How to manage your baby’s sleep time according to their age?
Dr. Valleteau de Moulliac,
Pediatric consultant for Sarbec Laboratories
Your baby’s sleep gradually organizes and matures over time.
At birth, they make no distinction between day and night. Their sleep is broken into periods of 2 to 4 hours (about 2 hours if breastfed). They only wake up to satisfy their primary needs, such as eating to satisfy hunger. Their biological clock, which regulates periods of wakefulness and sleep, is not yet adjusted. In fact, the newborn gradually transitions from an ultradian rhythm (alternating wakefulness and sleep every 3-4 hours) to a 24-hour circadian rhythm. Sleep cycles are truly established only around 4-5 months. Thus, the day-night rhythm normally and naturally sets in before the age of 6 months, with great variability from one child to another, as some infants may acquire it as early as the 3rd or 4th week. During the first three months, these cycles occur in repeated periods throughout the 24 hours, interspersed with wakeful phases mainly driven by feelings of hunger or satiety.
The average sleep duration is 23 hours at birth, and 16 to 18 hours at 3 months. Gradually, sleep cycles will merge into a single block that social constraints should help align with nighttime. From 3 months to 3 years, the total sleep duration slowly decreases. It is 14 to 16 hours at 1 year, and 12 to 14 hours at 3 years (including a 2-hour nap).
You therefore need to help your child structure their sleep well during their first months of life; this will make things easier for you later on:
- To help differentiate between day and night, when you feed your baby at night, do it calmly, dim the lights, try not to talk to them, and change them very gently in their bed only if necessary.
- Naps can be taken outside the bed and in the light during the first few weeks. As soon as the child starts to better distinguish between day and night, naps should be taken in their bed and in dim light, to encourage long and restorative sleep.
- Respect these sleep rhythms, do not overstimulate them during the day. Adopt a calm and balanced lifestyle, without excitement or agitation, and above all, pay attention to their nutritional needs, whether breastfed or bottle-fed, so they always have what they need. Check their comfort—neither too hot nor too cold, well swaddled—get them used to falling asleep alone and in their bed, not in your arms or while feeding. Learn to recognize signs of tiredness. Don’t miss the right moments for falling asleep.
Parents, become good “givers” of sleep!
