Whenever there’s a newborn baby inside your home, a period of adjustment comes for everyone. Nurses help while you are at the hospital and you are able to take a rest. Becoming a first-time parent can be stressful yet fulfilling at the same time. During this time, your sleep becomes a precious thing since the infant is almost awake every hour at the first few weeks. Hence, it is advisable to take a nap whenever the baby sleeps. The pattern is simple: nursing, napping, then new diapers. You need not to force the baby to go to sleep or stay awake at certain periods.
Adequate Sleep for Babies
Following the birth of the baby, you may see that having the newborn from the hospital is tiresome that it will take some time for them to sleep throughout the night. Of course, the amount of sleep they need alters as they get old. Even though each child is different, here are basic guidelines for you to know if your child is getting enough sleep in the first year:
- Newborn. It is completely normal to see the baby during this period to have a constant cycle of napping and feeding. Neonates sleep approximately 16 hours a day, which spreads in two hour segments the whole day. Since the stomach is small at this time, the babies tend to eat frequently. Hence, it is advisable to take naps when the baby sleeps as well. Some parents use the co-sleeping method where they tuck in their child for added security and comfort.
- One month old. At this point, the baby learns and explores the world. They have more awake hours than they were newborns. The sleep patterns are usually fifteen hours a day with around six hours segment. You may notice the babies sleeping cues signaling the beginning of rest.
- Three months old. In this period, the baby starts to sleep throughout the night. They eat more when they are awake in order for them to sleep longer during the night time. Naptime is now only five hour segments but the whole sleeping pattern is still the same. Of course, this may vary in every child because not all children acquire normal sleep periods during this time.
- Six months old. Babies decrease their sleep time to about 14 hours as they reach this age. Segments are in 4 hours; nonetheless, some infants still wake up at night especially if you go out of the room.
- Nine months old. Experts say that during this period , babies are now sleeping regularly at night. The naptimes decrease to three hours and they tend to sleep throughout the night.
- Twelve months old. As the baby reaches his/her first year, the sleep pattern is now 13 hours a day. They will begin sleeping at around ten or eleven during night time with 3 hour naps during day time.
With all the milestones, it cannot be expected to happen all at the same time since every child grow differently.
