Babies will actually sleep about 16 hours or more! Newborns typically sleep for periods of 3-4 hours. Don’t expect your little one to sleep through the night — the digestive system of babies is so small that they need nourishment every few hours and should be awakened if they haven’t been fed for 5 hours (or more frequently if your doctor is concerned about weight gain).
When can you expect your baby to sleep through the night? Many babies sleep through the night (between 6-8 hours) at 3 months of age, but if yours doesn’t, it’s not a cause for concern. Like adults, babies must develop their own sleep patterns and cycles, so if your newborn is gaining weight and appears healthy, don’t despair if he or she hasn’t slept through the night at 3 months.
You can however teach your little one to self soothe themselves to sleep by establishing a bedtime routine and allowing them to fall asleep without being soothed. Once your baby is changed and well-fed and looks sleepy put them down in their crib. Infants come to expect the rocking, holding, feeding when they cry to help them get back to sleep. This is usually a result of the child being conditioned to fall asleep outside of their crib (in the arms of their parents, or in their parent’s beds or while being fed, rocked, etc). Therefore, when they awaken, they expect and desire the same conditions to go back to sleep and this establishes a cycle that is quite hard to break.
It’s important to place babies on their backs to sleep to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). In addition, remove all very fluffy bedding, sheepskins, and stuffed animals, from the crib to ensure that your baby doesn’t get tangled in them or suffocate. Elevate your baby’s head with a small infant pillow placed beneath the cot sheet. The Baby Banda Baby Pillow Set https://babybanda.com/product/baby-pillow-set is a great product for this purpose. Put baby’s feet at the bottom of the crib, tuck in bedclothes securely so bedding is not loose. The Baby Banda fitted cot sheets https://babybanda.com/product/cotton-cot-sheet/ ensure that bedding is not loose and sheets fit firmly on bed. Be sure to alternate the position of your baby’s head from night to night (first right, then left, and so on) to prevent the development of a flat spot on one side of the head.
