Sleep Requirements for a Baby

Knowing how to keep their baby safe during sleep can ease new parents' worries.Sleeping Baby image by sarkee from Fotolia.com

Parents of newborns often hear and read an overwhelming amount of information on baby safety, including safety during sleep. When new parents know the proper way to place a baby during sleep, the right kind of bedding, how to handle night feedings and how much their baby should be sleeping, they can reduce the anxiety inherent in being new parents.

Sleep Positioning

Newborn babies should be placed on their backs to go to sleep. While it was once thought acceptable for a baby to sleep on his stomach or side, doctors and researchers now know that placing a baby in these positions can contribute to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS. The back sleep position is the safest and can reduce the risk of SIDS.

Doctors recommend that babies be placed in a new crib with a firm mattress. Avoid using crib bumpers, pillows, heavy blankets and even sheets, which can be pulled up over a baby's head during sleep. Dress your baby in warm pajamas instead of piling on the bedding.

Babies may require night feedings up to and beyond one year of age. It is important that you wake your newborn baby every two to three hours for a feeding, never allowing him to go four hours without eating. When your baby wakes up for a night feeding, keep the room as dark as possible to avoid stimulating him and causing alertness. This will make it easier for him to go back to sleep after he eats.

Newborn babies require a lot of sleep, and this amount decreases with age. Newborns may sleep 16 or more hours each day for as long as 3 or 4 hours at a time. This may mean three or four naps a day, eventually decreasing to one or two naps. Every baby is different, of course, and some may sleep more than others. If you feel that your baby is sleeping too much or not enough, consult your pediatrician.