 90-110 minutes.
Babies from 0 to 6 months need to rely on parents
a great deal to help them fall asleep; rocking, comforting
etc is only to be expected in the early stages. Allowing
your newborn to cry herself to sleep is inapt since
crying is the only form of communication a baby knows.
Allow your newborn some time to learn how to regulate
her sleep pattern by learning from external cues so
that she is able to differentiate between night and
day.
Roughly your baby is able to distinguish
between night and day at around 2 months of age.
Like you, your baby wakes up several times in the
night (a part of natural sleep cycle). If he is unable
to lull himself back to sleep, your baby will cry
out for help to be picked up and calmed back to sleep.
A very common cause for sleepless nights, you can
solve this problem by teaching your baby to soothe
himself back to sleep.
Around 8-12 weeks sleep for your baby becomes more
regular as her biological clock starts to develop.
You can start guiding your baby into a day-night sleep
routine. No two babies are alike and will display
different tendencies; while some will sleep for five
hours at a time others will still wake up for feeds
every 2-3 hours.
Your
baby will continue to wake several times
in the night, like adults. There is
no age at which a baby is guaranteed
to sleep through the night. Babies just
have to learn techniques to drift back
to sleep without spoiling yours. |
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Did you know while your
Baby sleeps..
• The brain cells replicate speedily. The brain
is an active organ growing and making new connections
at a fast speed, and good sleep helps in this area
of development.
• Body tissue and muscles are built. Calories
from milk convert into energy to provide your infant
with warmth and help in his development.
• White blood cells are manufactured while your
baby rests to help build her immunity against infection.
