As frustrating as is it, variation in baby sleep patterns is normal. Babies might sleep from 30 minutes to 5 hours and anywhere in between. Predictable, regular patterns only begin as the baby matures.
A recent study of 97 Portuguese families identified the average time babies spend sleeping and the frequency of sleep over a 24 hours for babies aged:
two weeks
three months
six months.
The study supported much of what we already know: sleep patterns slowly mature and by three months, infants begin to have distinct day and night sleep patterns.
2 weeks
Avg time asleep
13.27 hours
6.35 hours during the day
6.91 hours at night
Longest sleep period
3.20 hours
Avg time awake
8.69 hours, inc feeding times
4.62 hours during the day
4.07 hours at night
How often they woke
6 times
4.95 times during the day
8.01 times overnight
3 months
Avg time asleep
12.95 hours
4.95 hours during the day
8.01 hours at night
Longest sleep period
5.24 hours
Avg time awake
9.19 hours over 24 hours
6.06 hours during the day
3.13 hours at night
How often they woke
5.5 times
3.03 times during the day
2.24 times overnight
6 months
Avg time asleep
12.21 hours
4.02 hours during the day
8.20 hours at night
Longest sleep period
5.59 hours
Avg time awake
9.98 hours over 24 hours
7.15 hours during the day
2.83 hours at night
How often they woke
5.1 times
3.10 times during the day
2.11 times overnight
Note: the remaining time between asleep and awake was called ‘latency to sleep’, i.e. the time spent getting to sleep.
The study
Figueiredo, Dias, Pinto, Field 2016
Participants:
The majority of the mothers were Caucasian (97.8%), first time mothers with full term infants and no health related hospital admissions.
More than half of the babies (57.4%) were male
More than half of the babies in the study (56.3%) were not bedsharing, while 43.7% bedshared.
The majority (81.9%) were exclusively breast fed at 2 weeks, 68.6% at 3 months and 4.3% at 6 months.
Night time was defined as 8pm to 8am.
Author: Helen Stevens. RN. RM. MCHN. BAppSc. MMHS. Manager of Clinical Services, Education and Research.
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