Sleep needs: newborn – 3 years

Each child has different sleep requirements although a child will generally be consistent in their sleep needs from one day to the next.

Just like us, babies have a quiet (deep) and an active sleep that they go through in the course of their sleep.

Through the deep sleep they will be still and breath deeper as their body is already busy releasing growth hormones.

In the active sleep they are having their REM sleep (rapid eye movement) and this is when we all dream. It’s during this sleep that they can be easily disturbed.

It is also when they are busy with all the tasks of the day and making sense of everything.

They generally have 50% of each sleep in one sleep time.

There is no specific formula that will ensure your baby will have a good sleep or continue to sleep well.

A baby as they grow has different sleep needs and there are many factors that can influence and disrupt their sleep patterns.

It is actually quite common as a baby grows for there to be disturbances in what may be seen as their ‘normal’ sleep routine.

This can be for many reasons such as if your child has had an illness, you have travelled or they have a new bed/room then their sleep pattern may be disrupted for a period.

Also if you are constantly waking your child up in the morning, then they may not be having enough sleep.

We discuss this in more depth https://www.seriouslykids.com.au/sleep-disruptions-in-children/

Newborn – 6 weeks:

A newborn’s sleep is important.

It is when they grow, learn, develop and in turn helps them to make sense of the world around them.

When your little baby is snoozing they have a lot going on. Some parts of their brain are more active than when they are awake.

When they are awake they are absolutely fascinated by everything. It is this fascination that they are busy with when they are asleep. Their brain organizes and makes sense of what they have seen, felt, heard, touched, tasted, watched, etc. Their brain is ‘filing’ all these things. They certainly have a lot to do.

A newborns sleep patterns is quite disorganized in the first few weeks. Each sleep could range from 30 minutes to 3 hours long. By around 6 weeks it should become more regular.

They should have between 12 – 18 hours per day.

2-4 months:

They will have gradually developed a sleeping pattern that is more predictable.

Between 2- 4 months they generally get into a regular rhythm and have alert periods throughout the day and sleep longer stretches during the night. They will have generally 2 or 3 naps per day.

They should have around 15 hours per day.

5-9 months:

Their night time sleep no longer being interrupted by night feeds.

Daytime naps will have more consistency and routine to them with them tending to go for their naps at the same time and for the same period.

They will have around 14 hours per day.

9-12 months:

By 12 months they would have cut down their day naps. They will go from 3 or 4  down to 1 or 2 naps.

They are averaging around 14 hours per day with it growing to around the 11 hours mark for the night towards their 1st birthday as they decrease their day sleeps.

This is the time that they may experience disruptions in their sleep as they have a lot of developmental milestones occurring  and the neurological changes affect their sleep as well as the excitement of new skills may wake them or keep them awake.

They will have around 12-14 hours per day.

1-3 years:

By around 18 months they will start to reduce their sleep to one daytime nap. Generally the morning nap is the one that is discarded first.

Naps disappear altogether between 2 ½ – 5 years. Most toddlers will have learnt to sleep through the night but not all and this is generally considered normal if they have not.

Moving to a ‘big’ bed may disrupt sleep patterns for a short time and they generally move around 2 – 4 years.