How Long Should A Baby Sleep

Baby sleep patterns vary depending on their age.

Newborn
A newborn will sleep approximately 16 to 20 hours per day. The length of each sleep session is affected by whether your baby breastfeeds or formula feeds. Breastfed babies wake up every 2-3 hours, while formula fed newborns wake every 3-4 hours. A newborn's sleep cycle is very different from an adult's. They have shorter cycles with more light sleep than deep sleep, which is why they spend most of their days drowsing way. Tip on getting baby to sleep: to ensure that your baby doesn't wake up when put in bed after sleeping in your arms, wait until the baby enters deep sleep.

1 to 2 Months
Your newborn will start taking 1-3 hour naps during the day, and will sleep only about 15-16 hours per day. If your child sleeps for more than 3 or 4 hours during the day, it might be good to wake her up, as this will allow for more sleep during the night.

3 to 4 Months
The 15 hours your baby sleeps will break into 9 nighttime hours and 6 hours throughout the day (about 2-3 hours each). Almost 40% of the baby's sleep is REM sleep.

6 Months
Your baby may be sleeping through the night for about 11 hours. She'll still be taking one and a half to two and a half hour naps. After about 6 months, the baby's sleep patterns won't change much. Naps will get slightly shorter and parents and child will have restful sleep throughout the night.

1 Year
At one year, the baby's REM sleep drops to 25%, which is almost equivalent to the percentage an adult experiences. It's believed that REM sleep stimulates the brain and helps neural connection growth. That's why your newborn's sleep was dominated by REM sleep.