5 minutes reading
A common misconception about breastfeeding is that breastfed babies sleep through the night more slowly than bottle-fed babies. But breastfeeding has nothing to do with your child's sleep rhythm. For a better understanding, discover in this article how a baby's sleep pattern works, the different sleep rhythms that a newborn, an infant and then a baby go through, and our advice on how to make sure this happens in the best possible conditions.
My baby sleeps more during the day than during the day, my baby doesn't sleep enough, my baby is a restless sleeper... So many parents go through these questions, yet it's perfectly normal for your child's sleep rhythm not to be the same as yours. Before you worry too much, you need to understand that a baby's sleep phases are not the same as an adult's, and that they evolve according to your child's needs.
Each newborn's sleep cycle is composed in the same way: falling asleep, then the restless sleep phase and finally the calm sleep phase. The restless sleep phase generally accounts for 60% of a newborn's sleep time, as opposed to 40% for the calm sleep phase. Each sleep cycle lasts between 50 and 60 minutes, interrupted by awakenings every 3 or 4 hours.
Restless sleep can be recognized by the baby's behavior: he moves, makes little noises, smiles, his eyelids move, his breathing is irregular... When this happens, don't wake him up, it's normal!
During the calm sleep phase, your child doesn't move, his face is more relaxed and his breathing is calmer.
The duration and nature of each cycle change with the baby's age. Around 2 or 3 months of age, your little one's restless sleep phases will be replaced by "paradoxical" sleep phases, during which he'll be calmer. These phases will make up only 30% of the daily sleep cycle.
From 3 to 9 months, a child's sleep cycle is made up of 4 phases: falling asleep, REM sleep, light slow wave sleep and deep slow wave sleep.
Sleep changes again, gradually approaching adult sleep. His sleep cycle changes, beginning with falling asleep, light slow wave sleep, deep slow wave sleep and ending with REM sleep. Each cycle lengthens and now lasts around 70 minutes.
From age 3 onwards, each cycle becomes longer, lasting between 90 and 120 minutes.
Newborns generally sleep between 16 and 17 hours out of every 24. They do not distinguish between day and night as they did in the womb. In fact, their biological clock is not yet set.
As mentioned above, sleep evolves according to your child's needs. Between 0 and 3 months, a newborn's sleep cycles will last 50 to 60 minutes, and sometimes 2 or 3 cycles may follow one another. The baby will wake up to meet his or her nutritional needs.
During this time, your need for comfort is absolute and must be a priority. That's why, to help you in the middle of the night, we've designed the most comfortable soft cushion.
From 3 months onwards, a baby generally has enough energy reserves not to demand the breast as often, and to sleep longer. Between 4 and 11 months, he sleeps between 12 and 15 hours out of 24. So he sleeps more at night and less during the day. At this point, you're more keen to get moving, get back into the social swing of things and see friends, go on weekends or vacations. For this, you can rely on the Liberty cushion, the most innovative and versatile of all nursing cushions. It's the first inflatable breastfeeding cushion, designed when I was breastfeeding for the first time.
From 6 months onwards, your baby will sleep less during the day, and generally 3 naps will be sufficient (one in the morning, one in the early afternoon and one in the late afternoon).
However, it's normal for your baby to wake up at night, sometimes to drink, but mostly to be reassured. That's why it's so important that the conditions for falling asleep are right, so that your baby can gradually fall asleep again on his own during the night. Our advice on this subject is given below.
You should also be aware that during growth spurts (6 weeks, 9 weeks, 3 months, 6 months or 9 months), your baby may wake up more at night to demand the breast. In fact, these short periods when baby demands the breast more are due to phases of change or development (teething, learning to walk...).
From the age of 1, sleep duration decreases and your baby will generally sleep between 12 and 13 hours per 24 hours. He will continue to nap in the early afternoon. Awakenings during the night may occur, but your child will generally be able to fall back asleep on his own.
Contrary to what you might think, no one really sleeps through the night, and neither do you. As we said earlier, sleep is made up of cycles, and between each of them there may be an awakening.
At 4 months, around 3 out of 4 babies manage to sleep for at least 5 to 6 hours at a time. Even if there are averages, sleep is unique to each child, and his or her biological clock will adapt over time. The only thing you can do is help your child to get used to bedtime. There's no point waking your child if he sleeps too early in the day, or putting him to bed if he shows no signs of falling asleep.
There are a number of ways to help your baby understand the difference between day and night and develop healthy sleep habits:
Sometimes your baby will cry for long minutes at nightfall for no apparent reason. Rest assured, these crying spells are normal: after spending the day discovering new things and experiencing different emotions, your baby needs to "unload" all this, and the only way he knows how to do this is by crying. These evening anxieties, known as discharge cries, are physiological and temporary. They generally disappear around 4 months.
In the meantime, reassure baby, rock him, talk to him gently, calm him down... The important thing is to calm him down, make him feel secure and avoid further stimulating his awakening.
It's important to follow your intuition, despite the general recommendations, and give your child time to learn how to sleep. After all, sleep can be learned, just as he or she will learn to walk, talk, etc. later on.
If, as time goes by, your baby still can't distinguish between day and night, and this is becoming difficult for you, don't hesitate to call in a sleep consultant. These sleep specialists can help you find a solution to your child's sleep problems. After all, all it takes is a few simple adjustments, and your baby's (and your own) nights can become more peaceful.
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