Sleep deprivation quickly becomes part of new parents' lives. They struggle to meet the demands of a new family member whose sleep patterns are vastly different from their own. Soon, however, the baby's central nervous system develops and everyone gets more sleep at night. Even in the child's first few months, parents can begin laying the groundwork for healthy sleep habits that will last for years to come.
Time Frame
A baby's sleep needs depend on age, with a newborn requiring eight to nine hours during the daytime and eight hours at night. The sleep is, however, broken into small segments, according to Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. Only when they reach age 3 months, or weigh 12 to 13 pounds, can most babies sleep through the night, meaning a six- to eight-hour stretch. Doing so consistently takes longer, the hospital notes, with about two-thirds of infants regularly sleeping through the night at age 6 months. As babies get older, they need less sleep overall but sleep for longer periods at night. At age 1 year, they are down to 14 total hours of sleep--three during the day and 11 at night.
Types
Like adults, babies pass through several stages of sleep. Rapid eye movement, or REM, is light sleep filled with dreams, according to Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. This stage makes up about half of infants' total sleep time, far more than in older children and adults. Non-REM sleep falls into four stages. Stage 1 is drowsiness. Stage 2 is light sleep, in which the baby may startle easily. Stage 3 and Stage 4, both of which feature little movement, are deep sleep and very deep sleep, respectively. In newborns, the stages repeat, sometimes several times a night, in a standard cycle: Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4, Stage 3, Stage 2, REM.
Issues
After sleeping through the night for weeks or months, an infant may start waking up and crying again. This can, according to the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, be because of separation anxiety, a normal developmental stage in which the baby fears that because you are not present, you are not coming back. Overstimulation and being too tired can also cause sleeping difficulties. But a medical problem, such as an ear infection, can also be the root of the problem.
Tips
A bedtime routine can help your baby get to sleep and stay asleep, according to the Mayo Clinic. If you bathe, cuddle or read to your child every night, the child will soon realize that these activities mean it is time for bed. Put the infant into her crib when she is drowsy, but still awake, so she will not form a habit of falling asleep in your arms. If you need to provide feeding or other care during the night, the Mayo Clinic recommends, keep lights dim and use a low voice, so the baby does not think it is time to get up
Misconceptions
Despite the common belief, giving a baby solids, such as cereal in his milk bottle, before age 4 to 6 months is not a good way of encouraging longer sleep periods, according to BabyCenter.com. The ability to sleep all night is related to the child's age and maturity, not diet. The practice is a choking hazard and may not be nutritionally optimal. Another myth, according to BabyCenter.com, is that skipping daytime naps will help a baby sleep longer at night. In fact, the result can be a chemical reaction in the brain that makes the child sleep fitfully--and wake up earlier.
