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Understanding your baby’s sleep

Father cuddles baby who is lying asleep

The work of Professor Helen Ball, a world-renowned expert on infant sleep, has informed this section.

Babies are mammals, and their sleep patterns are rooted in their biology. It is normal for infants to wake frequently during the night—this is an inherent part of their biology.

Professor Helen Ball has explained that newborns are completely dependent on their caregivers for warmth, safety, and nourishment throughout their first year and beyond.

Compared to other primates, human infants are born in uniquely helpless at birth. They have a lot of development to do after they have been born. In most primates, brain growth slows after birth, but human babies are different. They continue to experience rapid brain growth post birth, continuing the process that began in the womb.

Since human babies undergo a form of external gestation post-birth, they rely on close contact with caregivers for warmth, safety, biological regulation, and frequent feeding. They instinctively want to be close to their caregivers.

Baby sleeping and waking

Newborns don’t show a circadian rhythm, they do not distinguish between day and night. They sleep in the day and night and wake frequently. Whilst babies wake often, we all wake up each night quite often. But when babies wake up, they also want to be close to their caregiver – it helps them feel safe.

In the first few months of life waking more frequently actually reduces the risk of sudden infant death (SIDS).

Brain development requires an immense amount of energy, and much of this growth occurs during sleep. As a result, babies sleep extensively but also wake often to feed, ensuring they have enough energy to sustain brain development.

Babies have tiny tummies. Human milk is low in fat but high in sugar, providing babies with lots of energy to enable their brain growth but it does not keep babies full for long.

Graphic showing newborn stomach size from day 1 to 1 month

(Image Credit: https://letmommysleep.com)

If a mother is giving her milk to her baby (breastfeeding or expressing her milk), frequent waking plays a vital role in milk supply regulation. The more a baby feeds, the stronger the mother’s milk production becomes, helping to sustain breastfeeding over time.

Biology v social expectations

Babies naturally prefer to be held and often dislike being put down — this is not a behavioural issue, but a biological need. In many cultures, mothers carry their infants throughout the day using slings or wraps enabling continuous closeness.

Different cultures have different approaches to sleep. Western society has, over time, developed unrealistic expectations regarding baby sleep. The idea of sleeping through the night is relatively new, starting with the Industrial Revolution. The industrialization of society meant that adults had rigid work schedules in mills or factories and this meant that their sleep changed – it became compressed into uninterrupted nighttime blocks. In response, parents sought ways to change infant sleep patterns to suit adults’ needs to go to work.

For over 150 years, experts have attempted to shape infant sleep habits to fit societal expectations rather than recognizing the biological sleep needs of babies.

Sleeping through the night?

A study by Moore and Ucko (1957) studied 160 babies sleep and defined “sleeping through the night” as no crying between midnight and 5am. This is a lot less sleep than some parents are hoping for! While 70% of infants slept for five hours by three months old, half later resumed waking during the night. Additionally, 50% of six-month-old babies still woke frequently.

Professor Helen Ball states that what parents want and what is biologically normal are two very different things.

Professor Helen Ball points out that lots of the ways we talk about babies is about trying to get babies to fit in with our lifestyle, for example, ‘showing them who is the boss’, ‘not letting them be in charge’, ‘letting them cry to exercise their lungs’ or ‘not picking them up otherwise they will get spoilt’.  However, these ways of talking do not accurately represent our babies’ developmental needs.  Professor Helen Ball identified that we end up fighting our babies’ natural biological responses, rather than working with their evolutionary development which is honed for their survival.

Babies develop differently and it usually takes months before they sleep through the night.

How babies’ sleep differs to adults’ sleep

Babies sleep differently from adults in several key ways:

  • Sleep Cycles: Infant sleep cycles last 45-60 minutes, significantly shorter than the 90-minute cycles experienced by adults. Babies’ sleep cycles gradually lengthen over the first year.
  • Active Sleep: Babies enter active sleep (a lighter sleep stage) first, making them easily rousable in the first 20 minutes or so of a nap.
  • REM Sleep: Infants experience much more active sleep than adults—equivalent to REM sleep—which helps them process new information and learn.
  • Circadian Rhythm Development: At first babies sleep does not differ depending on it being day or night. By three months, babies begin sleeping more at night, as their internal clock starts adjusting. Hormonal shifts also begin to regulate sleep patterns.  Even when they begin to sleep longer at night, this may only be a four- or five-hour block. They make up the rest of their sleep by regular naps.
  • Babies’ sleep needs change a lot over the first few months. From often sleeping quite a lot, they sleep less, although gradually more of this sleep is at night.
  • Newborns may sleep about 15 to 18 hours a day, but only in short periods of two to four hours. Premature babies may sleep longer, babies with colic may sleep less.

