After babies are born, their patterns of sleep include sleeping through most of the day. According to the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, newborns usually need about 16 hours of sleep per day. As they get older, they sleep less overall for each day, but their sleeping periods grow longer. At 1 year of age, the amount of sleep they need has lessened to 14 hours per day. At 2 years of age, the amount of sleep they need has lessened to 13 hours per day. However, common problems can cause infants to have difficulty sleep.
Night Feeding
Some infants will wake during the night to be fed. The infants can be insistent that feedings are needed. This disruption of sleep can be countered by lengthening the time between feedings, diluting the feedings and steadily decreasing the volume of the feedings.
Night Crying
By the time infants reach the age of 4 months, they should be able to soothe themselves back to sleep upon waking up during the night. If they require parental soothing, the infants are considered to be trained night criers--that is, they have been conditioned to believe that crying during the night will bring them attention and the soothing sounds and comfort of a parent.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome
Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome is a condition that is characterized by snoring and difficulty with breathing during the night. It is also associated with breathing through the mouth during sleep. Children with severe problems usually find relief from the symptoms after an adenoidectomy and tonsillectomy.
Colic
Colic does not actually cause problems with sleep, although babies and infants with colic generally have shorter sleep patterns than children without colic. However, some of the strategies that parents use to deal with a colicky baby, such as constant handling and soothing, can result in problems with an infant in returning to sleep after waking up during the night, because the baby has been conditioned to be able to fall asleep only while being soothed.
