In our previous sleep article, we discussed normal sleep patterns and realistic sleep expectations for infants up to 6 weeks. By the time we hit 6 weeks, our children have gone through so many developmental changes, including what shapes their sleep patterns. What do these patterns look like now and when will you start to actually get some sleep? Show
What does research tell us about sleep patterns for 6 week - 4 month old infants?
Take home message: Your baby is still going to wake up in the middle of the night to feed, but he/she should be able to fall back asleep much more quickly after eating. This means less walking around the house, singing lullabyes at 3am. Whoo hoo! What does science tell us about how babies sleep at this age?
Take home message: Your baby is going to start to fall asleep and stay asleep more easily. His/her days and nights will no longer be mixed up and he/she will start to fall into a deeper sleep in the middle of the night. What are common sleep patterns for a 6 week to 4 month old baby?
Take home message: Babies at this age still have fairly unpredictable sleep patterns. Since your baby may start to sleep longer in the beginning of the night, you might consider going to bed earlier than usual, to take advantage of this long stretch of sleep. What are some tips for parents to get more sleep?
How long should 6 week old sleep night?Generally, newborns sleep about 8 to 9 hours in the daytime and about 8 hours at night. But they may not sleep more than 1 to 2 hours at a time. Most babies don't start sleeping through the night (6 to 8 hours) without waking until they are about 3 months old, or until they weigh 12 to 13 pounds.
How long should a 6 week old sleep at night without eating?Newborn babies need to feed every few hours until the age of 3 months. After this, it is normal for infants to feed once or twice during the night. Most infants can sleep for 6–8 hours without a feed by the age of 6 months.
Can I let my 6 week old sleep 6 hours?Newborns who sleep for longer stretches should be awakened to feed. Wake your baby every 3–4 hours to eat until he or she shows good weight gain, which usually happens within the first couple of weeks. After that, it's OK to let your baby sleep for longer periods of time at night.
How long should a 6 week be awake for?The ideal 6 week old wake window remains the same for babies under 8 weeks of age: between 30 - 90 minutes long. You can continue to expect these relatively short wake periods until 2 months of age. At that point, their wake windows may lengthen to 45 minutes - 1.75 hours before needing to sleep again.
|