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Are you worried about your newborn’s sleep routine? We at Emma really care about sleep. Today we want to help you understand your baby’s needs and how to get your baby the best sleep.
Sleep can be one of the most puzzling problems of new parenting. As many of us learn through gritty nights and zombie days, children simply don’t sleep like the rest of us.
The first thing to keep in mind is that your baby doesn’t stick to a real schedule. Usually, babies can sleep between 14 to 17 hours per day but of course, that is not a standard. Each baby is different and so is their sleep time that can also differ based on age. For example, in order to grow healthy, a study showed that usually new-borns sleep for a bit more than 15 hours per day (with 3 naps of 7 hours in total), 3-month old-babies sleep for 15 hours per day (with 3 naps of 5 hours in total), 9-month old -babies sleep for 14 hours per day (with 2 naps of 3 hours in total), 12-month old-babies sleep for 13 hours per day (with 2 naps of 2 hours in total). The total time can vary up to two hours and the number of naps can also be flexible.
Is the night turning into a nightmare?
Are struggling because your baby is waking up a lot? Then you should know the reason why new-borns wake up at night.
Studies have shown that babies spend half of their sleep time in the so-called REM stage. The REM (Rapid Eye Movement) phase of sleep is the only one in which our brain is in fact incredibly active. All this brain energy is used to run away from monsters or live beautiful adventures: in a few words, it is used to dream.
That means that during this time your baby moves and dreams and might wake up whining. Usually, the baby who cries at night is because he needs something: food, a diaper change or even just a cuddle. But don’t worry, over time your little one will assume a regular rhythm with fewer REM cycles and more deep sleep.
Moreover, how many times have you thought to yourself that your child must have problems distinguishing day from night? You’re not wrong, that’s right. The truth is that babies struggle to tell the difference between day and night. His day, in fact, is organized in a much more basic way. It’s his tummy that dictates the rhythm: he wakes up when he is hungry and goes back to sleep when he is satisfied.
Fortunately, his nocturnal habits are only temporary and once he has stabilized his rhythms, he will stop mixing up his days and his nights. Often babies develop a sense of day and night once they are two months old. You can help the process by creating a calm and dark environment at night and letting in the sunshine during the day. The advice given by mothers is to talk to the baby a lot during daytime feedings and only a little during night feeds.
In order to keep your baby calm, you also should receive the right amount of quality sleep, so try to take a nap whenever your baby sleeps and don’t hesitate to ask for help if you really feel exhausted.
Did you know that your baby can sleep peacefully even in noisy environments?
Generally speaking, concerning daytime naps, paediatricians advise against getting the infant used to sleep in absolute silence. The child must learn to differentiate day from night. He needs to get used to the normal noises produced by other members of the family. In fact, hearing dad or mum finish up daily activities can help him in this sense. Once you put your baby to bed, you don’t have to turn off the TV, tiptoe quietly or whisper. Most young babies can sleep even in the noisiest and brightest places.
In the evening, however, it’s important to get your baby ready to sleep by adequately preparing the environment around him. An hour before bedtime, it’s good to limit the noise and reduce the lighting. That gives the baby a chance to relax and to understand that the time to sleep is close.
The importance of child sleeping space
When thinking about what’s the safest environment, it turns out it’s safer for baby to sleep in a cleaner environment. The safest sleeping position is on their back on a rigid and flat mattress with a tight-fitting sheet. Remember to remove any element from the sleeping area that could potentially suffocate a child, cause overheating or impair breathing.
The new guidelines expressly advise not to share the bed (but only the rest environment) with the little ones. What if the parents console or feed the baby overnight? Then they should opt for their own bed instead of choosing sofas, which could be dangerous for the baby.
If you want to discover more about our products, please visit our website and give yourself a mattress that will make you rest well and give you all the energy to take care of your baby.
