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When will my baby sleep longer between feeds


Sleep and Your 1- to 3-Month-Old (for Parents)

Just when you think that getting more shut-eye is a far-off dream, your baby will begin to sleep longer stretches at night. Baby's sleep cycle is getting closer to yours, and your little one may be feeding less often at night.

But don't assume you'll be hitting the snooze button just yet. At this stage, "sleeping through the night" is considered to be a stretch of only 5 or 6 hours.

How Long Will My Baby Sleep?

Because babies this age are more awake, alert, and aware of their surroundings during daylight hours, they're more likely to be tired at night and sleep. But the range of normal is still very wide.

Infants up to 3 months old should get 14–17 hours of sleep over a 24-hour period, says the National Sleep Foundation. Many will have settled into a daily sleep routine of 2-3 naps during the day, followed by a longer "sleeping through the night" stretch after a late-night feeding.

How Should Babies Sleep?

The American of Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends room-sharing without bed-sharing for at least the first 6 months or, ideally, until a baby's first birthday. This is when the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) is highest.

Room-sharing is when you place your baby's crib, portable crib, play yard, or bassinet in your own bedroom instead of in a separate room. This keeps baby nearby and helps with feeding, comforting, and monitoring baby at night.

While room-sharing is safe, putting your baby to sleep in bed with you is not. Bed-sharing increases the risk of SIDS and other sleep-related deaths.

Follow these recommendations for a safe sleep environment for your little one:

  • Always place your baby on their back to sleep, not on the stomach or side. The rate of SIDS has gone way down since the AAP began recommending this in 1992.
  • Use a firm, flat sleep surface. Cover the mattress with a sheet that fits snugly.
  • Do not put anything else in the crib or bassinet. Keep plush toys, pillows, blankets, unfitted sheets, quilts, comforters, sheepskins, and bumper pads out of your baby's sleep area.
  • To avoid overheating, dress your baby for the room temperature and don't overbundle. Don't cover your baby's head while they're sleeping. Watch for signs of overheating, such as sweating or feeling hot to the touch.
  • Keep your baby away from smokers. Secondhand smoke increases the risk of SIDS.
  • Offer a pacifier to your baby at sleep time, but don’t force it. If the pacifier falls out during sleep, you don’t have to replace it. If you're breastfeeding, wait until breastfeeding is firmly established.
  • Watch out for other hazards, such as items with cords, ties, or ribbons that can wrap around a baby's neck, and objects with any kind of sharp edge or corner. Look around for things that your baby can touch from a seated or standing position in the crib. Hanging mobiles, wall hangings, pictures, draperies, and window blind cords could be harmful if they are within a baby's reach.
  • Don’t let your baby fall asleep on a product that isn’t specifically designed for sleeping babies, such as a sitting device (like a car seat), a feeding pillow (like the Boppy pillow), or an infant lounger (like the Dock-a-Tot, Podster, and Bummzie).
  • Don’t use products or devices that claim to lower the risk of SIDS, such as sleep positioners (like wedges or incliners) or monitors that can detect a baby’s heart rate and breathing pattern. No known products can actually do this.
  • Don’t use weighted blankets, sleepers, or swaddles on or around your baby.
  • Make sure that all sleep surfaces and products you use to help your baby sleep have been approved by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and meet federal safety standards.

Helping Your Baby Sleep

If you haven't already, start a bedtime routine that will be familiar and relaxing for your baby. Bathing, reading, and singing can soothe babies and signal an end to the day. Some babies like to be swaddled (wrapped in a light blanket). This is OK until they start to roll (typically, when they're 3 to 4 months old). Be consistent and your baby will soon associate these steps with sleeping.

If you rock your baby to sleep before bedtime, your little one may expect to be rocked to sleep after nighttime awakenings. Instead, try putting your baby into a crib or bassinet while drowsy but still awake. This way your baby will learn to fall asleep on their own.

Some babies squirm, whine, and even cry a little before falling back to sleep on their own. Unless you think that your baby is hungry or ill, see what happens if you leave your baby alone for a few minutes — they might settle down.

If your baby wakes during the period that you want them to sleep, keep activity to a minimum. Try to keep the lights low and resist the urge to play with or talk to your baby. Change or feed your baby and then return your little one to the crib or bassinet.

If your baby is waking early for a morning feeding, some small changes may allow a slight shift in schedule. You might try waking your baby for the late-night feeding at a time that suits your sleep schedule:

  • For instance, if your baby sleeps after a 7 p.m. feeding and wakes up at 2 a.m. to eat, try waking the baby to feed at 11 p.m. Then, put your little one down to sleep until an early-morning feeding at 5 a. m. or 6 a.m.

It may take a few nights to establish this routine, but being consistent will improve your chances of success.

When Should I Call the Doctor?