Supporting babies in sleeping more at night time

As parents, it is important that our sleep expectations of our babies are appropriate.

Babies and children, like adults, only need a finite amount of sleep in 24 hours. If you fall asleep very early, you are likely to wake earlier. If babies are not tired, they cannot fall asleep or stay asleep.

Different people need different amounts of sleep. You cannot train a person to need more sleep than they biologically need.

Parents can help encourage babies to sleep at night by having a regular wake time and encouraging exposure to daylight in the morning. A regular wake time, combined with outdoor activities, helps babies develop their circadian rhythm.

  • Understanding sleep pressure can be helpful. This biological process builds up chemicals in the brain throughout the day, making us feel increasingly sleepy.
  • Newborns: Awake periods last 2-3 hours before babies need sleep.
  • Older infants: Gradually, awake times lengthen, allowing most toddlers to stay awake all day by around 2-3 years old.
  • Daytime naps from four months: Short naps throughout the day help maintain sleep pressure, allowing for longer night sleep. Long naps drops sleep pressure, leading to more frequent night waking.
  • Allowing babies to nap in natural daylight, surrounded by normal household noises, can encourage shorter naps that align with sleep pressure. Babies can nap on the go, which benefits both parents and babies — as long as caregivers get rest, too!
  • A consistent bedtime rhythm can help babies unwind and prepare for sleep. Comfort, contact with caregivers, and a dark, quiet space can encourage better rest. Some babies relax with walks, others enjoy warm baths, some may benefit from both – all babies differ.

Understanding sleep rhythms

Once your baby has developed enough to sleep more at night, you may notice that babies and children are alert or energised before being ready to sleep. This is true of adults too, but you may not notice it. This is not overtiredness but part of the circadian rhythm. It is a good time to go outside or do activities which let your little one burn off some energy, before they are ready to enter sleep. Watch your infant and work out when their circadian rhythm means they are likely to fall asleep at nighttime and try to work with that. Provided they are tired enough, and therefore have enough ‘sleep pressure’, this can become their bedtime.

Babies who are distressed and upset are not going to be able to go to sleep as they will have stress hormones coursing round their bodies. If you soothe your baby, they will then be able to drop off when they are tired.

Even as babies sleep more at night, night waking remains normal during the first year. Developmental milestones, such as learning new skills and developmental transitions, often trigger increased night waking—this is normal.

Dealing with disturbed sleep

Even if we understand why babies are waking up, it is not necessarily easy to cope with being very tired. If you are co-parenting with someone, you could take it in turns to have some undisturbed sleep. For this to work, you will need to take into account how you feed your baby, the need for both parents to get some good sleep, and individual parent’s ability to ‘switch off’ – not having to listen out for baby all the time. If you are parenting alone, is there anyone who can help you? Can you sleep in the day when your baby naps?

If you are suffering from lack of sleep arrange help so that you can get at least 3 hours solid sleep for a few nights to help your serotonin release and to benefit your well-being.

It’s essential for parents to seek support from trusted family and friends. Babies will gradually sleep longer as they grow, but parental exhaustion feels dreadful and needs attention. Seeking help and sharing responsibilities can make a significant difference.

Sleep deprivation can be extremely challenging for caregivers. Disrupted sleep is strongly linked to maternal depression. Research indicates that poor maternal sleep is associated with increased severity of depressive symptoms.   If you are concerned about your mood or emotional well-being, please speak to your Midwife, Health Visitor or GP.

You’re doing an amazing job

Your baby’s sleep will change as they grow, and with time, they’ll naturally begin sleeping for longer stretches at night. In the meantime, it’s okay to follow your baby’s lead and prioritize rest however you can. You’re doing an incredible job, and most importantly, you’re responding to your baby’s natural needs with sensitively.

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