Tips To Make 1-3 Months Baby Sleep And Schedule To Follow

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Parents should plan one- to three-month-old sleep schedules appropriately because they need about 14-17 hours of sleep each day (1). Adequate sleep in these early months helps in their proper growth and development. But at times, it might not be easy to put your baby to sleep. Thus, you can try introducing a sleeping pattern or a set sleep-wake cycle for your baby to make it easier for them to fall asleep.

Studies have also shown that babies who get adequate sleep have better brain functioning than those who do not. Read on to know more about one- to three-month-old-baby sleeping schedules, the benefits of sleep for babies, and how you can help them get better sleep.

1 to 3 Month Old Baby Sleep Pattern

Every baby is unique and is blessed with a physical and mental system that is different from the other. This is the time for your baby to achieve new developmental milestones. So if you’re a new mom, you’ll need all the help you could get when it comes to handling your baby’s sleep schedules, and here, we’ve bought you just that.

Your 1 Month Old Baby Sleep Patterns:

After your baby is born, your newborn will mostly sleep for the first few weeks.

• You can usually expect your baby to sleep for most of the day for the first month. Your baby’s sleep duration could last for as long as 18 hours a day (2).

• Even if your baby does sleep for up to 18 hours, the sleep will not be for an entire stretch of 18 hours. Your newborn baby will sleep in spurts of sleep or infant naps that will not be for more than three to four hours. It means that your newborn will continue the same way through the day as well as through the night, as a result of which you too will not get your much-required dose of sleep.

• Newborn babies experience day-night confusion and it means that your newborn will not realize the difference in sleep schedule for the first month at least.

• While your one-month-old baby sleeps, his sleep cycles will be much shorter than yours. It means that he will spend a lot of time in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is the phase of sleep where he can be disturbed easily. The REM phase of sleep is quite important for your newborn, as it will help your baby’s brain develop as per the changes. Similarly, it is also important for babies to spend some time in NREM sleep to ensure better physical and mental development.

• Night wakings will mostly be triggered by hypoglycemia, and it is necessary to feed them.

Your 2 Month Old Baby Sleep Patterns:

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Once your baby enters the second month, they will enter a different sleep regression than what they experienced in the first month.

• Between your baby’s sixth week and eighth week of life, you will notice a gradual change in the time they spend sleeping (4).

• Somewhere during these weeks, your baby will start to sleep a little less in the day and more through the night. It means that your baby may sleep for about one or two hours at a stretch in the day, in short bursts of three to four hours in the first month.
• Your baby will make up for the lost sleep at night, and you may notice an increase in the amount of time they sleep at a stretch. For instance, while earlier they slept for two or three hours at a stretch, they may soon start surprising you by sleeping for as long as four to five hours at a stretch.

• The gap between one round of sleep and the next will increase. For instance, if earlier your baby slept after two hours of staying awake, they may now sleep after three hours of staying awake.

• You will notice sleep consolidation as your two-month-old baby’s sleep will start getting deeper as compared to the first month. So, they will spend less time in the REM sleep mode and have fewer light sleep stretches.

Things to know

Newborns should be awakened to feed if they sleep for longer stretches. In the first couple of weeks, wake your baby every 3 to 4 hours to feed until they show good weight gain (2).

Your 3 Month Old Baby Sleep Patterns:

By the third month, you will start understanding your baby’s sleep pattern to an extent, even though it may not be as regular as you want it to be.

• By the time your baby is three months old, they will need less than 17 hours of sleep over 24 hours. Here, your baby will likely sleep for about five hours in the day, spread out over smaller stretches of sleep. Then, they will sleep for almost six to eight hours at night and may wake up twice or thrice for a feed (3).

• Some babies also get into the habit of sleeping through the night once they are three weeks old, so do not worry if your baby does not wake up for a feed in the middle of the night. Also, if your baby doesn’t sleep through the night and still wakes up a few times, it is perfectly normal. According to Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, by six months, almost two-thirds of babies can sleep through the night on a regular basis, providing relief and peaceful slumber to both parents and children.

• By this age, your baby’s system is maturing and growing. Your baby’s stomach will learn how to digest the milk better, making it easier for your baby to feed more and also to fall and stay asleep for longer.

• A three-month-old’s sleep involves a few stretches of daytime naps for about one or one and a half hours. The sleep at night will become more regular as your baby reaches the end of the third month.

Teaching Your Baby The Difference Between Night And Day

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Putting a newborn baby to sleep and getting some much-needed sleep in the process can be one of the biggest challenges you face as a new mother. While you are constantly on the feed, burp, swaddle, put to bed, try to put to sleep, you realize that you barely get any sleep for yourself. As much as you want your newborn to learn to sleep at normal hours from the day right after being born, things are not always so easy. Here are a few ways you can help your baby understand the difference between night and day and make that transition a whole lot easier (5) (6):

• The first rule to remember is to be patient with your newborn. You have been sleeping at night and staying awake in the day for years, but for your newborn, it’s an entirely new concept. To be fair, give your baby and yourself some time to adjust to the routine.

• After the first few weeks of bringing the baby home, start a routine that your baby can identify and differentiate between day and night. For example, help your baby change into ‘day’ clothes after waking up in the morning. Keep night clothes separate and make your baby wear those only when you are about to tuck him in bed at night.

• Play with your baby in the day and reduce the time and amount of play during the evening and night.

• Allow your baby to listen to noises throughout the day, but keep the noise and volume to a bare minimum as it becomes evening and night.

