Newborn Baby Sleeping Habits
While bringing home a newborn is an exciting time in a family's history, a young infant's sleep patterns can cause exhaustion in new parents. Parents who know what to expect and know how to encourage healthy sleep habits in newborns can look forward to a more predictable sleep schedule as the baby grows.
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How Long Do Newborns Sleep?
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Newborns typically sleep 16 hours each day. The typical newborn sleeps 16 hours or more each day, according to the article, "Newborns and Sleep," in KidsHealth. Each infant is different, and while some babies sleep in stretches of three or four hours, others seem to wake every hour or two. A newborn's sleep is mainly motivated by her need for sustenance, since her small belly needs to be filled often. While formula-fed babies may be able to sleep in four-hour stretches, breast-fed babies digest their meals rapidly, and it is not unusual for them to request a feeding every two hours or so in the first weeks.
Infants and Naps
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New babies have an unpredictable nap schedule. Many parents would like to instill a regular nap routine in their baby, but the first weeks are more controlled by a baby's needs for sleep and eating. According to Healthy Children's "Sleeping by the Book," it can take several months before a little one settles into a routine schedule of a morning, afternoon and an evening nap. Until then, a newborn may develop a pattern of several naps each day of unpredictable length.
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Newborns with Day and Night Confusion
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Parents can take steps to help babies sleep better at night. In the womb, babies are often rocked to sleep during the day by their mother's activity. To the dismay of many new parents, this contributes to a newborn's confusion in her days and nights, and babies may need encouragement to sleep during the night and have more active awake periods during the daytime after they are born.
To encourage infants to be more alert during the day, parents can allow newborns to sleep in active places during daylight hours, such as in a swing or car seat in the midst of a place that is not darkened or quiet. This encourages an infant to nap in shorter spurts during the day.
At night, parents should make the atmosphere quiet and dark. When a baby wakes up for a feeding, parents should avoid stimulation during the feeding and changing process. Healthy Children's "Reversing Day-Night Reversal" suggests keeping lights low and speaking to the baby quietly and only as needed to teach the child the difference between day and night routines. Usually, it only takes a few days before an infant gets her days and nights straightened out.
When to Wake a Newborn
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It may be necessary to wake a newborn for feedings. A sleeping baby is a precious sight; however, parents may need to wake an infant on occasion to encourage good eating and sleeping habits. If a newborn has a tendency to take a long nap during the day and sleep in shorter stretches during the night, then parents can disrupt the long daytime nap to hopefully move it to nighttime.
Newborns also need to eat regularly, so according to the Children's Hospital at Stanford article "Newborn Sleep Patterns," it suggests waking a baby if she hasn't eaten in five hours for a feeding. This is especially important in premature babies or in infants who experience difficulty in gaining weight. Newborns can be sound sleepers, so parents who need to wake their little one can try undressing the baby, changing her diaper, and tickling her feet to encourage wakefulness.
Safe Sleeping for Newborns
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Always lay a baby down on his back to sleep. While recommendations for newborns have changed over the years, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) urges parents to put newborns to sleep on their back. An infant who sleeps on her side or stomach is at a higher risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and parents should never have any items, such as pillows, heavy blankets or stuffed animals, in a crib that can suffocate a newborn.
Although the subject of co-sleeping is debated, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the American Academy of Pediatrics strongly discourage parents from bringing a baby into an adult bed. KidsHealth states that these agencies warn of a higher incidence of suffocation or strangulation in adult beds. Parents are advised to have a newborn sleep in a crib or a bassinet next to the bed for convenient nighttime feedings and diaper changes.
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References
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