- Mar 12, 2025
Newborn Sleep: What to expect and how to survive it!
- Grace Williams
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Ah, newborn sleep—one of the biggest mysteries! If you're feeling like a sleep-deprived zombie, just know you're not alone (we’ve all been there, I promise). In our last blog post we touched on newborn behavior and managing your expectations in those early weeks and touched base on newborn sleep and what to expect.
The Reality of Newborn Sleep
Every baby is different so some babies may sleep longer than others and some less so. This can be really hard when you have a baby who doesn’t seem to sleep as long as others and you start to wonder if you’re doing something wrong!
On average newborns typically sleep between 18 to 20 hours a day, but it’s often in short bursts of 1-3 hours at a time. Unlike adults, their sleep cycles are super short, lasting only 50-60 minutes. This means they wake up frequently, often needing a feed, a cuddle, or just a little reassurance that you’re still there.
Learning Day from Night
As your baby is adjusting to life outside the womb, one of the crucial things they learn is the difference between day and night. From birth, they have no concept of the difference between the two, they just know that they are hungry, cold, uncomfortable, looking for reassurance etc. This means that they sleep in these short bursts throughout the day and night. For parents, this can feel tough to manage.
From about 2-3 months of age, babies are developing their circadian rhythm (their body clock) that helps them to develop this ability to know when it’s day or night. This is usually fully developed by the time they get to a year.
Sleep Cues and Routines
It can feel really tempting to try and follow a routine for each day and night. The thing is, your baby doesn’t know what a routine is, and doesn’t have the ability to stick to it yet!
Initially, it’s a good idea to follow the rhythm of your baby. Once they start to get older, you can introduce regular ‘cues’ to each day so that your baby starts to learn when it’s time for sleep. This could be singing, white noise, a bath, baby massage, lots of cuddles and feeding - you get the picture! Whatever you do, make it something that is gentle, loving and gives you precious time to slow down with your baby.
Safe Sleep Tips
The safest place for your baby to sleep on their own is in a cot or Moses basket, free from toys, blankets and pillows which can help reduce the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Since newborns sleep in such short bursts, safe sleep practices are really important. The Lullaby trust recommends the following safe sleeping tips:
Lie your baby on their back.
Keep their cot clear.
Use a firm, flat, waterproof mattress.
Keep baby smoke-free.
Avoid your baby getting too hot.
Sleep your baby in the same room as you for at least the first six months.
Co-Sleeping
Co-sleeping is where some families bed share with the babies or children. Bed sharing may be for a few hours a night, few nights a week, for naps or be a permanent place of sleep for a family. Studies have found that around 50% of all UK babies have bed-shared by the time they are 3 months old. The reality is that even though many families do not plan to share a bed from the beginning, they often find themselves co-sleeping for many different reasons and may not always know how to create a safe sleeping environment so it can be good idea to learn safe sleeping tips ahead of time.
Co sleeping is not recommended in the following circumstances:
Sleeping with your baby on a sofa, armchair, or makeshift bed
Sleeping with your baby after you have consumed alcohol or drugs (including over the-counter or prescription medicines that make you drowsy or sleep deeply)
Your baby was born prematurely (before 37 weeks of pregnancy) or weighed under 2.5kg or 5.5 pounds when they were born
If you are a smoker or smoked during pregnancy or someone else who shares the bed is a smoker
In the above scenarios it is always safest to put your baby to sleep on their own in their cot or Moses basket, free from toys, blankets and pillows and put it next to your bed.
How to create a safe Co-Sleeping Environment
The Lullaby Trust have create a safe co sleeping guide to creating a safe environment as much as possible for you and your baby:
Keep pillows and adult bedding away from your baby, along with any other items that could cover their head or cause them to overheat. Many babies who die from SIDS are found with their head covered by loose bedding.
Remove slatted or decorated headboards.
Follow our Lullaby Trust safer sleep advice to reduce the risk of SIDS, such as sleeping baby on their back.
Don’t bring other children or pets into bed with you. This will help reduce the risk of accidents.
Check that baby cannot be trapped in the bedframe or headboard, or fall out of bed or get trapped or wedged between the mattress and the wall.
Never leave your baby alone in an adult bed. It’s important to consider any risks that an adult bed may pose to your baby, especially while you are asleep. As your baby develops, becomes more mobile and can move around, the risks can change, so we recommend checking your bed regularly to prevent possible accidents.
Plan Ahead
Just as you may have planned for pregnancy or birth planning ahead on where your baby will sleep, researching different sleeping options and risks and benefits so that you can safely decide what is best for you and your family can take away the stress and worry.
BASIS (The Baby Sleep Info Source) includes some great resources, facts and studies including images of different co-sleeping safe positions so you can feel informed and prepared for creating the most optimal safe sleep environment for you and your family!
Embracing the Chaos
If you’ve read all the way here, my suspicion is that you might be searching for some answers about what to expect, or whether you are doing things right. Please know that you aren’t alone if you are struggling with your baby's sleep. No, they’re not broken, but it is hard to function as a parent if you are having multiple wake ups during the night.
It’s understandable to be searching for a solution, but the truth is that babies are made to wake frequently. Some things that can help ease things could be:
Surrounding yourself with other parents who are in a similar season of life for some magical peer support
Asking for help from family and friends to support you with easing the load of other responsibilities like cooking, housework, schools runs etc
Making your own rest a priority.
You’re doing an amazing job ✨
Baby Sleep Information Sources
https://www.basisonline.org.uk/