Some infants at this age will start sleeping through the night, but there is a wide range of normal. If you have questions about your baby's sleep, talk with your doctor.

Sleep and Your Newborn (for Parents)

Newborns don't yet have a sense of day and night. They sleep around the clock, and because their tiny stomachs don't hold enough breast milk or formula to keep them satisfied for long, they wake often to eat — no matter what time of day or night it is.

How Long Will My Newborn Sleep?

Newborns should get 14–17 hours of sleep over a 24-hour period, says the National Sleep Foundation. Some newborns may sleep up to 18–19 hours a day.

Newborns wake every couple of hours to eat. Breastfed babies feed often, about every 2–3 hours. Bottle-fed babies tend to feed less often, about every 3–4 hours.

Newborns who sleep for longer stretches should be awakened to feed. Wake your baby every 3–4 hours to eat until he or she shows good weight gain, which usually happens within the first couple of weeks. After that, it's OK to let your baby sleep for longer periods of time at night.

The first months of a baby's life can be the hardest for parents, who might get up many times at night to tend to the baby. Each baby has a different sleep pattern. Some start to sleep "through the night" (for 5–6 hours at a time) by 2–3 months of age, but some don't.

How Should Babies Sleep?

During the first weeks of a baby's life, some parents choose to room-share. Room-sharing is when you place your baby's crib, portable crib, play yard, or bassinet in your own bedroom instead of in a separate nursery. This keeps baby nearby and helps with feeding, comforting, and monitoring at night. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends room-sharing without bed-sharing.

While room-sharing is safe, putting your infant to sleep in bed with you is not. Bed-sharing increases the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) and other sleep-related deaths.

Follow these recommendations for a safe sleep environment for your little one:

  • Always place your baby on their back to sleep, not on the stomach or side. The rate of SIDS has gone way down since the AAP began recommending this in 1992.
  • Use a firm, flat sleep surface. Cover the mattress with a sheet that fits snugly.
  • Do not put anything else in the crib or bassinet. Keep plush toys, pillows, blankets, unfitted sheets, quilts, comforters, sheepskins, and bumper pads out of your baby's sleep area.
  • To avoid overheating, dress your baby for the room temperature and don't overbundle. Don't cover your baby's head while they're sleeping. Watch for signs of overheating, such as sweating or feeling hot to the touch.
  • Keep your baby away from smokers.  Secondhand smoke increases the risk of SIDS.
  • Offer a pacifier to your baby at sleep time, but don’t force it. If the pacifier falls out during sleep, you don’t have to replace it. If you're breastfeeding, wait until breastfeeding is firmly established.
  • Watch out for other hazards, such as items with cords, ties, or ribbons that can wrap around a baby's neck, and objects with any kind of sharp edge or corner. Look around for things that your baby can touch from a seated or standing position in the crib. Hanging mobiles, wall hangings, pictures, draperies, and window blind cords could be harmful if they are within a baby's reach.
  • Don’t let your baby fall asleep on a product that isn’t specifically designed for sleeping babies, such as a sitting device (like a car seat), a feeding pillow (like the Boppy pillow), or an infant lounger (like the Dock-a-Tot, Podster, and Bummzie).
  • Don’t use products or devices that claim to lower the risk of SIDS, such as sleep positioners (like wedges or incliners) or monitors that can detect a baby’s heart rate and breathing pattern. No known products can actually do this.
  • Don’t use weighted blankets, sleepers, or swaddles on or around your baby.
  • Make sure that all sleep surfaces and products you use to help your baby sleep have been approved by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and meet federal safety standards.

Helping Your Newborn Sleep

Newborns follow their own schedule. Over the next couple of weeks to months, you and your baby will begin to settle into a routine.

It may take a few weeks for your baby's brain to know the difference between night and day. Unfortunately, there are no tricks to speed this up, but it helps to keep things quiet and calm during middle-of-the-night feedings and diaper changes. Try to keep the lights low and resist the urge to play with or talk to your baby. This will send the message that nighttime is for sleeping. If possible, let your baby fall asleep in the crib at night so your little one learns that it's the place for sleep.

Don't try to keep your baby up during the day in the hopes that your little one will sleep better at night. Overly tired infants often have more trouble sleeping at night than those who've had enough sleep during the day.

If your newborn is fussy it's OK to rock, cuddle, and sing as your baby settles down. Swaddling (wrapping the baby in a light blanket) can also help to soothe a crying baby. If you swaddle your baby and they start trying to roll over, that is a sign that you can stop swaddling. For the first months of your baby's life, "spoiling" is definitely not a problem. In fact, newborns who are held or carried during the day tend to have less colic and fussiness.

When Should I Call the Doctor?

While most parents can expect their newborn to sleep or catnap a lot during the day, the range of what is normal is quite wide. If you have questions about your baby's sleep, talk with your doctor.

