Understanding Your Baby’s Sleep: Everything You Need to Know

New parenthood can be overwhelming, and sleep can be one of the most challenging aspects. As many parents experience gritty nights and zombie-like days, it’s essential to understand that babies don’t sleep like adults. Here’s what you need to know:

• Newborns sleep up to 18 hours per day.

Although parents of newborns often complain about a lack of sleep, babies need a massive amount of sleep – fifteen to eighteen hours each day. However, newborns break up this sleep into chunks spread out over 24 hours, including both day and night. The good news is that over the early months, their biological clock kicks in, and they start to consolidate more sleep during the night.

• Newborns can only stay awake for 45 minutes to an hour.

Newborns can only stay awake happily for very short periods of time – an hour or less. While this gradually increases, by six months, most babies can stay awake for two to three hours, but that’s still a relatively short span of awake periods. If your baby stays awake beyond their happy awake time, they can quickly become overtired and fussy, disrupting sleep, growth, and temperament. To avoid this, keep an eye on the clock and your baby’s signals to ensure they get adequate sleep.

• Newborns are noisy, active sleepers.

Newborns are not quiet, still sleepers. They grunt, groan, coo, moan, twitch, and shift during sleep. Some newborns even cry or nurse while sound asleep! These noises and movements don’t always signal awakening or require action. If your baby is sleeping, let them sleep. Constant motion can also result in a baby falling, so use an anti-roll pillow for newborns to prevent this. Comfortable clothes and cozy booties help too, as babies tend to sleep better when they’re warm and comfortable.

Overall, it’s crucial to understand that newborns have different sleep patterns and needs than adults. Pay attention to your baby’s signals and patterns, provide a comfortable sleep environment, and offer plenty of opportunities for sleep throughout the day and night.

4. Newborns are accustomed to constant sounds in the womb, so they may find a completely quiet room unsettling. However, sudden noises like clanging dishes, barking dogs, and loud television sounds can disrupt their sleep. To avoid this, white noise can be used to mask household noises and create a constant, soothing sound. Pink noise, which is a variant of white noise, is ideal for creating a full and monotonous sound that resembles the sound of a heartbeat, humidifier, ocean waves, or rain. The volume of the pink noise should be enough to cover sharp noises but not too loud to harm the baby’s delicate hearing.

5. Newborns do not differentiate between day and night since there was no significant difference in the womb. As a result, they may think that their caregivers are the ones who are mixed up with their sleep patterns. Unlike adults who sleep in one extended nighttime period, newborns tend to sleep in four to seven (or more) short sleep periods throughout the day and night. This is natural for newborns and will eventually develop into a more consistent sleep pattern over the first few months.