Congratulations, your baby is hale and hearty.
However, you constantly worry about his sleeping pattern; he’s barely awake for three hours in a day and sleeps actively for about 18 hours.
Don’t worry, you are not alone. Many women face this same dilemma at one point or another.
Let us walk you through what you need to know; we are here for you.
Babies under the age of one are naturally lighter sleepers compared with adults. They spend most of their sleeping time in active sleep instead of quiet sleep.
When sleeping actively, newborns breathe shallowly and move their arms and legs uncontrollably sometimes. In addition to eye movement under the eyelids.
Nevertheless, it is easy to wake a child from active sleep. As your baby grows, the total amount of sleep gradually decreases, but the length of nighttime sleep increases.
A newborn has not learnt to sleep normally when it is dark. They usually start to learn this rhythm of sleep when they are about 6 weeks old.
You can help your baby to learn to sleep more at night by exposing them to light and playing with them during the day, and providing a dim and quiet environment to aid sleep at night.
From 12 months, babies sleep patterns are more similar to yours.
As they approach their first birthday; babies tend to sleep longer, wake up less, nap once or twice during the day and sleep more in the night.
By the time they turn one year old, babies are likely to sleep for 8 to 12 hours at night, waking only once or twice in that time.
You can help your baby sleep by recognizing signs that they are tired and ready to call it in.
Your child may show signs of being ready for sleep with the following:
In conclusion, babies in their first few months have a different sleep pattern to yours. Understanding their pattern can help you plan your personal routine for the day and plan for their welfare appropriately (meal times, play times etc).
See also: Circumcision in Baby Boys
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