7 facts about a sleeping baby

Adorable baby sleeping

One of the most difficult transitions new parents have to make is that of getting a good night’s sleep once their baby arrives. Many new parents wonder if their infant will ever sleep through the night.

An infant’s sleep habit can turn a house upside down during those first few weeks or months. But when you take the time to train your baby to develop consistent sleep habits and learn to ‘read’ your baby, good things happen. The following list of ‘sleep facts’ is sure to help get you started on understanding your baby’s sleep habits better:

Hours of sleep

An infant needs 10 to 12 hours of sleep per day during the first year of life. This sleep will likely happen every 3 to 4 hours during the first 8 to 12 weeks of life due to the fact that an infant also needs to eat every 2 to 4 hours during this same period of time.

Baby clues

Babies give clues telling you they are ready to go to sleep. These clues come in two stages. First stage clues: yawning, redness in the eye area (especially under the eyebrows) and rubbing the eyes, ears or head with their hand. 

Second stage clues: fussiness, clenching their hands into fists, holding their bodies stiffly and finally…crying and screaming.

Too tired

Babies can get too tired to sleep. An infant who is sleep-deprived will have a harder time going to sleep than one who slept two to three hours prior. 

That’s right, the more sleep an infant gets the better they will sleep. Parents of infants need to develop a pattern of feed, play, sleep. 

In the beginning, this pattern will repeat itself every 2-3 hours. As your baby gets older, the pattern will repeat itself every 4-6 hours. 

And finally, your baby will learn to get up each morning, take an afternoon nap and be set until bedtime (7 to 9 pm) before starting over the next morning.

A baby getting some shut eye