It’s helpful to think of your baby’s sleep as a
journey. As your baby grows and changes,
so do their sleep needs. In this article I’ll go over the first three phases of
your baby’s sleep journey that occur in the first 4-months of life.
IN THIS ARTICLE:
No matter which sleep stage your newborn is at, safety
always comes first. So before we go into each phase, here are some basic safety
guidelines for putting your baby down to sleep for a naps or at night:
- Always place
them down on their back.
- Use a firm,
mattress with a well fitted sheet
- Clear the crib
or sleeping space of blankets, toys, or sheets.
- Keep them
sleeping in your room for the first 6 months.
- Swaddle them or
dress them in a sleep sack. Watch for overheating, though, which is shown by
flushed cheeks, damp hairlines, rapid breathing, or sweating.
Phase 1: Birth to
6-8 weeks
During this time your baby’s sleep may seem completely
disorganized. This is with good reason; their circadian rhythms have not
matured, they don’t yet know the difference between night and day and there is
simply no pattern or schedule to their sleep. In fact, pretty much anything
goes. A short 20min power nap or a
longer 90 min nap – both are totally normal and expected. What’s important is
to ensure your baby is feeding well and may be worth considering seeking help
from a lactation consultant and or doula if needed.
It might sound crazy, but my first piece of advice is to
enjoy
this phase
as much as possible! Enjoy every snuggle, every baby noise,
don’t stress about schedules and most importantly know that you
cannot spoil
your baby,
this time is all about bonding and getting to know each other.
Your baby is simply not biologically ready to ‘be scheduled’ and cannot
organize their sleep, so do whatever it takes to safely help
your
baby (and you) get as much rest as possible
.
That said, there are a couple of things we can do to help
your baby adjust to life outside of the womb in these early weeks that will
help set them up for sleep success:
1.For fussy or
unsettled babies, we want to try and spark their calming reflex, Dr Harvey
Karp’s 5 S’s can be helpful to trigger soothing:
- S – Swaddle: A cozy
swaddle (loose hips) can help mimic the womb.
- S – Side
Position
(while being held): Gently hold your baby on their side.
- S – Shush: White or brown
noise
or your own ‘Shush’ noise delivered at the same level as the crying mimics the
sound of blood flow in the womb. (Demo this for the audience)
- S – Swing: Fast but tiny
movements while supporting your baby’s head can help mimic the natural wiggle
of being in the womb.
- S – Suck: Offer a
pacifier, many babies will calm instantly when sucking.
2. For babies who
are more awake at night vs during the day, the last thing you want to do is
keep them awake for longer during the day. That will only deprive them of sleep
and make them irritable. Instead keep the lights off during nighttime wakings
and feedings, ensuring you keep any needed interactions minimal and calm. By 8
weeks this confusion will have passed.
Witching Hour or
Purple Crying - Peaks between 3 and 5 months of age
If your baby seems fussy in the early evening, you could
be experiencing ‘The Witching Hour’ or the ‘PURPLE Crying Period’. This crying
often seems to come out of nowhere – and lasts as much as 5 hours a day. It can increase week over week, peaking at
month two and tapering off from months 3-5. It is completely
NORMAL and
is experienced by many babies. Quite often the baby may appear to be in pain
and resist soothing, but they most likely are not in pain.
My eldest went through this, I remember finding it so
very tough to make dinner and try to pacify her. Dr Harvey Karp’s 5S’s can
really help here. When the crying lasts
a long-time it can be very frustrating. It’s ok if you need to put your baby
down safely in their crib for a moment to take a mental break. I also recommend
wearing your baby when possible and proactively enlisting the help of friends
and relatives to give you a break. As hard as this is to deal with in the
moment, know this too will pass.
Also, to soothe yourself, check out the mindfulness
exercises in the
Smart
Sleep Coach
app – they’re easy, effective “me time”
moments that really help you feel confident and in control during these early
days.
Phase 2: 6-8 weeks
Somewhere between 6-8 weeks, your baby will reach their
first sleep milestone. You’ll notice
their night sleep becoming more organized and you may see at least one
overnight sleep stretch last a little longer (maybe as much as 4-6 hours).
