Understanding your baby's sleep

How much sleep does my baby need?

Your baby needs a lot more sleep than you do. Over a 24-hour period, the average newborn sleeps for 16 and a half hours (NHS 2017). Even at three months, your baby will need to sleep for about 14 to 16 hours every 24 hours (NHS 2017).

Your baby won’t take all their sleep in one long stretch, even at night. At first, they'll need to wake up for feeds. From when they're newborn to when they're around three months old, your baby will rest in sleep-wake cycles through the day, with slightly longer spells at night.

The length of these sleep cycles depends on your baby. In their first few months, they will probably sleep for blocks of about two to three hours in the day, and around five hours at night (BASIS nda).

As your baby gets older, they'll probably sleep for longer periods at night. By the time they are about five months old, they may have started to sleep for an eight-hour stretch on some nights (BASIS nda). Whatever other people may tell you, most babies don’t sleep through the night, every night, until they are at least a year old (BASIS nda).

Twins and multiples have sleeping patterns roughly the same as single babies (BASIS nda). However, if they spent time on the neonatal ward, where they became used to being touched and fed often, they may find settling to sleep at home more difficult (NHS 2019).

What happens when my baby falls asleep?

Just like you, your baby goes through cycles of different types of sleep (Maclean et al 2015).

Babies have two sleep stages. Active or rapid eye movement sleep (dream sleep) and quiet sleep or non-rapid eye movement sleep (Maclean et al 2015).

When your baby is in active sleep, their brain will be processing their day in order to help their cognitive and physical skills develop (NSF nd). When they fall asleep, they go straight into REM or active sleep and it’s easy for them to be woken then (BASIS ndb). Within around 20 minutes, they'll move into a phase of quiet sleep. If they've fallen asleep in their pram or car seat, this is the best time to move them into their cot or Moses basket (BASIS ndb).

Your newborn will move through this sleep cycle throughout their sleep. Their cycle is about 60 minutes long compared to yours, which is about 130 minutes long (BASIS ndb). By the time they're three months old, their sleep cycle will have increased to match yours (NSF nd).

Does my baby dream a lot?

Your baby has more dream sleep than you. It's thought that premature babies spend about 80 per cent of their sleep in REM sleep. At full-term, up to 50 per cent of a baby's sleep is REM (Maclean et al 2015).

Adult dream sleep only takes up 20 per cent of our total sleep (NSF nd). So while you dream for between one and two hours a night, your newborn baby dreams for up to eight hours (NSF nd). From your baby's first birthday, their dream sleep will start to reduce (Maclean et al 2015).

During your baby’s dream sleep, their eyes dart back and forth under their eyelids, while the rest of their body is very still (Stevens 2015). They will have the occasional twitch, and their breathing will be irregular (Maclean et al 2015).

In quiet sleep, your baby will breathe deeply and regularly, sometimes with a big sigh. They will mainly lie still but their arms or legs may move and they might make little sucking movements with their mouth, or suddenly give a start (Science Direct 2019).

How many naps should my baby have?

When your baby is born, they'll sleep for longer than at any other time in their life (Stevens 2015). At first, they'll wake every two to three hours throughout the day and night. As they get older, more of their sleep will be at night (Stevens 2015) with two to three naps during the day (Maclean et al 2015).

Daytime naps gradually get a little longer and happen less often by six months. By then, most babies have about 11 hours of sleep at night, with the odd brief waking, and two to three naps during the day, adding up to around three hours of daytime sleep (NHS 2017).

By 12 months your baby may sleep for around 13 hours to 14 hours, including two daytime naps. By about 18 months to two years, naps will usually reduce to just one a day (NHS 2017).

Timing your baby's naps is key to developing good sleeping habits. If your baby has a nap late in the day, it can affect how well they sleep that night. Most of us are less alert in the early afternoon, and this time is ideal for babies to have their daytime sleep.

What are my baby's natural sleep rhythms?

Most babies are physically capable of sleeping through the night from quite an early age, but this doesn't mean that they do! Studies have found that many babies wake through the night but manage to settle themselves back to sleep again. So they may not be asleep for as long as we think they are (BASIS ndc).

One of our body’s natural rhythms is called the circadian rhythm, which helps us regulate sleeping and waking. It’s controlled by hormones and exposure to daylight and temperature (Stevens 2015).

When your baby was in your womb, they had the same circadian rhythm as you (Maclean et al 2015). It’s not until they're one month old that they develop their own rhythm (Maclean et al 2015). By the time they're six months old their circadian rhythm is the same as yours (Maclean et al 2015). That means their body knows the difference between day and night and they sleep mostly at night and are awake for most of the day.

What about feeding and sleep?

Although the melatonin found in breastmilk helps breastfed babies to sleep, they’re more likely to sleep in shorter bursts, sleep less deeply and take longer to sleep through the night (BASIS ndc). However, there’s little difference between the total amount of sleep in breastfed and formula fed babies (BASIS ndc).

All babies are different, but it’s thought that most babies can cope without any feeds during the night from around six months (NHS 2018). Some babies will stop asking for night-time feeds earlier than this. Others may prefer the comfort of a night-time feed for months to come.

Talk to your health visitor if you’re concerned about whether your baby can cope with dropping their night feed at this stage.

If you think your baby is ready to sleep through without a feed, a consistent bedtime routine will help them to understand the difference between feeding and sleeping.

You can do this by leaving time between your baby’s evening feed and when you settle your baby to sleep (NHS 2018). If your baby falls asleep when you feed, she may link feeding with sleep. That means that when they wake in the night, they may find it hard to settle without a feed (NHS 2018).

Timing your baby’s last feed around the start of their bedtime routine, rather than at the end, may help. If you see your little one drift off during their feed, gently end the feed and finish the rest of the bedtime routine before lying her down in her cot, sleepy but awake. If you’re feeding your baby more than once during the night, drop the feed you would prefer not to do first. If they're older than six months, you can offer them a cup of water when they wake, instead of a feed, or simply settle them back to sleep by shushing and patting them gently.

How can I get my baby to fall asleep without me?

Studies show that by the time your baby is around three months old, they may be able to settle themselves back to sleep when they wake(St James-Roberts et al 2015).

You can help your baby learn to self-settle by going to them and comforting them when they cry (Blunden 2013). Gradually reducing the time you spend with them may help to get them used to going back to sleep without you (Blunden 2013). So, you could start by cuddling them until they go to sleep, then move on to patting them gently, to eventually letting them fall asleep in their cot (Blunden 2013).

If your baby has trouble settling themselves, they may be too young to be able to self-soothe. If this is the case, wait a few weeks before trying again.

Find out more about establishing good sleep habits for your baby at:

• Three to six months
• Six to nine months
• Nine to 12 months