Quick tip

Soft music can help babies sleep, whereas white noise or rain sounds might help soothe the baby if they wake up easily (11).

• Keep his room bright and airy in the day, but dim the lights at night. It is important to create a safe sleep environment for your baby to facilitate SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) prevention.

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Tips To Help You Put Your Baby To Sleep

If you’ve been struggling with your baby in terms of sleep, here are a few simple tips to help you get things on track (1) (6) (7).

1. Interaction with the Child:

Mothers need to begin interacting with their babies right from the early stages. True, your baby may probably not understand what you’re trying to say, but these attempts may go a long way in developing your baby’s cognitive and communication skills.

Interaction also helps the infants make a visible difference between day and night because parents usually communicate more in the day than at night. This way, your baby will know that it’s time for them to sleep. In addition, this kind of social and lively interaction during daytime is believed to help the infant set up a clock within their body and may help them stick to sleeping schedules.

2. Circadian Rhythm Development:

The body’s circadian rhythm, which is the natural sleep cycle of the body, is usually underdeveloped when a child is born. For proper development of this rhythm, it takes a minimum of 3-4 months of sleep training.

Children with underdeveloped circadian cycles usually sleep more in the daytime and are awake during the night hours. Mothers can alter this situation by feeding the baby every 2-3 hours. Exposure to natural light also helps promote the early development of the circadian rhythm; ensure that your child receives more natural light in the daytime.

3. Follow their Sleeping Cues:

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Another great way of putting your baby to bed early is to allow them to follow their sleeping cues. Sleep cues help you understand if your child is tired. Infants are often the best to inform their parents when they are most tired and want to sleep.

Common signs that help you detect if your baby is sleepy include yawning, gazing off or the eyebrows turning red. Following these early-stage cues may help you and your baby get accustomed to a daily routine and help them get in the habit of sleeping early. Sometimes, even colic can keep your child from sleeping peacefully.

4. Set a Bed-time Routine:

It’s very important for every parent to set a bedtime routine for their child. A consistent bedtime routine is good for a child’s overall development, especially during their growth years. Mothers can start the pre-bedtime routine with a maximum of 60-90 minutes during the first month but in the later months, make the pre-bedtime routine short and simple with a maximum of 15 to 20 minutes.

A short bedtime routine may just include a small bath with a massage, a diaper change, and, lastly, a song. Such a routine may help the child go to bed more easily during bedtime.

Sharing her simple bedtime routine with her newborn daughter, blogger, and mother Preity says, “When my baby was around six weeks, I started bedtime rituals, and it worked at that time. I used to finish my dinner at 8:30 p.m. and bring her upstairs to our bedroom. Though she couldn’t move much, she played with her hands and feet. I started by massaging her a little bit, changing clothes and diapers, feeding her, rocking her a little, and then making the lights dim. She continued with her little plays or started showing signs of sleepiness. I used to pat her and sing a lullaby; mostly, she slept easily around 9:00 or 9:30 p.m. (i).”

5. Cuddle:

To ensure that your child is in the habit of getting to bed early, cuddle up with them daily, especially during an early stage. Comfort, rock, or hold them firmly as if they were a part of a bedtime routine. It will help the infant know that such an activity means it’s time for them to doze off to sleep.

Co-sleeping with the child can make parents seem like comforters, making the infant realize it’s time for them to sleep. It provides a sense of security to the baby. Such an activity appeases the child and helps them sleep peacefully. It is very important for parents to swaddle the hands up and the midline of the infants. Swaddling helps in ensuring that the child is sleeping undisturbed and peacefully. Additionally, a pacifier can also come in handy to put your little one to sleep. However, limit pacifier use as it can cause dental issues later on.

6. Make your ‘Feeding’ Schedule Regular:

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Newborns can also be driven to sleep by adopting regular feeding schedules. Feeding schedules are the best way to complement sleeping schedules. In general, newborns need to be fed every 2-3 hours. By maintaining a one to three-month baby feeding and sleeping schedule, you can ensure a much better sleeping pattern for your baby in the later stages. It may also resolve any major feeding issues that you may be facing. In addition, it will influence the infant to follow an early bedtime routine during their developing months.

One to three-month-old baby sleeping patterns often change most unpredictably in a child’s life and are directly linked to the child’s growth and development. All babies are different and have different tendencies.

Quick fact

Keeping a baby awake during the day will not help improve their nighttime sleep. Instead, napping helps babies sleep better at night (12).

Infographic: How To Put Your 3-Month-Old Baby To Sleep?

Proper sleep is essential for the baby’s growth and development. But as your baby grows, with every passing month, it might get difficult to put your baby to sleep, especially during nighttime. So, if you’re struggling with your baby, check out this infographic below to learn some helpful tips to put your baby to bed.

Illustration: Momjunction Design Team

Learn how to help your baby sleep through the night with expert advice. Get useful tips and tricks for ensuring your baby’s calm sleep.

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Dr. Misha YajnikMD

Dr. Misha Yajnik is an American Board Certified general pediatrician practicing in the US. She did her undergraduate studies at Youngstown State University in Ohio and obtained her MD degree from Ross University School of Medicine in Dominica.

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Vidya TadapatriMSc (Biotechnology)

Vidya did her post-graduation in Biotechnology from Osmania University, Hyderabad. Her interest in scientific research and writing made her pursue a career in writing, in which she now has over five years of experience. She has done certified biotechnology-related training programs under renowned organizations such as Centre For Cellular & Molecular Biology and Department of Biotechnology.

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