Physical signals that your baby is reaching the end of this phase of sleep are:
- Your baby knows
the difference between day and night.
- The Witching
Hour is starting to peak (perhaps with the exception of babies with colic).
- Their first
social smile
, this signals they are starting to make connections!
This is
HUGE, and seriously is there really anything better than seeing
a baby react with a smile when you enter the room?
Now that we know your baby is making connections, they
will be able to follow cues and we can start building a healthy sleep
foundation, for that I recommend downloading the
Smart Sleep Coach by Pampers™ app, which can
help guide you step by step to set up:
1. A consistent
sleep nourishing environment.
Now is a good
time to start getting them used to their crib, starting with naps, but is it
also super important
that the space your baby sleeps in is:
- Pitch dark –
use blackout shades or curtains.
- Cool – 68°F
(max 72°F). Many baby monitors offer relative room temperature and humidity
readings.
- Quiet while
maintaining a steady background noise. A
white noise machine running at 50dB (the maximum level recommended by the AAP)
is ideal.
2. Understanding
and acting on their sleepy cues. About 45-mins after they wake up
you might
notice your baby:
- Rubbing their
eyes
- Getting fussy
- Zoning out or their eyes kind of glaze over
- Pulling their
ears
- Turning their
head side to side
These are all
signals your baby is tired and ready to sleep. Catching your baby when they
give these signals should mean you can prepare them for sleep before they
become overtired.
3. Introducing a
consistent, soothing sleepy time routine.
Your goal here
is to soothe your baby as a cue for them to fall asleep. The act of actually
falling asleep is the baby’s job, and you want to reduce the use of anything
the baby can’t do themselves to fall asleep, these could include props such as
a stroller or car ride, things like rocking, bouncing or patting.
A
good soothing routine
can include a song, a story, a diaper change, a
feeding, anything really – what
is most important is that you:
1. Complete the
routine before your baby falls asleep, you want to place your baby down drowsy
but awake.
2. Keep the same
steps in the same order each time and follow your baby’s cues to either speed
up or cut short your routine as you see them becoming more tired.
There are no hard
and fast rules here, but some tips that might help you along the way:
1. Remember your
#1 goal is to avoid missing the window where they are ready to sleep, this will
result in an
overtired
baby
.
2. If your child becomes
irritated during the routine, it could be a sign they just need to be put down
(on their back) to sleep. Equally if you have followed the steps in your
routine and your baby is calm this is a good opportunity to put them down (on
their back) to sleep.
3. You don’t have
to complete the routine, you can shorten each step or skip a few.
4. If you put your
baby down (drowsy but awake) and they start crying, you can of course pick them
up and soothe them – remember you cannot spoil your baby at this age.
5. You’re not on a
‘schedule’ – the sleep day may be erratic and nap lengths will still differ in
length; you’re following your baby’s sleepy cues to manage their sleep.
6. This is a great
opportunity to try out some ‘self-soothing’ this is a skill they have to learn.
If they take an extra short nap, leave it a few mins and see if they put
themselves back to sleep again.
Phase 3: 8-16 weeks
During this phase, you’re going to continue building on
your healthy sleep foundation, by following their sleepy cues, delivering a
consistent sleepy time routine and ensuring your baby sleeps in a safe, sleep
nourishing environment.
As the weeks pass, you’ll notice your baby’s wake windows
extending anywhere from 45 to 90 minutes, bedtime will naturally move earlier,
often between 6-7pm, and overnight sleep stretches will more consistently
become longer. When your baby approaches 16-weeks and beyond you may start to
notice a pattern of daytime sleep, this is because their circadian rhythms
start to mature.
As your baby grows and develops each
developmental
progression
can, and will, impact their sleep. Understanding when these
changes are coming and what to look out for, will help you stay one step ahead
of your baby’s sleep so you can confidently adjust how you support them and
best foster healthy sleep habits.
Enjoy these first
weeks and months, it is super precious time!