You may have been wondering if your new infant is getting carried away by sleeping.
In general, newborn babies sleep about 16 hours a day, although that number can range anywhere from 18 to 20 hours or more. You may be worried about your baby sleeping too much, especially when she does it for long periods of time.
When a baby is just a few weeks old, it may be too tiring. It's not a matter of getting enough sleep, but rather of how much food your sweet pea is consuming. She needs to be fed well, no matter how little sleep she gets: this equates to eight to twelve feedings per day for breastfed babies and five to eight feedings per day for bottle-fed infants.
The opposite is true if you see that she is frequently exhausted, overstimulated, or grumpy, which may be a sign of inadequate sleep. If you're worried, make an appointment with your child's doctor.
Baby’s sleeping patterns
For infants, sleep is absolutely essential.
Babies who obtain adequate daytime slumber tend to sleep more soundly at night. Overtired babies are more difficult to comfort, more difficult to put to sleep, and more prone to tantrums.
However, worrying is a natural reaction. On a few occasions, she would take long sleeps that made me worry about her health.
During the first three months of life, newborns sleep between 14 to 17 hours every 24-hour period, though preemies can sleep up to 22 hours.
The average person gets short bursts of sleep during the course of the day and night, with most naps lasting no more than an hour or two.
12 to 16 hours of sleep per 24-hour period is usually for 4- to 12-month-old babies. Naps during the day should account for at least two to three of those hours. Babies gradually begin to sleep through the night for extended periods of time as they grow older.
When it comes to nighttime sleep, 4-month-olds can sleep for six to eight hours, while 6-month-olds can sleep for up to 11 hours. Sleeping between 10 and 12 hours a night is normal for your baby as she approaches her first birthday.
When excessive sleeping might become a cause of concern
Unless there are other symptoms like the ones stated below, a baby sleeping longer than normal does not cause alarm.
- They may go through a period of rapid growth or development.
- If your baby has jaundice, they may be sleeping excessively. The skin of a newborn with jaundice will be yellow, and the whites of their eyes will have a yellow cast. Lethargicness, difficulty eating, and irritability are signs of more severe jaundice.
- They could be suffering from a life-threatening infection. It's not common, but it does happen. An older baby may have a fever and other signs of illness, but a newborn may not.
- A cold or the flu could be the cause of their discomfort.
- A medical disease that causes an infant to sleep excessively does occur, although it is extremely unusual. A baby's sleep may be affected by breathing or cardiac problems, as well as the fact that they were born prematurely.