Newborn Sleep Patterns and Management

The sleep habits of the newborn may be either very interesting or can be very irritating for you and your family. It can also be very difficult for you and others to give him/her an instruction to sleep on time, sleep properly or others. How will a baby sleep? will also be a great question for the parents, especially , when the baby do not sleep on your sleeping time. If the baby has a awaking habit at night, it can be very distractive and if the baby has sleeping habit in the day time, it can also arise the difficulties. Let us have a small discussion about the Newborn Sleep Patterns so that the new parents can understand the psychology of their baby’s sleep habits.

According to the medical experts, the newborn babies have a habit of sleeping at least for nineteen to twenty hours a day. The sleeping habit are divided into several sections like the baby can sleep for some hours then wake up for approximately thirty minutes and then again can go to sleep.  The mother should observe his/her habits and then plan the day accordingly. Many doctors also say that the newborn has sleeping habit for at least nine hours at night and eight hours a day. If the baby is sleeping, one should not awake him/her for feeding or any other work. It is also advisable that the newborn should not be left sleeping for more than five hours, especially in the day time.

The baby’s sleep patters also have different stages. In these different stages, the baby either will move actively or lie down without moving body. The light sleep is also known as rapid eye movement or REM sleep. The other is non REM sleep. In this stage, the baby may have tired eyes; he can look very quite and may not move his/her body. They also have various sleep cycles.

Before going to sleep, the baby may yawn or bother you in some other way; he can also rub his eyes.

Most important thing is that, the baby does not understand the day and night. Thus, his sleep patterns are not that scheduled. The parents should take an initiative to encourage him/her to have a habit of sleeping at night. The babies also do not understand the bedtime. The mother can encourage the habit to giving a breast feed and try to let him sleep. Once the bay is awaken, he may not go for sleep for a quite log time.

The parents should not allow the baby to sleep on their stomach. There are a number of cases of sudden infant death syndrome or SIDS due to a baby sleeping on stomach. Medical experts say that one should keep the baby to sleep on his back. He also should not be allowed to have a side sleep.

A resource has motioned some of the guidelines released by the AmericanAcademy of Pediatrics or AAP, US Consumer Product Safety Commission or CPSC and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development about the Newborn Sleep Patterns.  The guideline says:-

One should put the baby on the back and he should sleep in a stretched mattress.

The place where the baby sleep should not be filled with quits, toys, pillows etc.

The baby should be covered with soft towel.

One should try not to cover the baby when he is sleeping

He should not sleep on a pillow, any type of soft surface or even sofa.

Most importantly, the baby should not sleep with other children or adults as they have chances to share the inhaled air, which can lead to infections.

The Newborn Sleep Patterns changes as their age grows, thus, the parents should have a close look on his/her sleeping habits and places. After a certain age , they should also be trained for a proper sleeping habit including others.