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Newborn sleep: in a nutshell
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By Raising Children Network
Newborn babies need lots of sleep but they also need to fill their tiny tummies at regular
intervals. It's only when they can last for six to eight hours without a night feed that they start
'sleeping through the night'.
In the first weeks of life, babies sleep for an average of 16-18
hours a day. A newborn will usually sleep for 2-4 hours at a time,
wake up for a feed and short play and then drop off again.
In the early days, your baby may doze off constantly without a
peep (unless she has colic). She may fall asleep in a baby pouch, in
a pram, a car baby capsule or in a bassinet while you fold the
laundry.
The issue soon becomes how you want your newborn to fall asleep
when she moves into baby stage (around three months old) and
beyond.
Where will baby sleep?
Some mothers prefer to sleep next to their babies and are happy
to keep doing this long-term. Other parents prefer their newborn
to sleep in their own cot from day one. And there are lots of
variations in between.
Sleeping with you
Many experts agree that there are
benefits of a baby sharing the
same bed with mother and/or
father (also called co-sleeping).
On the one hand, it can make
breastfeeding easier in the early
weeks. On the other hand, it
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comes with risks such as accidental smothering or crushing. If your
newborn is breastfed, she may smell her mother's milk supply next
to her and wake more often for a feed. This means she may
continue feeding every three hours at night for some time. Also, the longer she sleeps with you, the
harder it may be to convince her to eventually sleep in her own bed.
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Sleeping in a cot
It is absolutely fine if you want baby to start sleeping in her own
cot, even from day one. In fact, that is the easiest time to start.
As long as she gets enough milk and caring attention when she is
awake, she can happily sleep in her own cot. She desperately
needs you for a lot of things but, luckily, sleeping is not one of
them. This is something she can already do, proudly, for herself.
Letting your newborn fall asleep
Whether she sleeps with you or in her own cot, the trick is to put your newborn down to bed just
before she dozes off, every time, day and night, so she can do the falling asleep part herself. This
way, she will 'learn' to drift off without depending on you to settle her to sleep for naps and bedtime,
or any time during her normal sleep rhythm (which, by the time she is three months old, will include
many groggy but potentially silent awakenings at night). Until she is three months old, she’ll still need
you to feed her and change her nappy at least every four hours.
Comforting
There are ways to settle babies who are crying out for comfort at sleep time that don’t encourage
them to become dependent on the full-blown production of being walked, swung, bounced, driven or
rocked to sleep every time. What is important is that you do what you feel is right for you and your
newborn, under the circumstances. In some cases, inconsolable crying can be caused by colic or
overstimulation – sometimes newborns need less going on, not more. That's why wrapping helps
many newborns to sleep. It reduces their body twitching while they are trying to sleep. It can also
make them feel secure (like they were in that cosy, warm, dim and muffled-sounding place they were
in before they were born).
Window of opportunity
You can start this sleep routine anytime between day one and three weeks (when newborns are so
groggy, they tend to fall asleep easily). For example, if you consistently put her in her cot to fall asleep,
she will soon prefer falling asleep in her cot to anywhere else.
If you can learn to predict when she gets tired, you can be ready with her nappy changed before she
starts to drift off. It helps to know her sleep signs and to have a good ‘feed, play, sleep’ routine.
Sleeping through the night
Most new parents dream of getting back to their old sleep schedule. But, just as you want your baby
to sleep more at night, she wants you to learn to rest when she is napping during the day, so you can
be fresh when she wakes up.
In the first few months, it is common for newborns to wake two or three times a night for feeds.
Night-time feeding patterns in full-term
newborns
Age
Hours between night feeds
1-8 weeks
2-4 hours
8-10 weeks
4-6 hours
10-12 weeks
6-8 hours
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At 10-12 weeks old, some babies can sleep from 10 pm or 11 pm until 5 am or 6 am as long as they
are getting enough milk during the day; however, all babies are different and some like to keep us
guessing about when they might start ‘sleeping through the night’.
Built-in sleep tools
Good sleep habits are mostly about associations with bedtime rituals and the physical sleep
environment, on the one hand, and a couple of biological clocks on the other. It helps to understand
how those natural mechanisms work when you are trying to set up good sleep habits or change
existing ones.
The 'tummy clock' helps remind us what time to feel hungry and the circadian rhythm reminds us
when to feel sleepy and when to wake up. These are mostly set by what we did yesterday and the
day before. Parents can help tune these clocks to fit in, as much as possible, with the rest of the
family.
Sleep associations:
Bedtime rituals
Pre-sleep rituals that involve one or more parent can help promote positive associations
with sleep, as long as they are soothing (especially for a colicky baby). Rituals can include
softly showering them with affection, kisses and cuddles, bathing, comfy pyjamas, a feed,
dim lights, soft music or even baby massage.
Falling asleep environment
It’s best to keep baby’s falling asleep environment simple and consistent (and not
dependent on you). This could include the familiar look, feel and smell of her cot, the sound
of a fan, a snug wrapping, darkness (luckily, newborns are not afraid of the dark yet!).
Soon, she'll begin to associate these things with sleep – 'Ah, I'm in my nice comfy cot. The
last time I was here, I went to sleep. It must be sleepy time'.
Sleep tips
You can help your newborn to associate darkness with sleep by minimising activity, noise
and light when you are feeding or changing her nappy during the night.
A milk bottle in bed is not a good sleep aid as it can cause illness if milk goes down the
wrong tube. As babies get older and develop teeth, it can also cause severe tooth decay if
milk pools in her mouth while she sleeps.
The tummy clock is powerful enough to wake a baby with hunger pangs. So, starting at
three months, if your baby wakes up hungry at 2am or 3am, you can give her a bottle of
sterile water. This may give her enough associations to get her back to sleep and turn off
her tummy's alarm clock after a couple of nights.
Newborn behaviour: in a nutshell
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Last reviewed
17-05-2006
GLOSSARY
Co-sleeping
When babies and children sleep with one or both parents.
associations
Feelings, ideas or sensations linked to a person, object, idea or activity. For example, a baby's sleep
associations may include a warm bath and her cot.
circadian rhythm
A 24-hour physiological cycle that helps determine sleeping and feeding patterns.
(c)2006 Raising Children Network. All Rights Reserved.
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