Whoever came up with the saying ‘slept like a baby’ obviously had never had their own baby at home before. Although we have notions of babies dozing peacefully and falling asleep just about anywhere you hold them, the reality is quite different, as many parents would know.
Parents have so many questions about their little one’s nighttime routines and concerns about how much do babies sleep or how to get them to drift off are common ones. Although every baby is different, there are some things you can do to facilitate safe sleep for babies and get them to doze off without sending yourself crazy in the process.
We’re here to look at some common questions and concerns that parents have when it comes to their babies and sleep. Whether you want to learn about lullabies for babies to sleep or what their standard sleep patterns are, we’ve got some of the answers that might take the worry out of it for you.
Sleeps Patterns Of Babies
When an adult goes to sleep at night, it seems their head hits the pillow and they don’t wake up again for at least seven hours unless they’ve been disrupted. While this might seem easy, for babies it’s not so simple, and they’ll go through many different sleep patterns in their first 12 months of life.
When babies are first born, they will sleep a lot during the day and night in an on and off routine, averaging around 15 hours of sleep every 24 hours. They’ll wake constantly for feeding and to have their nappy changed, and as this schedule slows down it will happen less frequently.
From three months, they might start having a few daytime naps that can last up to two hours at a time. They’ll continue to wake through the night and this may happen still during the first year, however, some babies will stop waking around six months.
After six months of age, your baby should have a more clearly defined sleep schedule. You’ll notice their naps might decrease in frequency but the lengths get longer, and the stretches of sleep they have at night also get longer. By the time they’re one year old, they may have started having just one larger midday nap, although its common for some to still need two.
When Will My Baby Sleep Through The Night?
When do babies sleep through the night? This is probably the most common question that parents have when it seems that your little one will never actually do it. What’s most important to note about babies is that even though there are average routines and schedules, they’re all different and unique and it’s hard to give an exact time on when this will happen.
Some parents might be lucky enough to find that from around six months their baby starts sleeping through the night, and there are parents of toddlers that still have to tend to their child once a night. What your child does will depend on a number of factors, so try not to blame yourself if they can’t seem to get it right.
Tips For Getting Babies To Sleep
When your baby isn’t sleeping enough or it seems to take hours to get them to drift off, we start looking for answers anywhere we can get them. These are some tips you can follow for getting babies to sleep that might give you some relief:
How A Nursery Glider Can Help
Babies love to feel a constant moving motion, especially when they’re newly born and are used to being rocked in mom’s tummy for all of those months. A nursery glider is a chair that rocks back and forward in a smooth motion and means the parents aren’t doing any of the heavy lifting.
Investing in a nursery glider can make it easier to get your baby to sleep but also offer you a lot of relief and comfort if you need it. There are benefits for both parents and their little ones, and when it seems you’ve been up all night trying to soothe them back to sleep this is one accessory that can be a lifesaver.
Learning To Go With The Flow
Babies, unfortunately, don’t come with a manual so there’s no clear cut answer on when they’ll sleep or how long they’ll do it for. As a parent, we need to trust that they will get there eventually and for the first 12 months or so it’s simply a matter of making yourself and baby as comfortable as possible to facilitate this sleep routine.
As easy as it might sound to see, we need to let go of our misconceptions about when our babies will start sleeping through the night or how much sleep they should be getting. Unless there’s an obvious problem and your baby seems distressed during sleep, you have to let go and come to terms with the fact that they will get there on their own time.
Having a nursery glider is not just beneficial for getting your baby to sleep but it also makes the process easier for you. Rather than standing up and rocking back and forth for hours each night, you have somewhere comfortable to sit that will help you to relax, ultimately creating a more peaceful environment for everyone involved.
Resources
