Quality and Periods of Infant Sleeping
Frequently, most parents with newborns address questions like, "Has your baby learned sleeping through the night?" or some such related questions.
And more often than not, their reply would be "no" and this would not be surprising considering their bleary-eyed appearances.
Newborn babies do not know how to sleep through the night since, inherently.
They do not even know the difference yet of night from day.
Furthermore, their tiny stomachs cannot hold enough of the breast or formula milk to keep them satisfied for quite a long time, especially in the night and make them just sleep through this period.
They need to feed as much as they need lots of sleep, every few hours all throughout the 24 hour period, whether it is daytime or nighttime.
All babies have different phases of sleep much like what all of us experience.
They go through a period of drowsiness, onwards to light, deep and very deep sleep and also go through REM or rapid eye movement stage of sleep.
During their first few days and weeks, they do not do much but sleep, at most, 16 hours every day, though only in stretches of 2 to 4 hours at a time.
When they are not sleeping, they basically wake up for feedings.
As they grow older, their periods of wakefulness, especially during the daytime, also increase.
At first, the short stretches of sleep by infants could mean sleep deprivation to their parents.
It can be very frustrating for a mom and/or dad to force themselves awake whenever their baby wakes up in the middle of the night or stay up because the baby has already awakened at the time they are preparing to go to sleep.
Patience is needed because this period is very variable anyway.
As soon as the baby grows and starts to become accustomed to the rhythms of life outside of his mother's womb, he can already be taught new habits, especially with regards to sleeping through the night.
Furthermore, while sleep is very important to infants during their first few months of life, their need to feed still outweighs their need to sleep.
Parents must not let their newborns sleep very long without feeding.
This practically means that a baby needs to be offered a feeding during their waking periods in between the short stretches of sleep mentioned.
If the baby is small and premature, they possibly need to be fed more often than that.
During their first few weeks, breastfed infants get hungry more frequently than the bottle-fed ones.
They have to nurse every two hours during their first few weeks.
It is also important to know that the sleep patterns of babies are sensitive to quite a lot of things.
This would include changes in routine, development progress, illnesses and even holidays.
If a baby, who is a great sleeper during his first few weeks and months, starts to wake up during the night at the age of 6 to 10 months, even as he has already learned how to sleep through the night by that time, a proper evaluation may be needed concerning the reasons behind his wakefulness.
It could be caused by physiological or developmental changes and he may need assistance in coping with it.
And more often than not, their reply would be "no" and this would not be surprising considering their bleary-eyed appearances.
Newborn babies do not know how to sleep through the night since, inherently.
They do not even know the difference yet of night from day.
Furthermore, their tiny stomachs cannot hold enough of the breast or formula milk to keep them satisfied for quite a long time, especially in the night and make them just sleep through this period.
They need to feed as much as they need lots of sleep, every few hours all throughout the 24 hour period, whether it is daytime or nighttime.
All babies have different phases of sleep much like what all of us experience.
They go through a period of drowsiness, onwards to light, deep and very deep sleep and also go through REM or rapid eye movement stage of sleep.
During their first few days and weeks, they do not do much but sleep, at most, 16 hours every day, though only in stretches of 2 to 4 hours at a time.
When they are not sleeping, they basically wake up for feedings.
As they grow older, their periods of wakefulness, especially during the daytime, also increase.
At first, the short stretches of sleep by infants could mean sleep deprivation to their parents.
It can be very frustrating for a mom and/or dad to force themselves awake whenever their baby wakes up in the middle of the night or stay up because the baby has already awakened at the time they are preparing to go to sleep.
Patience is needed because this period is very variable anyway.
As soon as the baby grows and starts to become accustomed to the rhythms of life outside of his mother's womb, he can already be taught new habits, especially with regards to sleeping through the night.
Furthermore, while sleep is very important to infants during their first few months of life, their need to feed still outweighs their need to sleep.
Parents must not let their newborns sleep very long without feeding.
This practically means that a baby needs to be offered a feeding during their waking periods in between the short stretches of sleep mentioned.
If the baby is small and premature, they possibly need to be fed more often than that.
During their first few weeks, breastfed infants get hungry more frequently than the bottle-fed ones.
They have to nurse every two hours during their first few weeks.
It is also important to know that the sleep patterns of babies are sensitive to quite a lot of things.
This would include changes in routine, development progress, illnesses and even holidays.
If a baby, who is a great sleeper during his first few weeks and months, starts to wake up during the night at the age of 6 to 10 months, even as he has already learned how to sleep through the night by that time, a proper evaluation may be needed concerning the reasons behind his wakefulness.
It could be caused by physiological or developmental changes and he may need assistance in coping with it.
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