Sleep Patterns in Newborns

Your newborn baby will sleep as much as his body needs. Newborns can drop off to sleep in any situation. Since babies are not born with the ability to distinguish night and day, this is something you can teach your new baby.
* While you can’t get a newborn to sleep if he doesn’t need to, you can make a sleepy baby more comfortable. At bedtime, be sure the baby has burped, and has on a dry diaper.
* Put the baby in his crib on his back or side when he begins to doze during the day. Get him up when he is awake. If he is always put into his crib when he is sleepy, he will soon learn that the crib is the place for sleep.
* Help the baby learn the difference between night and day by picking him up and playing when he awakes during the day. This lets him know that daytime is playtime.
* When your newborn cries at night, go to him as soon as you can. Don’t let him get to a fully awake, and miserable, state. Pick him up, soothe him quietly, and feed him. Don’t turn on lights, play games, or even change a diaper if you don’t need to. The baby will learn that night time is not social time.
* Babies vary enormously in their capacity to sleep through the night. Some babies sleep through by age six weeks. Other babies wake once or twice a night until they are a year or more. Having your sleep disturbed can leave you feeling very tired. Wake the baby for a feeding at your bedtime if the baby has been asleep 2 to 3 hours.
* To help yourself get enough sleep, move the baby out of your room as soon as possible. In the baby’s first six weeks, it is natural to keep the baby close to you. After that time, his small movements may be waking you. Of course, you must be able to hear the baby when he cries.
* Don’t feed the baby to sleep. Try to put the baby into the crib when she is dozing off.
* Don’t get the baby used to being rocked or walked to sleep. The last thing the baby should remember prior to going to sleep is the crib or cradle. (Not the bottle, or the mother’s arms.)
* Don’t try to make the home 100 percent quiet. You may leave a radio or stereo on, or even vacuum, to get the baby used to household noises.

Most babies will sleep 6 to 8 hours through the night by 3 months of age or by the time they are 12 or 13 pounds. Talk with your healthcare provider if the baby doesn’t seem settled in a sleep pattern. Have faith; your baby will eventually sleep through the night