How much should my child be sleeping?
Renowned South African author and occupational therapist Meg Faure shares her insights on sleep routines for all ages
Sleep. Every parent’s potential nightmare. As we know all too well, being sleep deprived makes anyone, no matter what age, irritable. With little ones, sleep not only has critical implications as far as mood goes – it’s also vital for brain development and learning. If your little one isn’t sleeping through the night, or is a tricky daytime sleeper, you may be wondering if he or she is getting enough sleep.
With that in mind here are some guidelines for your little one’s sleep:
Birth - Four Months
What’s normal?
Your little one is likely to need to sleep 16 to 17 hours a day – that’s a lot of sleep, but remember, your infant is making the transition from the womb to a very busy world. The problem is that from two weeks of age on, you may find your baby fighting sleep if he or she is overtired. Some babies have their day and nights muddled up – waking often for feeds at night and sleeping for long stretches throughout the day.
Day sleep
Infants require regular sleeps during the day. Settle your baby back to sleep after 45-90 minutes awake time at this age. The number of day sleeps will vary, depending on how long each sleep is.
Night sleep
From the age of six weeks, aim for a bedtime between 6 and 6:30 pm and start your baby’s bath time routine around 5:30 pm. Newborns wake as frequently during the night for feeds as they do during the day. Towards four months, your baby will start having one longer stretch of 6-8 hours of sleep at night and then wake 3-4 hourly thereafter for a feed.
Four - Six Months
What’s normal?
Your baby will become increasingly wakeful and expect stimulation and interaction more during the day. Most little ones are sleeping 14 to 16 hours out of every 24.
Day sleeps
By four months, your little one may wake at the end of every sleep cycle (45min) during the day. This means he/she has more short sleeps rather than long stretches. Most babies of this age have three to four naps a day. Aim to have your baby back to bed for the next day sleep an hour and a half to two hours from the time he/she wakes from each nap.
Night sleep
Most little ones can manage seven to eight hours before needing a feed at night. This means you can expect to have to wake up once just after midnight and once for an early morning feed (4-6 am).
Six - Twelve Months
What’s normal?
In the second half of the first year, your baby starts to be wakeful for nearly half of every 24-hour period and needs to sleep 13 to 14 hours. Most little ones start to ‘sleep through’ at this time.
Day sleeps
A firm sleep routine emerges – most babies have two to three daytime naps. It is common for the morning nap to be 45 minutes long, the midday sleep longer (an hour and a half) and then a catnap at around 4 pm. This afternoon nap must be short and your little one will probably not need it from around nine months..
Night sleep
Your baby should be sleeping through the night for 10 to 12 hours now. Common reasons for night waking at this stage are: needing extra nutrition or protein and iron; separation anxiety; teething; or because your baby has not learnt to settle himself to sleep.
One - Two Years
What’s normal?
Toddlers have two defined times for sleep – 12 hours at night and an hour or two over midday, for a total of 12 to 14 hours in 24.
Day sleeps
Day sleeps are still important – your toddler will sleep once in the day over midday. This sleep can vary from one to two hours.
Night sleep
Unless your toddler is ill, he or she should sleep for 10-12 hours at night without needing a feed or to be soothed.
Preschoolers
What’s normal?
In the preschool years, your little one will start to drop the day sleep and concentrate all sleep at night. Children of this age need 11 to 13 hours of sleep a day.
Day sleeps
Try to keep the day sleep routine going for as long as possible – even if your preschooler doesn’t want to sleep, make sure he/she has a rest over midday.
Night sleep
Preschoolers should sleep 11-12 hours a night. , though they may wake as a result of nightmares.
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