How much sleep should a newborn baby have?
Parents are often concerned that their baby may not be sleeping enough, whilst others voice their concerns about their baby sleeping too much.
I think it may be useful for parents to know the amount of hours that the average baby sleeps at different ages. However, it is important to remember that there is a huge variation that exists from one baby to the next. Some newborn babies sleep 21 out of the 24 hours per day. Others only need as few as 8. The test to see if your baby is getting enough sleep is to examine if she is waking happy and alert. If so she is getting enough sleep. If she wakes and is irritable or tired, she may need to sleep longer. (Hames 2002).
|
Age |
Daytime |
Night-time |
|
1 week |
8 |
8 ½ |
|
4 weeks |
6¾ |
8 ¾ |
|
3 months |
5 |
10 |
|
6 months |
4 |
10 |
|
9 months |
2 ¾ |
11 ¼ |
|
12 months |
2 ½ |
11 ½ |
|
2 years |
1 ¼ |
11 ¾ |
|
3 years |
1 |
11 |
|
4 years |
- |
11 ½ |
|
5 years |
- |
11 |
Figure 1. The Amount of Sleep the
Average Baby Needs (Quine 1997)
References
P. Hames (2002). “Help your baby to sleep.” HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
Quine, L. (1997). “Solving Children’s sleep Problems”, Beckett Karlson, Cambridge
Tags: how much sleep should a newborn have