Sleep patterns are one of the most variable of infant behaviors. Some babies go to sleep easily but don’t stay asleep for long. Other babies have trouble falling asleep but once asleep stay asleep. Still other babies seem not to want to go to sleep or to stay asleep. There are, however, some general developmental trends that hold for most infants. During the first three months infants seldom sleep for more than four hours at a time. They have little tummies and digest mother’s milk fast, so they get hungry after only a few hours. From three to six months, babies stay awake for longer periods and sleep for longer periods as well, some may sleep as long as five or six hours at a stretch. The increase of continuous wake and sleep time continues during the second half of the first year. By the end of the first year most infants sleep through the night.

It is important to distinguish between light sleep and deep sleep. You can tell your baby is in light sleep when her eyes are shut but her eyelids continue to flutter and her breathing is irregular, her hands and feet are flexed and she may show restless movements and fleeting smiles. If you put the baby down in her bed at this time she is likely to awaken and cry. This is because she was not fully asleep. It is better to wait (sometimes as long as twenty minutes) until the baby is into deep sleep before putting her down. The baby is in deep sleep when her breathing becomes regular; her muscles relax and go limp and the twitching and smiling stop. It takes a baby longer to go into deep sleep, but if you wait until she does, before you put her down, she is less likely to awake and cry.

Night waking during the first six months of life is healthy for several reasons. It appears that brain growth is more rapid during light sleep than deep sleep. Since the infant goes into light sleep before deep sleep, the more frequent falling asleep pattern facilitates brain growth. Equally important, the infant’s nutritional needs for frequent feeding are a good reason for her to wake up. So while the first few months of frequent night waking are hard on parents, it is really essential for the baby’s healthy development. 

Read Sleep Issues - Six to Twelve Months