How much sleep does my baby need, and how can I get him to sleep?

Описание: You mentioned that you have a 4 1/2 month old baby boy who seems to be sleeping about 9 to 10 hours out of each 24 hour period, sleeping a longer stretch at night, and taking multiple short naps during the day, like only 10 to 30 minutes each. And you're wondering if this is normal, what can you do to encourage sleep, you've talked with your pediatrician about it, and you're just at your wit's end. The amount of sleep that a baby needs will change as they get older. In infancy and for the first few months, a baby needs about 14 to 17 hours out of each 24 hour period. And their sleeping patterns are largely governed by their eating patterns. It's normal for them to eat and then sleep, and eat and then sleep, but it's just never when we want them to, and so parents are very tired during this stage.

But as babies get older, they can go longer periods of time in between eating. They're starting to discover the world around them, and they're up longer. And so from about 4 months on, most babies start to require only about 12 to 15 hours out of each 24 hour period. And this is usually broken up into a longer stretch at night and 2 good naps during the day - 1 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon. When I say good naps though, for some babies, 20 minutes is long enough. For others, they take 2 to 3 hour naps. It just really depends on the baby's needs. And the 12 to 15 hours is not a hard and fast rule. Some babies can do fine with less. Some babies require more. That's just an average amount of sleep that babies at that age get, generally speaking.

So as for what you can do to encourage sleep, try putting your baby down at regular intervals throughout the day. Develop a morning routine that includes nap time, and an afternoon routine that includes nap time, and a bedtime routine. Try to stick to it as much as you can and do things that are going to clue your baby in to the fact that it's time for sleep. For some, it's singing a lullaby, or reading a book, or rocking their baby (it's usually done after the baby has nursed or had a bottle), and then they go down for a nap. And it's best, actually, to put them to bed drowsy but awake, because they need to learn how to go to sleep on their own without help from you. And if they cry when you put them in, that's okay. Let them cry for a few minutes before responding to them, go in and check on them as needed, and help them understand that it's time for a nap.

You can do the same thing at night for bedtime. And if they wake up during the night, then you can teach them how to self-soothe by not responding to their cries, because ultimately they've learned up to that point that crying gets them what they want most, which is you. So it will require a few tears as you teach them to self-soothe, and you can just let them cry it out, or you can incrementally check on them as needed to make sure they're okay and reassure them that you're there. Just resist any and all urges to pick them up or to turn on the light and start talking a lot, because that will just wake them up more and reinforce the crying.

If you're persistent and consistent about it for at least 4 to 7 days and nights, whether you're working on naps or night time, a baby should start to learn the new routine. One of the great things about their brains is that they have like a 4-day reset, and so anything that you consistently and persistently enforce for that amount of time will be accepted as a new norm to them. Continue working at it, and if you have more questions, talk with your pediatrician. And if you have more questions for me in the future, feel free to ask them on our Facebook page at   / intermountainmoms  , and recommend us to your friends and family too.