Sleep is a time for your 5-week-old baby to grow. Her brain, memory, body and learning are all developing during sleep. If she doesn't get enough sleep, she may become cranky and agitated, and even more serious, she may suffer stress or a depressed immune system, according to Professor Avi Sadeh of TinyLove.com. Charts stating "average" sleep hours for your 5-week-old may differ from what you experience. However, keep in mind that babies are individuals and their sleep times vary.
Circadian Rhythms
A circadian rhythm is "the normal sleep-wake cycle that allows the cyclical release of hormones and restoration of energy, and allows optimal body functions during the day," according to Monash University, Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. These rhythms are what make you sleep at night and remain active during the day. Babies don't develop these rhythms until around four to six months of age, so a 5-week-old baby can feel sleepy or hungry at any time during a 24-hour period.
Sleep Cycles
Sleep for both adults and infants falls into two categories: active--or REM sleep--and quiet sleep. Cycling through sleep stages occurs at different intervals for babies and adults, and babies spend more time in REM sleep. The REM stage is important to babies, as this is when their brains develop, research suggests. The older the child grows, the less REM sleep he will need. According to ProfessorsHouse.com, a fetus' sleep is almost 100 percent REM, while a toddler's is only 25 percent REM.
According to TinyLove.com, "the growth hormone, the one responsible for a baby’s physical growth, is secreted mostly during the deep stages of a baby’s sleep." Five-week-old babies, just past the fetus stage, still need a great deal of REM sleep because their brains are developing rapidly, says ProfessorsHouse.com.
Sleep Requirements
If you look at a chart that lists the number of hours of sleep a 5-week-old baby needs, keep in mind that there is no specific number for every baby. Requirements vary, so the charts list averages. Do not be concerned if your baby sleeps a little less or more than what you see on the chart.
The Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital sleep chart states that a one-month-old baby will, on average, sleep about 15.5 hours a day, with about eight to nine of those hours at night. A 3-month-old baby still needs nearly as much sleep: 15 hours total, with about four to five of those at night. Five-week-olds will fall somewhere in between these ranges.
Day and Night
Once a baby is over two weeks old, according to Baby Center, you can start helping him learn the difference between night and day. The process happens gradually, but some things you can do include playing and talking to him during the day, keeping your house and the baby's room brightly lit, and allowing normal daytime noises (vacuuming, dishwasher, cat meowing) to continue throughout the day. During the night, keep your home dark and quiet, and when he wakes up to eat at night, keep him calm and quiet as much as possible. Don't expect your 5-week-old to learn this right away; he is still, on average, months away from being able to sleep through the night.
Sleeping Through the Night
Even if some of your friends have bragged about how their babies slept through the night at one month of age, that's rare, so don't worry if your 5-week-old isn't. "About two-thirds of babies are able to sleep through the night on a regular basis by the age of 6 months," reports the Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital. Until he is over 3 months old, "he'll probably never sleep for more than three or four hours at a time, day or night," reports Baby Center.
Keep in mind that once your baby does start sleeping through the night, he may go through periods where he again begins to wake at night. This is normal and happens due to teething, anxiety, being too tired or having an over-stimulating day.
