Newborn First Month Sleep Pattern

I never knew the value of sleep, until I had a baby. Sleep seemed to be the most elusive thing with my newborn around. What was once an easy thing seemed to be next to impossible. I had sleepless nights for the first few months, while my baby was happily awake.

It’s normal for some newborns to sleep up to 20 hours per day according to Scott Cohen, pediatrician and author of Eat Sleep Poop: A Common Sense Guide to Your Baby’s First Year.

A newborn sleeps for 16-18 hours on an average. They sleep for a longer time during the day and stay awake through the night. Getting the baby to sleep is challenging, but being aware of sleep-related dynamics, might ease you and prepare you for those sleepless nights to come. Here’s how the newborn’s sleep is going to be like in the first month:

Week 1: The newborn will sleep for 30 minutes to three hours at random times while feeding in between. You have to wake him up frequently for feeds. When newborns go to sleep, they slip into ‘active sleep’. This is similar to REM (rapid eye movement) sleep in adults, where they wake up quickly at the slightest of sounds. Babies are likely to sleep in this state for 25 minutes, and then transition to ‘quiet sleep’, which is a deep state of sleep. Unlike active sleep, newborns do not wake up quickly during quiet sleep.

Week 2: The newborn is likely to sleep anywhere between 16-18 hours a day. Now that you are fairly acquainted with his feeding time and sleep pattern, you can let him sleep and wake him up for regular feeds.

Week 3: Babies learn to fall asleep on their own by the third week. He will be more awake, and wakes up or cries whenever he is hungry or his clothes are soiled. You can keep track of his feed time, and that will make him sleep when he feels full.

Week 4: By the fourth week newborns will sleep for 12 – 16 hours. But some baby’s sleep for nine hours while a few other babies might sleep for 19 hours in a day. You can try introducing a sleeping routine at this time.

Every baby has an individual rhythm, some babies sleep for hours, while others are up in an hour. Newborns are not ready for a strict sleep routine or schedule until they are six months old. Here are some tips to help your baby sleep better:

• Make him have regular naps every two hours: Help your baby nap after every feed, so that he understands that it’s time to nap after feeding. Don’t wait for more than two hours to put him to nap because he will be overtired.

• Train your baby to differentiate between day and night: This is very important and will go a long way in developing good sleeping habits. Try keeping him active by interacting with him during the day. Let there be enough natural and room light and don’t try hard to reduce the regular noises at home. At night you can dim the lights, talk less, play soothing music, and calm the environment. You should hint that night is the time for sleeping.

• Watch out for the signs: If your baby looks visibly tired, rubs his eyes, pulls his ears, or is generally fussy, then put him to sleep.  

• Bedtime routine: Set in a routine early for bedtime by giving a warm shower or massage, telling a bedtime story, or by singing a lullaby. Once a sleep routine is set, the other daily routines fall in place.

Motherhood comes naturally to a woman. You will instinctively know when the baby is hungry or sleepy, or when he needs your warm touch. So, don’t lose your patience, instead keep trying at least for two months.

We hope our tips will help you set a sleep routine for your baby. So, don’t worry about the sleepless nights – it’s just a passing phase. Let your baby slip into that deep slumber, while you can relax like a queen.

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This post was originally posted on MomJunction