Should My Newborn Be On A Sleep Schedule?

It’s natural for first-time parents to worry about whether they’re doing things right. Though there are multiple things to look after, one of the more important is your baby’s sleep. You’ll need to make sure that they’re getting enough of it while also making sure they don’t sleep too much.

How do you do this? If you ask parents who’ve raised several children, they’ll stress the importance of a sleep schedule. Having this can be quite beneficial, as it lets both baby and parent get a significant amount of sleep.

There are multiple tips and tricks that you can use to get a proper schedule going for your baby. Sleep suits are great for prolonging sleep, for example, so you could get some of them for your child.

You’ll need to know a few other things when you’re starting your baby’s sleep schedule.

What Does A Sleep Schedule Look Like For Babies?

You’re likely wondering what a baby sleep schedule looks like. While this can vary slightly from child to child, it tends to follow the same pattern. Newborns will typically sleep for between eight and nine hours per day.

That’s coupled with another eight hours at night. They’ll usually wake up on several occasions during these periods. That’ll primarily be so they can be fed or have their diaper changed. You should expect this to happen roughly every three hours.

It’s also worth noting that your baby likely wouldn’t sleep through the night until they’re at least three months of age.

How Does This Change Over Time?

As you would expect, a baby’s sleep schedule will change over time. You should expect the above until they’re at least three months old. Over the following months, you should see them sleep more and more during the night. That’ll be matched with less daytime sleep.

For much of this, however, you should expect your baby to wake up at least once a night. You’ll see the sleep schedule change relatively steadily as your child gets older. By the time they hit one-year-old, they should typically sleep through the night while needing relatively few naps.

Additional FAQs

There’s a large chance that you might have multiple other questions about your baby’s sleep schedule. Many of these will be more common than you’d think. Since quite a few people have thought about it, a lot of advice and tips have come up.

It could be worth taking advantage of them when you can. The most notable questions include:

  • What Should My Baby Wear To Sleep?: What your child should wear to bed can vary depending on the season. Sleep suits are great for prolonging sleep, although they may be too warm for the summer nights. Make sure to layer and ensure that your child isn’t too warm or too cold.
  • Is It OK To Wake My Baby Up?: If your baby is asleep but they need to be asleep, you may struggle with what to do. In these cases, it should be OK to wake them up. You’ll need to avoid doing so regularly, however.

You might worry about a lot of things when you have your first child. That’s a natural instinct. When it comes to their sleep schedule, however, you shouldn’t need to worry. While there might be some slight differences between your child’s schedule and others, that’s normal.

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