A Better Beddy-bye for Baby

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Medically Reviewed On: September 09, 2004

Despite their small size, babies can wield tremendous power over their parents. Some new parents will go to extreme lengths to get their baby to sleep, rocking them to sleep in their arms for hours or driving them around town until their eyelids finally flutter shut.

Bedtime doesn't have to make parents and their babies crazy. Below, Jodi Mindell, PhD, a professor of psychology at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, offers some tips on getting your baby to fall asleep on his or her own, and then stay asleep, so everyone in the family can get the rest they need.

How much sleep do newborns need?
Newborns typically sleep anywhere from 10 to 18 hours a day, so there is incredible variability in how much a 2-week-old or a 4-week-old is going to sleep. There is no differentiation between night and day, so they're sleeping anywhere from 30 minutes to three hours around the clock. Starting around eight weeks, they're awake more during the day and sleeping more at night.


How much sleep do infants and toddlers require?
Infants (3- to 12-month-olds) need between 14 and 15 hours of sleep a night. They get between 10 and 12 hours at night, and then they nap during the day. A 3- or 4-month-old is taking three to four naps a day, and a 12-month-old is typically taking two naps a day. Toddlers (1- to 3-year-olds) are sleeping 12 to 14 hours a day and have shifted to one afternoon nap.

At what age will babies start to sleep through the night?
One of the problems answering that question is the definition of sleeping through the night. The original definition in 1957 was a baby who sleeps from midnight to 5 a.m. is sleeping through the night. I know as a parent that, if I was woken at 11:45 p.m. and at 5:15 a.m., I wouldn't feel like they're sleeping through the night. So if you're looking for 12 hours straight, they will be at least 6 months of age until they can sleep for that long without a nighttime feeding.

What's the best setting for sleep?
For all children, adolescents and adults, you want a bedroom that's cool, quiet, dark and comfortable. All babies should sleep on a firm surface. There should be very little bedding in their crib, so that there's no concern about suffocation. And, of course, all babies should be put down on their backs to sleep to decrease the risk of sudden infant death syndrome.


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