Babies sleep differently than adults in a number of ways. To confuse you even more when trying to figure out your child's sleep patterns, babies' sleep patterns change frequently in the first year. An infant has different sleep cycles than adults, which can make bedtime transitions hard for you until you recognize and adapt to the differences.
Amount
Newborns sleep 16 out of 24 hours a day, with only eight to nine hours occurring at night, according to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. By the time an infant reaches 3 months of age, he sleeps only slightly less, 15 hours a day, but nine to 10 hours a night. By age 6 months, he sleeps 10 hours a night. Around 66 percent of infants can sleep through the night at this age, while sleeping only four hours during the day, CHP adds. By age 1 year, the average infant sleeps 11 hours a night, a number that stays consistent for the next several years, and sleeps three hours during the day, a number that decreases to two hours by age 2.
Stages
Newborns have short sleep cycles compared to adults, about 50 to 60 minutes compared to 90 to 100 minutes for adults, Parenting Science states. Unlike adults, who pass through a series of sleep stages, babies have only two: light sleep and deep sleep, the same source adds. In light sleep, the equivalent of adult REM sleep, the infant moves, twitches, breathes irregularly and cries out. Infants spend 50 percent of sleep time in the light stage, compared to adults, who spend only 20 percent of the night in REM sleep, Parenting Science reports. By age 3, a child spends 30 percent of the night in REM sleep.
Patterns
Newborns don't take signals from the sun about when it's time to get up or go to bed, Parenting Science explains, a fact you may realize all too well if you're a new parent. It takes several months for a newborn to become acclimated to the 24-hour day and settle into a routine schedule. While night waking can tire new parents, it protects the infants from sleeping so deeply at a time when they can't communicate their needs in any way but by crying, pediatrician and author William Sears, M.D. states.
Benefits
Longer REM cycles appear to have developmental benefits for infants, according to Dr. Sears. REM sleep is a learning state that helps stimulate the baby's brain growth and development. Blood flow to the brain nearly doubles and nerve protein manufacture increases during that time, he adds.
Concerns
Most new parents realize their newborn won't -- and actually shouldn't -- sleep through the night, but a 6-month-old is a different story. While some babies can self-soothe from light to deep sleep, some children need comfort to go from one cycle to another, Dr. Sears explains, and your baby may still wake briefly between sleep cycles and need a little soothing even though they don't need a meal. Parents can also unconsciously set up poor sleeping habits. If you always hold the baby as he goes to sleep, for example, this becomes a hard-to-break pattern for the baby.
