Sr Teresa Hayward (RN, RM, Lactation Consultant, Infant & Paediatric Nutritionist, Baby Sleep Consultant)
Typical sleep patterns for newborns
Newborns do sleep a lot – typically up to 18 to 20 hours a day with only 45min periods of awake time. But most babies don't stay asleep for more than two to four hours at a time, day or night, during the first few weeks of life. You baby should not be going longer that 6hrs at night time under 6wks
The result is lots of sleep for your baby and a very irregular – and tiring – schedule for you. As a new parent, you'll probably be up several times during the night to change, feed, and comfort him.
Why newborn sleep patterns are unpredictable
Baby sleep cycles are far shorter than those of adults, and babies spend more time in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is thought to be necessary for the extraordinary development happening in their brain.
All this unpredictability is a necessary phase for your baby and it doesn't last long – though it may seem like an eternity when you're sleep-deprived.
When your baby will start to sleep longer
At 6 to 8 weeks of age, most babies begin to sleep for shorter periods during the day and longer periods at night, though most continue to wake up to feed during the night. They should be awake about 60min at this stage up to 75 min by 3months. They also have shorter periods of REM sleep, and longer periods of deep, non-REM sleep.
Somewhere between 4 and 6 months, experts say, most babies are capable of sleeping for a stretch of 8 to 12 hours through the night. Some infants sleep for a long stretch at night as early as 6 weeks but should not be allowed to do this before 6weeks, but many babies don't reach that milestone until they're 5 or 6 months old and some continue to wake up at night into toddlerhood. You can help your baby get there sooner, if that's your goal, by teaching him good sleep habits from the start.
How to establish good baby sleep habits
Here are some tips to help your baby settle down to sleep:
Give your baby a chance to nap frequently. For the first six to eight weeks, babies won’t be able to cope with staying up much longer than 60minutes at a time. If you wait longer than that to put your baby down, he may be overtired and have trouble falling asleep.
Teach your baby the difference between day and night. Some infants are night owls (something you may have gotten a hint of during pregnancy) and will be wide awake just when you want to hit the hay. For the first few days you won't be able to do much about this. But once your baby is about 2 weeks old, you can start teaching him to distinguish night from day.
When he's alert and awake during the day, interact and play with him as much as you can, keep the house and his room light and bright, and don't worry about minimizing regular daytime noises like the phone, music, or dishwasher. If he tends to sleep through feedings, wake him up.
At night, don't play with him when he wakes up. Keep the lights and noise level low, and don't spend too much time talking to him. Before long he should begin to figure out that night time is for sleeping.
Look for signs that your baby's tired.
Watch for your babies early sleep cues, I find often moms are watching for the late sleep cues. By the time they are showing late sleep cues, they are already overtired
· Bicycling their legs or pushing them out straight
· Arching back
· Waving arms around as though pushing you away with their hands and fingers open wide
· Hiccuping not related to feeding
· Sneezing
· Tongue thrusting – this is poking tongue in and out
· Gaze aversion or staring into space, at tv, lights etc
Late signs
· Rubbing eyes or rubbing their face into you
· Pulling their hair, your hair, their ears, their blankets or clothes etc
· Yawing
Too late
· CRYING
If you spot these or any other signs of sleepiness, try putting him down to sleep. You'll soon develop a sixth sense about your baby's daily rhythms and patterns, and you'll know instinctively when he's ready for a nap.
Consider a bedtime routine for your baby. It's never too early to start trying to follow a bedtime routine and Having a bed time routine is one of the first steps in getting your baby into a good sleep routine.
In the first 6 weeks it is not necessary to have a strict routine, but from 6 weeks you start with a Bedtime routine every evening.
Parents should be aiming at a Bedtime between 6pm and 8pm, never later than 8pm.
Start off your Bedtime with bath time. Exactly as with adults, bathing is relaxing, but it can often be a time to spend some quality time with baby.
After bath time, take baby to their sleep environment. The environment should be dimly lit with the curtains drawn, in this environment talk in hushed tones and ensure there is no external stimulation, such as phones, televisions, i-pads etc. Only the person putting baby to sleep should be in the room.
In this environment, get your baby ready for bed, for example baby massage and then into their pyjamas.
After they are ready for bed, start with 20min of quiet time. This is to wind their little brains down and calm them down for bed time. You can read to them, play lullabies, or sit quietly with baby and play quietly with limited stimulation, so no toys with lights or noises.
After this, give them their bedtime feed.
If you feel you need assistance with your babies sleep, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I am a trained sleep and infant feeding consultant and my approach is gentle and routine orientated as well as assessing any medical, feeding issues and I DO NOT RECOMMEND LEAVING A BABY TO CRY EVER! I charge R400 for a 1hr consultation at my consulting rooms
Comments