How to sleep with a baby

establish a general routine

What do most women do when their baby falls asleep? Someone rushes to cook, someone begins to hastily clean the apartment, iron, wash - there are always plenty of things to do in the family. But in vain. You can do household chores even when the baby is awake, but he definitely won’t let you sleep. Therefore, if a son or daughter falls asleep, drop everything and go to bed with the child. There is no perfect order or dinner is not prepared? You can do all this later, when you rest, and, by the way, you will most likely spend much less time and effort. Therefore, the first rule of mom's regimen: sleep when the baby sleeps. To feel normal, a woman (especially a nursing mother) must sleep both at night and during the day. So adjust the general regimen of the day: you can adapt to the child’s sleep, or, on the contrary, you can adjust the child’s sleep to your routine (although this will be more difficult to do). nine0005

accept help

Use volunteers as often as possible to babysit, walk, or simply feed. And here the help of the husband, grandparents will be invaluable. Do not trust the baby mother-in-law? Do you think that dad will not be able to entertain the baby for a couple of hours? Worried that grandpa will get lost with the baby while strolling around the house? In vain. Your loved ones are adults, they wish both you and the baby only the best and are unlikely to harm him in any way. At most, a diaper is buttoned crookedly, an extra blouse is put on the baby, or they give him the wrong nipple. nine0005

If possible, make arrangements with your family so that they can babysit at least two or three times a week, giving you a couple of hours to sleep and rest. By the way, for this you can invite a nanny. And again - no household chores at this time, only - sleep!

sleeping with the baby

Co-sleeping has many advantages: the mother doesn't have to get up, wake up, go to the crib, get the baby out of it. She can feed the baby and at the same time almost never wake up: after all, the baby will find the breast on its own. Yes, and many children sleep only with their parents - in order to fall asleep, some babies need to feel the familiar smell and warmth of a loved one. This method has both its supporters and opponents, but in any case, if you choose to sleep together, you need to ensure the safety of the child. You can not put the child on the edge of the bed - he can turn around and fall to the floor; you can not put it next to the parent pillow - the baby may turn unsuccessfully and his breathing will be disturbed. nine0005

And it's best not to put the baby in the same bed with adults, but simply move the crib to the parent's bed, after removing the side rail from it (today there are even special cribs for sleeping together). So the child will feel the closeness of mom and dad, and parents will sleep peacefully, without worrying about his safety.

“Stock up” with sleep

Scientists have found that lack of sleep or insomnia is fully compensated by a full rash preceding it (or following it). And if so, then you can “stock up” on sleep. A couple of times a week (well, or one for sure) you need to arrange a day for yourself when the dream lasts 8-9hours per day. Here again, relatives or a nanny will come to the rescue. You can select once a week when you sleep all night, and dad gets up at night for the baby. True, this is convenient when the child is bottle-fed or at least agrees to drink expressed mother's milk from a bottle at night. If this is not possible, then you need to agree with your husband that, for example, on the weekend he takes the child and works with him for a couple of morning hours, and you fill up the missing time. Or let your grandmother (nanny) come in the morning, who will also let you make up for a night's sleep. nine0005

go to bed together at night

Usually, after putting her baby to bed, a mother either rushes to finish the day's chores, or tries to find time for herself (surf the Internet, read a book, watch TV, get a manicure). But it is the first three to four hours of sleep at night that children sleep best. Take note of this and go to bed at night at the same time as your baby. Otherwise, you have not yet had time to fall asleep (or just fell asleep), as the baby woke up for night feeding or just like that. As a result, you will get not only a shortened night's sleep, but for sure at night the baby will wake up a couple more times and interrupt it. nine0005

put the child to bed early

As a rule, an adult who goes to bed early wakes up earlier. But in children there is no such pattern. Therefore, do not be afraid that today, having fallen asleep before 9 pm, tomorrow the baby will wake you up at dawn. On the contrary, the later the child falls asleep, the worse and more restless he sleeps. And just early laying gives a more complete and prolonged night's sleep. And this is exactly what a tired mom needs! But in order to establish such a daily routine, all family members will have to try. But then it becomes much easier for them. nine0005

Try to improve your routine and sleep more, and the whole family will feel much better. Even with a small child, it is possible not to feel sleep deprivation. Try it and see for yourself.

If this arrangement suits all members of your family, practice co-sleeping. This is a real salvation for mothers whose children often wake up at night. Sleep deficiency disrupts the formation of serotonin in the body - a biologically active substance, which is also called the hormone of happiness, calmness and good mood. As a result, a person deprived of normal rest constantly experiences irritability and a feeling of depression

Try to instill a regular sleep-wake schedule in your child. This will make your day more organized and make you less tired.

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THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP - articles from the experts at the Mother and Child Clinic

Advice #1 Don't try to get your baby to sleep through the night.

