Most new moms are a bit fixated on the slumber their babies go, always hoping (fingers crossed!) that the total stretches merely a little more than each week. Of form, your baby will eventually get to a full night of shut-eye, but newborn and baby sleep generally falls within a range and varies by historic period. And while information technology'due south tempting to compare your babe with your friend'southward, know that your cutie's sleep schedule is unique to her, only like her adorable nose.

Still, if you're wondering how much sleep babies need and whether yours is on the right runway, read on for more about how many hours a day your infant should be sleeping and how to tell if your piddling one is sleeping likewise much. Sweet dreams!

How much sleep practise babies need?

The amount of slumber your baby needs is based on her historic period plus a few other important factors. Here'southward a quick look at two ranges of sleep during the beginning year:

  • Newborn to 3 months. A salubrious infant in this age range should get a total of about fourteen to 17 hours of sleep over the course of a 24-hr day. She'll typically snooze in brusk spurts of 2 to 4 hours, waking to be fed, burped, changed and soothed. And while there'southward no suggested sleep schedule to follow, your babe will likely rack upwardly eight to 12 hours at night with the rest occurring during two to five daytime naps (though it can vary from babe to babe).

  • 4 to 6 months. During this historic period span, you tin expect your infant to slumber about 12 to 16 hours a twenty-four hours with some overnight stretches reaching v to vi hours in a row (this is what they call "sleeping through the night"). Your little 1'due south naps will be consolidated too — await for about three a day by 5 months of age. And your baby'southward sleep patterns will finally join the residual of the family's routine as she'll starting time sleeping more at night and less during the day.

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  • 7 to eleven months. Total slumber remains about the same, simply overnight stretches may attain 10 to 12 hours, and naps will consolidate further from three to two.

Two other factors that can impact how much slumber newborns and babies are getting include:

  • Premature birth. If your infant was born prematurely, her sleep numbers will differ from those of full-term infants. Preemies may slumber up to 22 hours a day, depending on how premature they are, and they'll wake more frequently to feed. As for stringing together bigger chunks of nighttime sleep (six hours or more), a preemie won't get in that location equally apace. In fact, information technology may take until they're ten or 12 months erstwhile to achieve this feat.

  • Feeding method. Bottle-fed infants tend to wake upwardly less oft at night and slumber for longer periods than their breastfed cousins considering formula takes more time to assimilate. But formula isn't a magic sleep bullet, either, as both feeding methods still upshot in the same amount of total sleep. And past the fourth dimension your babe is 9 months sometime, whatever difference between the two is commonly no longer apparent.

Equally for setting upwardly a sleep schedule for your baby, the get-go three months aren't the time to try information technology. Since your little one needs to nurse or have a bottle every few hours during the newborn stage, establishing a anticipated schedule should wait until your baby is in the 3- to 6-month range.

And think that rubber slumber is critical during the first year of life, so ever place your babe on her back (never her stomach) for naps and bedtime. Your babe should besides always sleep on a firm surface that's complimentary of soft toys, blankets, pillows and bumpers.

Every bit your little one gains upper body strength, she may surprise you by changing sleep positions and rolling around at about the 4-month mark (and she'll button to a sitting position when she's 6 or 7 months old, though the timing of all these milestones can vary). Don't worry — there's no need to render her to her back at this point, merely she'll still need to start there every fourth dimension she's going to sleep.

Can infants sleep as well much?

Yep, it's possible for babies to sleep too much — and it's definitely non recommended early on in infancy. Remember, at i month of age your baby should feed at least eight to 12 times in the span of 24 hours, and then letting a newborn slumber "all day" or more than than the upper limit of 17 hours can mean she'll miss out on the nutrition she needs.

Go on in listen that y'all'll need to gently rouse your baby if she sleeps longer than four hours during those early on weeks. And if she isn't awake enough to eat at least eight times a twenty-four hours, call your pediatrician for advice.

What if my baby isn't sleeping enough?

At that place is as well a adventure that your babe might be sleeping too little and non clocking the required amount of shut-heart for her historic period.

If your babe sleep log shows that her daytime and nighttime hours fall short of what she should be getting in a 24-hour period and you run into telltale signs of an overtired baby — including persistent fussiness, trouble settling downwards to sleep at dark, and brusque catnaps instead of full naps, to name a few — talk to your pediatrician about how to help your little one go enough sleep.

Getting to know your baby's sleep cues and post-obit a consistent, soothing bedtime routine are among the tips y'all'll likely get from your physician.

As you slog through the early days, weeks and months with your infant, know that she'south very likely on the right track when it comes to the corporeality of slumber she needs. Then while it may seem as if no 1'due south getting enough Zzzs at your house, in time in that location will be a picayune more shut-eye for everyone — and soon your baby volition exist sleeping like a gnaw.