Baby sleep patterns

Author Name: Heidi Holvoet, PhD

Baby sleep patterns tell us how and how much our baby sleeps, and can sleep.

The natural patterns develop rapidly in the first six months and take up to 4 years to become adult-like. It's is an amazing development from newborn towards childhood and adult sleep patterns .

By offering the right environment we can guide our children towards optimal sleep habits.

Typical Baby Sleep Patterns by Age

What kind of sleep can you expect, realistically, from your baby?

Newborn sleep patterns: a newborn has short sleep-wake cycles throughout the day, with no difference between day and night. Her sleep is mostly light (easily waking up). The newborn sleeping schedule is governed by regular feeding needs.

Her sleep develops rapidly and you can help instill the day-and-night rhythm with a clear difference between your day (active and light) and night routine (quiet and dim).

1 - 6 month old: Sleep continues to mature rapidly and your baby gradually moves into sleeping more at night than during the day.

Feeding is still an important and often necessary trigger for waking up.

6 months - 2 year old: Your little one's sleep has changed dramatically in the first six months and she can now finally find a deeper sleep.

She will be awakened less easily and therefore is able to do longer stretches little by little.

Notice the 'is able to': at this age, other factors besides food enter your child's life: there is the awareness of needing mom/dad, separation anxiety , teething , developing important motor skills, and so on/

Let the natural patterns help

Rather than trying to break or interfere with your baby's sleep patterns, your best bet is to reinforce and guide the natural ones in the right direction. Here's what we can learn:

• Expectations : Sleeping well is a skill that needs time to develop. Knowing that poor baby sleep is most probably due to physical immaturity, gives you realistic expectations.
  
  Expecting your newborn to sleep through the night from the first weeks is not realistic. Please don't feel frustrated when you hear stories from babies who do: they honestly are exceptions (and even more likely untrue). Also, parents who realize they shouldn't expect too much, often report the best sleep results.

• Accepting : Knowing what you can expect reasonably, can help you accept your baby's sleeping. Yes, I know this may not be the help you're looking for: but I don't mean it in a crude "you just need to accept it" way.
  
  It's just that allowing yourself to accept it to a certain point, can help you relax, which will make you rest and feel better and make you stronger when coping with your baby's nightly troubles.
• Better times ahead! The best outcome when looking at sleep patterns: her sleeping skills may not seem impressive to you at first but it's a fact that they develop very rapidly!
  
  So you can count on improvement, most likely within weeks if not days.
• What to do : help reinforce the good parts of baby's sleep patterns:

1. Offer a balanced and clear daily routine. Being active when you are and quiet when you are, will help your baby in developing sleep-wake patterns similar to yours.
   
   From the first day, include baby in your day - for example take her shopping, go for a walk, she plays or sits on your lap while you work, etc.
2. Recognize sleepy signs and arrange a recognizable but flexible sleep schedule around that.
3. Use active-quiet and light-dark cues to reinforce day and night difference, from the very first days and also as your baby grows. These cues are what's most effective in helping establish appropriate wake/sleep rhythms.
4. Encourage regular naps . Even if your baby is not sleeping regularly (day or night) yet, set the good habit of consistent naps early on. It will only improve her mood during the day as well as her night time sleep. For a step-by-step guide to a good nap routine (timed, pattern or free), see No Tears Naps (aka "Nap in a Snap") .