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ОглавлениеAge-Specific Sleep Averages and Typical Day Schedules
Most parents ask me what a “typical day” of feedings, naps, and bedtime would look like for their child, so what follows are typical schedules for kids at specific ages and stages. Please note that they apply to generally healthy children with no growth or developmental concerns, and are based on recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics. However, they’re very flexible, so you don’t need to adhere to them too rigidly. Your own child’s routine should be based on careful observation of his eating and sleep cues, and also on input from your pediatrician.
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.
Start reducing middle-of-the-night feedings. You can do this by either feeding him just once during the night—the first time he wakes up (as long as he’s been asleep for at least two hours) or by offering him a “dream feed” just before you turn in yourself—in other words, getting him up around 10:00 or 11:00 p.m. See Good Night, Sleep Tight for more details.
If he’s able to put himself to sleep independently at bedtime and is getting up once at night for a quick businesslike meal and then going right back to sleep, I would leave it alone. He’ll probably outgrow that last feeding soon. If not, you’ll learn how to gently end it at 6 or 7 months in Chapter 5.
Don’t nurse your baby or give him a bottle right before each nap. Feeding him when he’s up and alert, instead of ready to go to bed, helps weaken the food-sleep association and reinforces the message that he can get to sleep and stay asleep without a breast or bottle.
Help lengthen, organize, and improve his naps:
Watch both the clock and his behavior to know when its time to put him down for a nap.
Nap him in his crib for all naps except the last nap.
Naps should be longer then 45 minutes and ideally 90 minutes or longer. If your baby is cat napping, go to him when he wakes up and help comfort him back to sleep. Experiment to see what soothing technique works the best. Be patient and try to resettle him for 20–30 minutes. He may reward you with another 45 minutes of sleep! Slowly phase out your intervention as he gets better at learning to put himself back to sleep.
Typical Feeding and Sleep Routines
Note that these are numbers are averages: Some children need more or less sleep than others, (although variations should not be huge), and not all kids are ready for a nap at the exact same time each day. It’s more important to watch for your child’s sleep cues—eye-rubbing, a lull in activity, fussing, noises she makes that are unique to your child—than it is to watch the clock, so that you can get her to sleep before she gets overtired.
6 TO 8 MONTHS
Average sleep: 10 to 12 hours at night (without needing to eat), 3½ hours during the day (two to three naps). Some babies this age may need one feeding during the night. Your pediatrician can help you figure out what’s best for your child. Many children this age take a small third nap in the afternoon, depending on how long their second nap lasted.
| (Shift earlier if your child wakes between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.) | |
| 7:00 a.m.–7:30 a.m. | Wake up; diaper change; breakfast (nurse or bottle feed plus solids). |
| 9:00 a.m.–9:30 a.m. | Start the morning nap, 45 minutes minimum to 1½ hours maximum. When baby wakes up, nurse/bottle feed plus solids. |
| 12:30 p.m.–1:30 p.m. | Start the afternoon nap. Baby should be asleep within 2 to 3 hours of waking from his morning nap and sleep for 1½ to 2 hours. Upon awakening, nurse/bottle feed. |
| 3:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m. | Optional short third nap depends on previous nap time, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. |
| Window from afternoon nap to bedtime should not exceed 4 hours. | |
| 5:00 p.m.–5:30 p.m. | Nurse/bottle feed plus solids. |
| 6:00 p.m.–6:30 p.m. | Start bath/bedtime preparations, which may include giving a bottle or nursing. |
| 7:00 p.m.–7:30 p.m. | Bedtime. |
9 TO 12 MONTHS
Average sleep for a 9-month-old: 11 hours at night, 3 hours during the day (two naps). Most 9-month-olds on a solid two-nap-a-day schedule are ready to or already have given up their small third nap.
