Sometimes, when your child is whiney and doesn’t know what she/he wants between 3 in the afternoon and 11 in the night, it can get quite stressful for you as a parent. This phase is called the witching hour. It is important to be prepared and set the right routine, more on how to tackle that in a bit.
Baby
Baby Sleep Schedule to Prevent Overtired Babies
One of the most important parts of your baby’s routine is to have quality sleep. If you’re a new mom and your little one isn’t sleeping well enough, you know exactly how much every minute counts. If your baby doesn’t get enough sleep, they will naturally tend to get more tired; and the cycle can continue for days. This can make managing daily chores a task for you too!
Let’s look at it this way, your baby has something new to learn every single day, but this can be very tiring too for your little one’s body. Sleep is one such routine break that your baby needs to rest and recoup. Before we understand how to deal with this, let’s understand a few other things.
Ever heard of the witching hour?
How much sleep does your baby need?
Probably the most important question a mother will ask, ‘Is my child getting enough sleep?’
Now, your baby’s sleep requirement may differ from other babies, so, there’s no need to worry. Here is a general sleep range you can refer to:
- Newborns need about 3 naps during the day that total up to 8 hours. During the night, they would need about 8 and a half hours of sleep again.
- While one-month-old babies need 6 to 7 hours of sleep divided into 3 naps during the day; and 8 to 9 hours at night.
- Once your child turns three months, the day-time naps can be reduced to 4 or 5 hours divided between 3 naps. Your baby’s good night sleep of 10 to 11 hours will help you sleep better too.
- Your six-month-old baby will need 3 hours of nap-time that’ll be divided between 3 naps. 11 hours of sleep during the night should become the norm by now.
- When your child turns nine months the nap time reduces further to about 2-and-a-half hours, which is divided between 2 naps. During the night 11 hours of sleep is good.
As your child reaches the twelve-month mark, you will realise that the 2-and-a-half hours of nap time and 11 hours of night-time sleep has set in.
How to help your baby sleep better?
Master your baby’s sleep schedule and prevent overtiredness by doing these simple things.
- Sometimes, a bath and fresh nappy can do wonders to help your baby fall asleep.
- Feed your little one so that she or he has a nice full tummy. And don’t forget to help them burp!
- Gently massage your baby with Vicks BabyRub. It contains fragrances of lavender, rosemary and eucalyptus, which helps soothe your child to sleep.
- You could dim the lights and sing a lullaby to help your baby sleep better.
Bonus: During the witching hour, you can cope with your fussy baby by swaddling, feeding or taking your little one out for a ride in the pram. White noise also has a calming effect; for instance, the sound of your fan.
A good way to prevent overtiredness is to help set a good sleep schedule for your baby.
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