Infant Sleep

Amount of Sleep

An infant will sleep about 16 - 18 hours over the course of twenty four hours. Their sleeping patterns are not yet established, and so will start out with seemingly no regular sleeping schedule whatsoever.

Amount of REM Sleep

Up to 80% of the human fetus's sleep in the womb is REM sleep . (1) This decreases to about 50% when the baby is born. From then on, the percentage of REM sleep out of total sleep will slowly decrease until adulthood.

Some parents will have their baby sleep in their bedroom, but many sources suggest that the baby's crib be moved to his or her own room within a couple of months, so that the infant becomes accustomed to sleeping on his or her own.

It is recommended that anywhere between 9 months to a year, a parent stop nighttime feeding. At first, the baby will cry itself to sleep. Within a few nights, the baby learns to sleep through the night. (2)
Just like everyone else, each individual baby is different. Ideal temperature and humidity depends on the individual. Stuffed animals can provide comfort and familiarity. However, these can be a problem for babies with allergies.

Many infants seem to need motion in order to sleep. Some parents use strollers or carriages, walk with their baby over their shoulder, or even take them out for a car ride when nothing else works!

A good number of babies like to be rocked to sleep in a lap or a cradle. The rhythm and sound of poetry or repetitive stories also help soothe babies to sleep. Reading to your baby, even a newborn, is a good idea.

Many parents will sing lullabies to their infants or children while they are falling asleep. Please submit the lyrics to your favorite lullaby.

If you would like more information about babies and sleep, Baby Center, Inc. provides a thorough and excellent site on the topic. Medical experts and website editors provide guidance and suggestions for parents at various stages of their baby's infancy starting with newborn all the way up to three years of age. It discusses bedtime rituals, including bedtime stories and lullabies. "Lullaby Lyrics," a collection which we found after we recorded our favorites, includes recordings by parents and children of seventeen traditional lullabies. It also includes interactive quizzes, such as "What Does Sleeping Like a Baby Really Mean?" These pages can be found at: http://www.babycenter.com/sleep/

Sudden infant death syndrome, usually occurring during sleep, is the leading cause of death for infants between one month and one year old. The Federal Government's campaign, "Back to Sleep," is credited with preventing many cases of SIDS by encouraging parents to lay infants on their backs while sleeping.

(1) Edelson, Edward. Sleep. New York, Chelsea House, 1992. p. 18

(2)Coren, Stanley. Sleep Thieves: an Eye-Opening Exploration into the Science & Mysteries of Sleep. New York: The Free Press, 1996. p. 117