Infant Sleep Patterns

By design, Infant Sleep Patterns are erratic and full of interruptions.  You'll have no doubt heard the saying 'sleep like a baby' but in fact you wouldn't actually want to sleep like a baby because you would probably not feel too refreshed whan you wake in the morning!

Infants do not drop into a deep sleep as easily as adults or older children and so the periods of lighter sleep can make many infants prone to frequently waking and then crying and needing rocking back to sleep.

You have very likely had the experience of gently rocking your child to sleep only to find him or her wake as soon as they are gently placed into their cot?  This is because they were still in a light sleep when you put them down and so the slight movement woke them again. If this is happening to you frequently, the answer can often be to continue the rocking for a number of minutes after your infant falls asleep in your arms before you lay them in their cot.  This gives a far greater chance of them being in a deeper sleep and not waking when you move them.

At around three months of age your infant will very likely be sleeping for fifteen or the twenty-four hours in a day. Around eight and a half or nine of these hours should be at night.  Please remember though, that babies don't read a sleep pattern manual and so whereas one child may follow the expected pattern to the letter, another infant may be totally different!

Infant sleep patterns at the age of six months will likely consist of night time sleep (which with proper training can easily be for the whole night), plus probably two daytime naps of around two hours each.

By the time your infant reaches his or her first birthday, sleep will probably account for thirteen to fourteen hours in a day with only two hours of this being in daytime naps.

If your infant is not sleeping well and has very erratic infant sleep patterns, it is very possible for you help him or her by teaching them to sleep properly. For further information on this, I fully recommend The Baby Sleep Solution which you can find by clicking HERE.