Newborns: Getting Off to a Good Sleep Start
I don’t recommend formal sleep training for infants until after 4 months. However, you can gently shape a newborn’s sleep habits early on, and hopefully help to prevent future sleep problems, with the Sleep Lady’s® Rules for Infant Slumber (you can read about them in more detail in Good Night, Sleep Tight).
1 Create a flexible feeding and sleeping routine. Not a minute-by-minute schedule but a sensible framework. The predictability is calming for a baby, and will help you get better at reading your baby’s signals and clues.
2 Use a variety of soothing techniques to see what works for your baby.
3 Offer a pacifier for soothing and sucking but don’t let it become a sleep crutch.
4 Sometimes feed your baby when he wakes up after a nap—not just when you are trying to get him to sleep.
5 Put him down drowsy but awake at least once every 24 hours.
6 If you are returning to work outside of the home, introduce one bottle a day—even if you are committed to breast feeding, as I was with my own children—around the third or fourth week if breastfeeding has been established.
7 Create a sleep-friendly environment.
8 Carefully think through the question of bedsharing (or co-sleeping) and roomsharing. Know how to co-sleep safely if that’s your choice. But if you don’t want to co-sleep, don’t get into the habit simply because you don’t know how to avoid it.
Benjamin, age 6 months
The First Month (0 to 4 weeks)
Total sleep is 16 to 18 hours, half during the night and half spread out over four daytime naps. By the end of the first month, babies sleep an average of 15½ to 17 hours total—about 8½ to 10 hours at night and 6 to 7 hours during the day spread over three or four naps. They wake up two to three times at night for feedings but should go back to sleep quickly.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, once the mother’s milk comes in, newborns may feed as often as every 1½ hours, and they shouldn’t go more than three hours without eating, for a total of eight to 12 feedings in 24 hours. Formula-fed babies will eat less frequently, two to three ounces every three or four hours, for a total of six to eight feedings a day.
YOUR TASK THIS MONTH is to help your baby differentiate day sleep from night sleep by:
not allowing her to get overstimulated (keep her out of brightly lit, overly loud environments).
preventing her from becoming overtired (she should only be awake for 1½ to 2 hours at a time during the day).
exposing her to natural light or turning on the lights when she’s awake during the day.
waking her after three hours of daytime sleep to feed her (you want to save those long stretches of slumber for night time).
The Second Month (5 to 8 weeks)
Total sleep is 15½ to 17 hours: 8½ to 10 hours at night and 6 to 7 hours during the day spread over three to four naps. By the end of this month some babies will wake only once a night to be fed; some will still need two middle-of-the night feedings. Nighttime sleep becomes more organized (meaning your baby will begin to sleep longer and more deeply at night) and by 6 to 8 weeks you may see a 4- or even 5-hour stretch at night.
Breastfed babies will still need to eat about every 2 to 2 ½ hours, although some will go 3 hours. The normal range is anything from 8 to 12 feedings in 24 hours. Formula-fed babies will probably take about four ounces per feeding, about every 3 to 4 hours.
Your task this month is to establish a consistent bedtime routine:
At 6 weeks, start putting your baby down “drowsy but awake” at bedtime.
Between 6 and 8 weeks, focus on helping him to fall asleep without a breast or bottle in his mouth, or by being rocked until he’s totally out. Sit by his side and pat him, sh-sh-sh him, or pick him up if need be to calm him, but then put him back down. Stay by his side until he dozes off.
Don’t worry about scheduled naps yet; your baby’s daytime sleep won’t be organized at this age, and he’ll still nap while you’re on the run. Enjoy this flexibility while you can! Late-afternoon and early evening fussiness begins now and usually ends around 12 weeks.
The Third Month (9 to 12 weeks)
Total sleep is 15 hours: 10 hours at night and 5 hours spread out over three to four daytime naps. Many babies toward the end of this month can sleep 6 to 8 hours at a stretch during the night.
Breastfed babies still need to eat every three hours or so, but they don’t need to eat as frequently at night. Bottle-fed babies will typically take 4 to 5 ounces every three to four hours.
YOUR TASKS THIS MONTH
Continue to put your baby down drowsy but awake at bedtime.
Move her from her bassinette or co-sleeper bed to her own crib (unless you’re planning to practice the family bed for the long term).
Your baby’s bedtime should be around 10:00 or 11:00 p.m. at the beginning of this period; start moving it earlier (to about 8:00 p.m.) once she can sleep for eight hours at a time and/or when you notice that she’s getting tired earlier.
Her daytime nap schedule won’t fall into place until the end of this month. Meanwhile, don’t let her get overtired: Use the swing, stroller or baby sling to make sure she naps during the afternoon.
The Fourth and Fifth Months
Total sleep is 10 to 11 hours at night and 4 to 5 hours spread out over three naps during the day. At 4 months babies should be able to sleep about 8 hours at night without a feeding, and by 5 months they go for about 10 or 11 hours.
A breastfed baby will need to eat at least five times a day, every three to four hours (but don’t be surprised if during a growth spurt he wants to nurse every two to three hours!).
By five months, you may be able to stretch the interval between meals closer to four hours. A formula-fed baby will eat less frequently, adding about an ounce per feeding each month, so that by the end of the fifth month he’ll be taking 6 to 8 ounces at a time, at four or five feedings in 24 hours. (In general, a bottle-fed baby shouldn’t take more than 32 ounces of formula during a 24-hour period.)
YOUR TASKS THIS MONTH
Get your baby to bed between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. If he consistently falls asleep during his before-bed feeding, move his bedtime earlier.
