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Baby Sleep Patterns

Cynthia Hanson
Updated

“Most newborns are asleep for three to four hours and then awake for one to two hours,” says paediatrician Dr Judith Owens, co-author of Take Charge of Your Child’s Sleep. “We don’t know exactly why they need so much rest, but we suspect it’s because sleep plays an instrumental role in early brain development.”

Newborns lack circadian rhythms, so their sleep is evenly divided throughout a 24-hour day. They can nod off any time, anywhere – even when the TV is blaring and the dog is barking. Some babies fall asleep when they’re tired and wake up when they’re hungry. Others sleep all day and stay up most of the night.

If you’ve found that your little one is in the latter category, take heart: he’ll probably outgrow this day-night confusion as his biological clock starts to develop. And by about the age of three months, babies have begun establishing their own circadian rhythms.

If your baby has his days and nights mixed up, expose him to bright light during the day so he starts to connect sunshine with being awake and alert, advises paediatric sleep specialist Dr Jodi Mindell, author of Sleeping Through the Night. Keep the blinds or curtains open in the daytime (except when he’s napping), wake him for feedings so he doesn’t catch too many Z’s and take him outside for a walk to stimulate him and expose him to natural light.

At night, aim to put bub down between 7pm and 8pm – this is a good bedtime for his first two years, so you might as well get in the habit! If you need to go into his room for a feeding or nappy change, keep the lights dim and try not to talk to your baby too much. This will help him associate darkness with sleeping.

Age: 3 to 5 months
Predictable Patterns
Daily sleep: around 15 hours

This stage brings big changes in Sleepyland! By three to four months of age, babies become more consistent in their routine. They eat more at meals, so many bubs are able to get the bulk of their sleep during the night (anywhere from six to eight hours at a stretch) before they wake up to feed again. They usually take two or three naps a day, of varying lengths – some are as brief as half an hour and others as long as two or three hours.

“Babies need daytime sleep to restore alertness,” Dr Owens says. “They tend to have their own nap rhythm, perhaps napping longer in the morning than in the afternoon.”

Infants typically wake up a few times each night. While most babies this age are now able to soothe themselves, your bub’s ability to fall back to sleep without being fed, rocked or cuddled depends on your routine.

“If you nurse or rock your baby to sleep in the evening, you’ll be doing the same thing at 1am and 3am,” Dr Owens says.

It’s best to put your bub in his cot at naptime and at bedtime when he’s drowsy but awake. Be on the lookout for glassy eyes, droopy eyelids and yawning: signs that your littlie’s in the zone. He might grizzle with this new routine, but he’ll eventually doze off and will soon start to connect sleeping with being in his cot, not in your arms.

“The earlier you help your baby learn to comfort himself, the easier it will be for him to get the hang of falling asleep on his own,” Dr Mindell says. “Babies who can drift off independently are better able to sleep well throughout the night than those who need help. And babies who snooze well are more alert and less fussy during the day.”

Introducing a bedtime routine also paves the way for your peanut to develop good lifelong sleep habits. At night, choose a few calming activities that he’ll start to associate with sleep, such as taking a bath, getting into pyjamas and then softly singing a round of his favourite nursery rhyme.

Age: 6 to 8 months
Nap Power
Daily sleep: around 14 hours

At six months of age, babies are getting their nutritional needs met during the day, so they can make it through the night without a feed, but they may be up anyway! You may have noticed a more consistent nap routine falling into place, too. Most babies nap two to four hours during the day at this stage, but schedules vary. Your child may take a morning nap around 9:30 and an afternoon nap at 2:30, or he may take three or four naps that last 30 to 45 minutes each.

How will you know if he’s getting enough shut-eye? Take note of his behaviour in the late afternoon, after he’s had his nap but has been awake for a while.

“If your baby isn’t cranky, then he’s getting enough sleep,” says paediatrician Dr Marc Weissbluth, author of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. “However, if he’s irritable, he may be signalling a need for more sleep during the day and night.” Try putting him down a bit earlier for naps and bedtime. He’ll probably brighten right up!

Age: 9 to 12 months
Sleep Setbacks
Daily sleep: 12 to 14 hours

Most babies will now be napping in the morning and afternoon, which means you might actually get a chance to chip away at that Mount Everest of a laundry pile! On the unfortunate flip side, even the best sleeper will start waking again in the middle of the night.

“The neurological changes that enable developmental milestones also affect sleep, which is why sleep often falls apart a week or two before a major change is about to happen, whether it’s walking or talking,” Dr Mindell explains.

And once the milestone has occurred, bub may much rather practise his new walking, talking or crawling ability than sleep!

Another slumber saboteur: your munchkin now understands cause and effect. He knows his actions get a reaction from Mummy and Daddy, so he may cry and pop up in his cot to test you. Beware! “The first two times a baby bounces up, parents usually put him back down in the cot,” Dr Mindell says. “But the third time, they say, ‘He can’t settle himself down,’ so they take a different tactic by rocking him back to sleep.”

But giving in sends your baby the message that he doesn’t have to go to sleep by himself. Instead, give him a quick hug and put him back down in his cot. Within a week or two, he’ll figure out that you won’t rock or soothe him back to sweet dreams. If putting bub down doesn’t solve the problem, you may need to help soothe him until he’s calm but not quite asleep.

Age: 13 to 18 months
Regular Routine
Daily sleep: 12 to 14 hours

After his first birthday, your little angel may switch to one luxuriously long post-lunch nap that lasts from 90 minutes to three hours. A consistent bedtime routine is now even more important: it transitions your child from active kiddo to sound snoozer, helping him get adequate night-time sleep, Dr Owens says.

Do something that calms him, whether it’s reading a book or snuggling with a pet. Your child may now have a harder time letting you leave the room after you turn out the light, and that’s normal. Separation anxiety
can begin anywhere from six to 12 months and peaks now, at around 18 months. “Before now, bub’s credo was ‘out of sight, out of mind’.

But now he can visualise you when you’re not around and this can be distressing,” says Dr Owens. A transitional object, such as a stuffed toy, can bring in the sandman.

What our readers said on Facebook:
My nine-month-old is like the Energiser Bunny! His longest stretches ever have been four or five hours. He’s started waking up heaps during the night… he sits up and crawls around. — Tracey

I have a 10-week-old. He has roughly three one-hour sleeps during the day and sleeps in four-hour stretches at night between feeds. — Emma

My son gave up day sleeps at 18 months and has never slept more than three or four hours before waking. — Melanie

My son started sleeping through the night, 7pm to 7am, from one month old. He is now nine months and generally has up to three hours of sleep (over two sleeps) in the day – sometimes less. — Lauren

My seven-month-old has three 20-minute naps a day and wakes up two or three times a night. — Samantha

My one-year-old sleeps about eight hours a night but still needs a feed and is very restless. He has one to three hours during the day over two sleeps. — Lisa


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