Baby Sleeping Pattern
Sleep is a very important activity in your baby's life. If you observe her sleeping pattern, she sleeps most of the time and may spend just a few hours awake. It is not uncommon to find yourself having to wake up the little one for her feed. She may also go to sleep while nursing.
It may be hard to believe, but the length of each sleeping session is determined by how you decide to feed her. If you breastfeed her, she is awake or has to be woken up after about every two to three hours. If she is fed with formula, the length of each sleep session can be about three to four hours. A baby's sleep cycles are shorter than that of an adult and are more often associated with light sleep.
If your baby is a breastfeeding baby, the length of sleep at different stages in your baby's life may be given as follows:
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Months 1 and 2
- Your baby sleeps for about one to three hours at a time during the day and around 15 hours the whole day. If she sleeps continuously for four hours during the day, you may have to wake her up. Although you may not enjoy disturbing your little one's sleep, it is important that she gets fed on time.
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Months 3 and 4
- She sleeps for about nine hours at night and six hours during the day. Each sleeping session in the morning lasts for about two to three hours. Nearly half of her sleep is REM sleep.
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6 months
- Her night sleep lasts for about 11 hours. In the mornings, she may sleep for only about four hours. Each sleep session is for about 1.5 to 2.5 hours. After this stage, her sleeps are more or less regulated. The morning naps last for lesser hours. Both you and your baby will enjoy a good night's sleep.
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Months 8 to 12
- Your baby may sleep for a couple of hours in the morning and spend about 13 to 14 hours sleeping at night.
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1 year
- Your baby's REM at this stage is only about 25% and it is nearly the same as that of an adult. The REM sleep induces brain stimulation and assists in the neural connections.
