Baby sleep patterns

Baby sleep patterns

Knowing how much your newborn sleeps can help you manage those early weeks and months.

In the early weeks, your baby will wake and sleep during the day and night. Because your own sleep will be broken, you may feel tired and irritable so try and sleep when your baby sleeps – everything else can wait.

Newborn sleep

Some new babies sleep much more than others; some will regularly sleep for 21 out of 24 hours, others will sleep for as little as 10 hours on some days. You may find that in the early days your baby feeds then sleeps throughout the day and night because a newborn has a small stomach and can’t go through a whole night without a feed.

Newborn babies sleep as much as they need, and fall asleep when they need to. However, your baby’s sleep pattern will gradually change as she grows. Your baby will be able to sleep for longer, and you will notice more time spent awake.

The pattern will look more like: feeds, stays awake a while, then sleeps. A baby who needs to sleep won’t be disturbed by household noise, so you don’t have to tiptoe around. In fact, if your baby gets used to sleeping through noise, it will help you later on as she won’t wake for every loud sound.

Night and day

By the time your baby is 6 months old, she may well sleep for 10 to 12 hours at night, and 2 to 3 hours during the day in morning and afternoon naps. But if your baby’s going to do most of her sleeping at night, you have to help her to do this. First of all, you need to teach your baby that the night time is different from the daytime.

Tips to teach your baby night from day

During night feeds:

  1. Keep the lights dim.
  2. Speak quietly, but don’t talk much.
  3. Don’t change your baby unless their nappy is dirty.
  4. Put your baby straight back down to sleep after the feed.

Routine

It's never too early to start a bedtime routine, or to teach your baby that she can fall asleep by herself.  Find out more baby sleep tips here, or take a look at our family sleep clinic to help you all get a good night's rest.

Comments

Submitted by ChrissyEH on Tue, 01/05/2012 - 22:14.
Having a 7 month old who doesn't sleep through the night and wakes often, the best advice I can offer is to not worry about what you're doing 'wrong', stressing out makes it worse, don't worry about what others think you are all good mums so focus on the good things you are doing. Also, there are phases to how your baby sleeps: one week can be different to the next- in other words nothing lasts forever and it will get easier or at least different!
Submitted by feellikehell on Sat, 14/04/2012 - 02:50.
I am looking for tips on how to start getting my week old to take to his cot!! At the moment he will only lay awake in it for 5 minutes until he crys.
Submitted by lillysmummyxx on Sun, 08/01/2012 - 17:06.
im trying to find tips for my daughter lilly to start sleeping through the night shes 7months old and always wakes up about 2-3am just for comfort and a feed, i have a routine with lilly and she goes to bed at 6.30pm. any tips would be helpful x x
Submitted by emzy6786 on Fri, 04/11/2011 - 15:04.
My 7 week old Oscar has his good and bad night's. I breastfeed and he is sometimes only up twice at night for a feed sometimes more. Me and my partner bath him at 9 and then give him a feed, he usually goes down at 10 and wakes up between 1-2 and then again at 4-5. it can be hard work but remember it does get better as they grow.
Submitted by Aimee242 on Sat, 22/10/2011 - 22:56.
I am finding that my baby slept all the way through the night from 7 weeks old but when she turbed around 6 or 7 months old she started to wake again in the night but I cannot understand why she is waking, she may be awake for around an hour and a half before she goes back off to sleep. Anyone got any ideas as what may be wrong? I understand that she is teething but I am not sure why she is waking.
Submitted by mummy2max2011 on Wed, 05/10/2011 - 09:32.
For anyone having trouble getting the little ones to sleep and in a bedtime routine, I would highly recommend a book called Baby Secrets its written by Jo Tantum and Barbara Want. It really helped me get my little one into a good bedtime routine.
Submitted by JJ703 on Tue, 06/09/2011 - 09:57.
Hi h8022286 Don't know if this helps but our baby didn't sleep through until they were 9-10 months and then they still woke for a feed between 9.30 and 11.30. She had 20 minute naps one in the morning and one in the afternoon and that was it until she started to move about more. We did try and make sure she had 2 naps at the same time each day so that she knew she was going to be in her cot but we didn't leave her to cry if she sounded distressed but did leave her for a while if it just sounded like 'tired' crying for up to about 10 minutes. After she began to move about more she then had 2 one hour naps and slept better at night. She also would not take a bottle and never has. She is now 13 months and has 2 bfeeds one after breakfast and one before bed i'm hoping she's beginning to drop the later feed (9.30 one) but it's only been 3 nights so we'll see. The lack of sleep is difficult but hopefully he'll settle more as he gets more mobile.
Submitted by h8022286 on Wed, 29/06/2011 - 13:12.
My baby is 24 weeks and still does not sleep for more than 4 hours at a time, and that seems to be at a push. He will wake at least 2 or 3 times during the night and have full bfeeds, and doesn't sleep much during the day, apart from an occasional 20 minute nap in an afternoon. We have a routine at bedtime, and I am now giving him solids for breakfast and on an evening, and have tried to top him up with expressed milk, but he won't entertain a bottle. I've also tried leaving him to cry, and not reward him with feeding but it's so hard to listen to him getting beside himself, and he doesn't seem to stop. We just can't seem to crack having a restful night, which of course means that he gets in a grump!! Does anyone have any tips??
Submitted by RachelC11 on Mon, 09/05/2011 - 12:38.
My baby is nearly 5 months and she is still not sleeping during the night. She usually wakes once during the night for a feed and thats it, but during the day she rarely sleeps , she will have a 2 hour nap in the morning and the 10-15 mins there and then. I've tried spoon feeds before bed but nothing. Im sure she will eventually go to sleep during the whole night.
Submitted by Jenky30 on Thu, 06/01/2011 - 19:21.
I am worried my baby is sleeping too much, she is only awake 6 maybe 7 hours a day at a year - she otherwise seems perfectly happy and healthy - is this normal?
Submitted by ivysmummy on Sun, 02/01/2011 - 17:12.
ivy is now 8 months old and doesnt sleep though the night she was having 2 bottles but ive compleatly cut them out and she goes alot longer between waking up its hard but they give in before u do x
Submitted by tattyanna on Mon, 13/12/2010 - 00:44.
i have a 5 month old baby boy but he only goes to sleep at arounf 11pm but he sleeps in between 10-12 in the morning and am finding it very difficult to get him in a earlier sleeping patter any ideas please let me know also he is having 3 feeds during the night and those are 7oz bottles any ideas to stop that??
Submitted by oscarsmummy2010 on Wed, 26/05/2010 - 10:46.
i remember me trying to get my 6 year old into a sleep pattern at night and it was so hard to get him into a bedtime rountine, now i have oscar my 4 week old i hope it is easier....just wonder when is best to start with bedtime rountine, because his sleep patterns vary.
Submitted by sweetcheeks74 on Sat, 29/05/2010 - 23:13.
well i have a 3 months old was hard to get him to sleep but now he kind of sleep longer when he is on his tummy. Guess with in time they adopt their own sleeping habits.