Getting a newborn to sleep properly can be one of the hardest parts of a new parent’s daily routine. That’s why today we’re going to take you through some of the most important things you should know about your baby’s sleep needs, including how much they should get, how feeding affects them, and more.
How Much Sleep Your Baby Needs
Though the exact amount of sleep a baby needs will fluctuate based on age and other factors, the AAP recommends that infants between 4 and 11 months should be getting 12-16 hours of sleep every day. Most of that sleep should happen at night, but it’s normal for babies to nap for about 3-4 hours total during daytime naps. And as every newborn parent knows, it’s also common and even necessary for babies to wake up frequently during the night, particularly before their internal clock starts to regulate itself more at around 6 months old.
How long should those daytime naps last, though? Once again, this varies widely depending on your baby’s age, but a general rule is that each nap should last around 1-2 hours, and the number of daytime naps should gradually decrease as they get older, from 4 or 5 at 3 months old to just 1 starting at around 18 months.
How Your Feeding Schedule Affects a Baby’s Sleep
I’m sure you’ve heard of babies being Milk Drunk, that sleepy smile and drowsy movements that show your baby is full and content. Well, it turns out that this state can actually help your baby stay asleep easier. When a baby is full of milk, just like when an adult is full after a big meal, their body produces a hormone called cholecystokinine (CCK), which causes a feeling of drowsiness and satiety and helps stimulate digestion. The hormone peaks right after a feeding, and then again 30 minutes later. Timing your feeding schedule to take advantage of these spikes in CCK can help encourage your baby to fall asleep and stay asleep.
How Your Baby’s Sleep Differs From Yours
Everyone knows that babies sleep more than adults, but there are many other significant ways that their sleep is different from yours. Knowing about these differences and why they occur can help you when you’re trying to get your little one to calm down for a nap or sleep through the night.
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Babies have shorter sleep cycles.
An adult completes one sleep cycle (transitioning from light sleep to deep sleep) in about 90 minutes, but a baby’s average sleep cycle is 45-60 minutes long, which is part of why they wake up so frequently.
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Babies spend much more time in light sleep.
Adults only spend about 20-25% of the night in light sleep (also known as REM or rapid eye movement sleep), with the rest dedicated to the deeper NREM sleep. Babies, on the other hand, split the two types of sleep right down the middle, spending about 50% of their total sleeping time on each. Why?
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REM sleep is associated with learning and memory-creation, and since babies develop so fast, they need much more of it than adults do.
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Lighter sleep allows babies to wake up faster when they’re hungry or need something.
Takeaways
If you’re a new parent struggling with your baby’s sleep schedule, keep in mind that most problems will eventually work themselves out. Over time, your baby will learn to self-soothe, their sleep cycles will lengthen, and they’ll spend more and more time in deep sleep. In the meantime, enjoy all the cuddles and snuggles you can get from your sleepy baby right now.