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How
is a baby's sleep pattern different than an adult's?
For starters, you don't really want to sleep
like a baby. Babies' sleep, especially in the early months, is typically
full of interruptions because a baby's sleep cycle is shorter than
an adult's. Adults spend about six hours in deep sleep and two hours
in light (REM) sleep, usually in one uninterrupted nighttime period.
When we're in a light sleep cycle, we may wake up momentarily--but,
unlike babies, we know how to go back to sleep. Babies have twice
as many light sleep cycles as adults, more light sleep than deep
sleep, and their overall sleep cycles are shorter. What does this
mean for a household? Often, interrupted sleep for all. Babies are
likely to wake up frequently as they move from deep to light sleep
in any sleep cycle. In the early months, babies need help falling
asleep and getting back to sleep. And often, you'll have to spend
a lot of time helping an infant get into a deep enough sleep so
you can lay her down. Every new parent has had the frustrating experience
of gently rocking or holding a baby until she falls asleep, laying
her down and then, the minute her head touches the mattress, watching
the baby wake up. The problem? The baby was still in light sleep
when you let her go. In these early days of an infant's life, recommends
Dr. William Sears, in The Baby Book, you should wait until your
baby is in a deep sleep before laying her down. One sure sign of
deep, lasting sleep: limp limbs. Gently pick up an arm or leg, and
if it flops back down and your baby doesn't jerk it, or jerk awake,
you've got a deeply sleeping baby. Lay her down, tiptoe away, and
breathe a sigh of relief.
How
much do newborns sleep?
Babies sleep a lot, but not usually when you
want them to. Most newborns sleep 16 to 18 hours a day, but unforunately,
they tend to sleep in two- to three-hour increments, even at night.
Then they wake up for a feeding and some socializing. Their circadian--or
night and day--rhythms are often completely out of whack, so it
will be awhile before they take their most lengthy respite when
you do. "Our daughter," says Ron Heckmann of Piedmont, California,
"would be wide awake and raring to play at 3 a.m. It wasn't until
she was about 9 months old that we were able to put her to bed at
10 and expect to sleep until 7 a.m." As baby grows, her sleep patterns
will start to take on a more regular rhythm, but keep in mind that
some babies just seem to need more sleep, and some, less.
How
will these sleep patterns change?
By three months of age, your child will probably
sleep about 15 hours a day--nine hours at night, and the other six
hours will be broken into three daytime naps. When your baby reaches
six months of age, she may be taking roughly two naps of two hours
apiece, and the rest will be nighttime sleep. Around month nine,
her naps may decrease by about 30 minutes, for a total sleep of
14 hours. And by that magical first birthday, she should be sleeping
a little over 13 1/2 hours a day, 11 of them at night.
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