Little Baby!

Sleep

Average night sleep: 9-10 hours (Paavonen et al., 2020, Mindell et al., 2010)

Average day sleep: 4-5 hours, often 4 or more naps (Paavonen et al., 2020, Mindell et al., 2010)

Typical awake time: 1-2 hours

Notes on this age:

According to a large study the majority of 3-month-old babies wake on average 2.2 times a night. Only 16.5% of babies slept through the night (Paavonen et al., 2020)
Circadian rhythm (body clock) starts to emerge.
Regular night waking and feeding is normal and healthy, although longer sleep stretches of 4-6 hours at night are common.
Longer sleep stretches at this age does not mean that your baby will always be able to sleep that long.
Short naps, contact naps, motion naps, and nursing to sleep are all normal.

Recommended sleep in 24 hours: 12-15 (NSF, 2015)

Typical sleep in 24 hours: 13-15 hours

Average night sleep: 9-10 hours (Paavonen et al., 2020, Mindell et al., 2010)

Average day sleep: 4 hours spread over 3-4 naps (Paavonen et al., 2020, Mindell et al., 2010)

Typical awake time: 1.5-2.5 hours

Challenging sleep time: around 4-months, often referred to as the 4-month sleep regression

Notes on this age:

More frequent night waking due to developmental leaps.
Night feedings are important and common, and they do not indicate readiness for solids.
Feeding to sleep is normal, healthy, and a developmentally appropriate tool.
Baby may drop from 4 to 3 naps during this time.
Distractibility is a common struggle with both feeding and sleep.
Short naps, contact naps, and motion naps are all normal.
Many babies still have irregular sleep patterns.

Recommended sleep in 24 hours: 12-15 (NSF, 2015)

Average night sleep: 10-11 hours (Paavonen et al., 2020, Mindell et al., 2010)

Average day sleep: 3-4 hours spread over 3 naps (Paavonen et al., 2020, Mindell et al., 2010)

Typical awake time: 2-3.5 hours

Notes on this age:

6 months is the earliest age babies should sleep in their own room for SIDS reasons according to the AAP safe sleep guidelines.
Night awakenings are normal: 6-Month-old babies wake on average 2.5 times a night (Paavonen et al., 2020). 6-12-month-old babies wake on average 1.76 times a night (Brown & Harries, 2015). At 6 months, 69.5% of babies have nightly awakenings (Hysing et al, 2014).
6-12-month-old babies feed on average 1.4 times a night (Brown & Harries, 2015). Breastfed babies fed more overnight in this study, but there were no differences in waking patterns between breastfed and formula fed babies.
Most babies need parental support to fall back asleep.
Night feeds are still important for development for most babies. For babies too distracted during the day to feed well, night feeds can be an important part of over-all intake.
Short naps, contact naps, motion naps, and nursing to sleep are all normal

In human milk fed babies, research shows that their intake remains relatively constant between 1-6 months in contrast to formula fed babies who have increasing needs as they grow.
Many babies are curious and distractible as they feed. Try a low stimulation environment, more upright feeding positions, and giving them something to hold/play with while feeding.
Even if baby is watching you eat with interest, the recommendation is to wait until 6 months to introduce solids.
Interest in food is not a developmental sign that your little one is ready for solids.

Your baby is distractible, curious, and much more aware of the world around them.
There’s a lot going on during this time developmentally.
Your baby will learn to roll and start working on sitting up as they approach 6 months.
They are babbling and copying sounds, stringing vowels together and working on consonants.
Their play becomes more interactive.
They are curious about things out of reach and reaching for things they want.

Tummy time and floor play time are important for their growing strength and development. Include rolling play in your floor play time.
A mirror will captivate your baby’s interest. Give them a baby safe one for tummy time or hold them in front of one and make faces together.
Babies can differentiate bright colors and they’ll love looking at bright colored toys.
Read with your baby. It’s never too early to make story time a regular part of your day. Pick simple, short board books.
Give your baby time to explore different textures and spend time checking out a few toys at a time.
Music, motion, and flying them through space can all be fun ways to spend time together.
Talk to your baby. They can chat at you like you are having an actual conversation. The back and forth is great for language development.
Babywearing is a great way to include baby in your day so that they can see what you see, you can narrate your activities to them, and they can be involved in the rhythm of the day.
This is a great resource on play and development: https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/312-stages-of-play-from-birth-to-6-months-a-full-body-experience

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