Features of the nervous and digestive system of a child of the first year of life, especially if he is breastfed, do not allow him to sleep all night.

In the first months of life, he can sleep at night without waking up for no more than five hours. Usually the interval between feedings is from 2.5 to 5 hours. For a complete nutrition of the baby, his daytime sleep should not exceed 2-3 hours. Only after 6 months do babies mature physiologically to sleep for 6-8 hours without waking up. nine0005

Advice #2 Don't write off baby's restless behavior as "colic, teeth, growth spurts".

Parents often explain the crying and restlessness of the baby before and during sleep with colic, teeth, or the transition to a new stage of development. In fact, the reason in most cases lies elsewhere. Try to record all the intervals of sleep and wakefulness during the day, as well as the behavior of the child during these periods. Analyze whether the baby is “walking” - at this age it is extremely important not to exceed the norms for wakefulness, and also to sleep the required number of hours so that fatigue from lack of sleep does not accumulate. In addition, sometimes children are sensitive to errors in their mother's diet. Observe, change those factors that disturb the baby, and the child will probably sleep better. nine0005

Tip #3 Don't let your child get tired.

It is important for a mother to learn to recognize the first signs of fatigue and “catch” these moments in time to put the baby to bed.

Tip #4 Set up a sleep ritual.

The rhythm of life in the city, unfortunately, means that in the evening, when it's time for the child to go to bed, the whole family finally gets home after work, the baby's emotions "go wild", even if they are positive. It is important to adjust the child's regimen to the routine in the family, so that in the evening a quiet calm atmosphere is maintained in the house and the set time for falling asleep is observed. The ritual can be as follows: after bathing, give the baby a light relaxing massage, feed, turn on white noise or sing a lullaby, put your favorite soft toy next to it, and put the baby to bed. The ritual of repetitive actions will set the child up for sleep and help form the right habit. nine0005

Lack of sleep can lead to chronic fatigue and disruption of the child's nervous system. Scientific studies show that children who sleep less than the norm for their age have an increased risk of hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder .

Advice #5 Try to adjust the sleep time to the child's biological rhythms.

Baby's biorhythms are programmed for daylight hours, that is, for early bedtime and early rise. As practice shows, children adjust to daylight hours, and morning awakening has almost no effect on going to bed. So basically the kids wake up between 6.00-8.00. Sleep experts recommend that babies, especially those older than 4 months, be put to bed between 19until 9 pm (in summer, when it gets dark later, you need to darken the room with curtains). So you can avoid fatigue and lack of sleep. To re-arrange your baby for early bedtime, move your bedtime 15 minutes earlier each day.

Tip #6 Get outdoors more.

Many children sleep much better outside in a stroller. There are children who sleep little and restlessly at home, and sleep soundly for hours in a stroller. This is normal, so stock up on audiobooks and a thermos of tea and go out on your "distance" in the park. nine0005

Advice #7 Don't try to introduce complementary foods early for a good night's sleep.

This can backfire as the baby's immature digestive system is not ready to digest "adult" food.

Tip #8 Sing lullabies to your baby.

Even if it seems to you that you are deprived of vocal abilities, sing to your child. Psychologists say that the mother's voice and her heartbeat are the main soothing sounds for the baby. Studies of infants' responses to music have shown that because infants' hearts beat faster than adults, they enjoy the faster rhythm of musical compositions. They also prefer female vocals and high timbre. nine0005

Tip #9 Create all the conditions in the bedroom.

Let the very atmosphere in the room set you up for relaxation. Ventilate it well before going to bed, and also darken it with curtains and try to ensure silence.

Tip #10 Cultivate good habits.

Try not to let the baby fall asleep on the breast, so that from the very beginning he will separate feeding and sleep. Place your baby in your crib regularly so that he gets used to having his own place to sleep. It’s good if he regularly spends some part of the night at his place. nine0005

Strictly follow the age norms of sleep and wakefulness - these are the main conditions for sound sleep, which means good mood and proper development of the baby.

tips

pediatrician

Svetlana

Vladimirovna

Petina, Chief

doctor of the children's center of the clinic "Mother

nine0050 and child" Kuntsevo

1. Consider your child's needs

Many babies sleep well

after bathing,

however, there are babies,

on whom a bath,

even with the addition of relaxing

herbs, acts,

vice versa, exciting. Be guided by your own

child - if

after a bath his sleep

as if by hand,

transfer bathing

to the morning or afternoon.

2. Consult physicians

If your child

is not enough and restless

sleeps, then it is worth it to consult

with a pediatrician and a neurologist, as well as

, make the necessary examinations,

, for example, ultrasound

brain,

To check

intracranial pressure. Doctors will evaluate

psychosomatic nine0005

baby status and

his psychomotor development

.

3.

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