Helping Your Baby Sleep Through the Night - A practical step-by-step video for new parents

Infant Sleep

"The first several months of a child’s life are a period of adjustment for any family. It is a time when parents and older brothers or sisters get to know the baby and adjust to having a new family member. It is an equally eventful time for the newborn, who is faced with new stimuli and challenges every day. Intensifying all of this newness are the emotional aspects of having a new baby in the family. Frequently, all the joys and stresses are felt most intensely during these first months. No matter how prepared parents are, the unexpected often occurs and plans can go awry. Life is full, but not always easy. Fatigue can take its toll.

The newborn’s needs during these first months are simple. Beyond the basics, food and sleep, he mostly needs lots of love and calm, consistent attention. Most experts agree that there is no such thing as a sleep disorder during the first several months of life; babies know how much sleep they need. Provided a baby is not mistreated, he will sleep as much as he needs. It is up to you, as a parent, to gradually make these sleep times fit in with the rest of the family’s schedule.

Happily, this seems to be the norm. Most babies begin to show day-night differentiation within a couple of months. Whereas an infant sleeps randomly around the clock, most two-month-olds show a preference for sleeping in the night. And around the same time, parents begin to get an idea of how much morning and afternoon sleep their baby needs, even though it probably isn’t organized into predictable nap times. At two months of age, a baby may take from two to five naps a day, depending on the parent’s schedule and the baby’s temperament. By four months of age, most babies take only two or three naps a day, usually at about the same time every day. A four-month-old may continue to sleep just about as long as he always has, but his longest stretch asleep may well double to about eight hours."