Organizing a Newborn’s Daytime and Nighttime Sleep

In the weeks following a baby’s birth, it is common for her to sleep all day long. Then, just as you start to settle in for the night, baby seems to perk up and is ready to play. The reason for this is that babies are not born with their days and nights organized the way we experience them. Their circadian rhythm is not yet established, and they have no concept of time. Experts sometimes call this day-night sleep confusion. 

HOW MUCH SLEEP DOES A NEWBORN NEED? 

It may be surprising to learn that newborns need to sleep as many as 18 hours over a 24-hour period, according to the Canadian Pediatric Society. This is broken up into periods of sleep and wakefulness. There are no strict schedules in the newborn phase. Instead, it is helpful to create patterns for your days, taking the following facts into consideration:

• Newborn babies need to feed every 2-3 hours, even at nighttime! Until you’ve been told otherwise by your care provider, you should wake your baby to feed if a sleep lasts longer than 3 hours. 

• A newborn baby is only able to stay comfortably awake for 45-60 minutes at a time. This is called a comfortable wake window. This is not long! It can feel like you have time for a diaper change and a feed before it is time for your newborn to get ready for her next sleep. If your newborn has been awake for longer than an hour, it may be time to prepare for her next sleep.  

• Naps can last anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours. If a newborn wakes after a 30 minute nap, you may be able to hold, rock or feed her to help lengthen her sleep. 

WHY DON’T BABIES SLEEP AT NIGHT?

If I think back to my pregnancies, the pattern was the same. It was like my babies were quiet and calm throughout the day, but they came alive at night just as I was settling into bed. The active kicking always happened at night when I was trying to sleep. Was this because they were being gently rocked to sleep while I walked around and moved about throughout the day? Did they wake at night, once the rocking and swaying stopped? This is one hypothesis, and this pattern often continues after the baby is born. 

HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR NEWBORN’S DAY-NIGHT SLEEP SCHEDULE 

It can take time, sometimes as long as 8 weeks, before a newborn starts to settle into a pattern of having wakeful periods throughout the day, and longer stretches of sleep at night. It can also take this long before baby's circadian rhythm is established. We cannot force it, but there are habits we can establish, and an environment we can create to encourage babies to organize their mixed-up days and nights. 

DAYTIME NEWBORN SLEEP PRACTICES 

• Limit naps to 2-3 hours during the day. Your baby needs to feed every 2-3 hours, so she may not be getting enough to eat during the day if she sleeps longer than 3 hours at a time. If her nutritional needs are not met during the day, she will make up for it with many feeds during the night.  
• Allow baby to have full 45-60 minute wake windows in between naps. Periods of wakefulness are important during the day to allow baby to experience the daytime, feed properly and begin to interact with the world around her. 
• Reinforce daytime wakeups with regular daytime activities. Open the blinds to let in the light! Talk in a regular daytime voice and sing playful songs with baby. 
• Get outdoors to expose baby to natural daylight and fresh air. Even 15 minutes spent on the front porch can be helpful for both parent and baby.  

NIGHTTIME NEWBORN SLEEP PRACTICES

• Send the message that nighttime is for sleep. Handle wakeful periods at night differently than how they are handled during the day to reinforce the practice that night time is when we sleep.  
• Keep the room dark, dark, dark. In the newborn stage, baby does not yet make melatonin, the hormone that surges at sleep time to help us fall asleep. In older babies, children and adults, darkness helps to trigger the release of melatonin to help prepare us for sleep. However, even during this early stage, creating a dark, unstimulating environment can be an important cue to let the baby know that it is time to sleep. 
• Create a quiet, soothing environment with the help of white noise. White noise can be used to simulate the kinds of sounds that baby is accustomed to hearing, such as mom’s heartbeat and the woosh of fluids inside the womb. These sounds can be soothing to baby and can help to induce sleep. 
• Keep interactions with baby quiet and calm. Save your playful games and songs for her wakeful time during the day. 

BE CONSISTENT WITH SLEEP PRACTICES…YOU CAN DO IT!

Eventually, her nighttime wakes will be just long enough to allow her to fill her tummy, and then she will settle quickly back to sleep. If baby appears to be wide awake in the middle of the night, remember that her wake windows are short, so she is not likely to be awake longer than 45-60 minutes. So, just talk or sing softly, and enjoy a bit of quiet time with your baby until she is ready for you both to get back to sleep.

With time and consistency, baby will sleep for longer stretches at night. By 2-3 months, your baby’s sleep habits will start to become more consistent and predictable. Remember that day-night sleep confusion is not forever, and you all will start to sleep again. 

These early days are hard! Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you are exhausted. Stick with it and you will start to see a change in patterns. Together, you and your baby will organize her days and nights!