The Real Truth About Baby Sleep Patterns And How To Best Use It

baby sleep patterns

Babies are fascinating little creatures who have a whole great big new world to explore. Rather than embrace that new world with the vigor of an older child, the tiniest of tots do a whole lot of sleeping instead

While it might not seem like much sleep to you after the second week of waking up every three hours on the dot...

Sleep routines make a lot of sense when you examine them more closely

The average new baby sleeps a good portion of her first few weeks away.

It's not uncommon for parents to report their child sleeps roughly 17 hours a day – broken up between day and night. Still, it can feel like baby hardly sleeps at all.

In most cases, these patterns develop to meet the unique needs of your baby. Whether it's an every two-hour schedule at first or she likes to snooze for a luxurious four-hour-stretch, baby sleep patterns are a little unique to each child.

Baby Sleep Patterns Explained

There is reason to the rhyme behind baby's way of sleeping.

In their first few weeks of life, babies are growing at a tremendous pace and their little bodies have not quite caught up with all the excitement of birth. Add to this the fact that their tiny stomachs cannot hold much food at any given time and the three-to-four-hour sleep schedule starts to make sense.

Sleep patterns are the way they are simply because they have to be.

In the first few weeks after birth it is difficult for parents to regulate or even guess at how baby will sleep. Some babies will sleep on a five-hour schedule naturally, but others wake up as frequently as every two hours.

Generally, this is because baby sleep patterns are set by the needs of the individual baby and not Mom or Dad's personal time clock.

Things To Watch Out For

While it is often hard for parents to handle baby's irregular sleeping at first, they are important to observe and keep track of.

Major changes in baby's sleep often signal a problem that might require medical advice. In most cases, it turns out to be nothing more than a greater need for food though, so do not panic.

Other common reasons for a change in sleep pattern include extra stimulus in the home (such as loud noises or lights), ear infections and even stomach upset.

Make sure that you've eliminated most common things influencing your baby sleep pattern before seeking medical advice.

In general, pediatricians recommend newborns sleep no more than five hours at a time. If your new baby starts settling into a pattern of six or seven hours too early, she might not be receiving the nourishment she really needs for whatever reason.

The typical time for a baby to settle into a slightly longer period of sleep is at six to eight weeks.

If a newer baby is on an every three-hour schedule for eating, but doesn't wake up until four hours, there's generally no reason for concern. It's one of those cases of count your blessings.

Past the five-hour point, however, and many pediatricians recommend just waking her up to make sure everything is okay.

A newborn baby is the miracle of life. Still, many parents find themselves wishing for just a little more sleep.

But don't worry, baby sleep patterns do eventual level out and you will get some decent rest once more. Until the teen years, but that's another story!

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