How does different developmental stages affect your babies sleep

During their first year your baby will go through many different developmental phases and you will probably begin to notice that each developmental phase seems to coincide with a change in their sleep behaviours.

From Newborn to 4 months
At this stage of development your will find that your baby will wake often. Your baby’s stomach at birth is very small and can only hold a small amount of food. This means that they will wake regularly (every 3-4 hrs) to have a feed. As they grow so do their stomachs and their ability to sleep for longer periods of time will increase. During this period another reason that babies wake regularly is their inability to self-soothe. When you were pregnant you may well have noticed that the baby became most active when you went to sit down and rest or go to bed at night. This is because while you are moving around the rocking motion is putting them to sleep. The white noise of you talking and other outside sounds also helped to put them to sleep. This is why you may have noticed that your baby became most active when you went to bed. So how can we realistically expect a baby once born to suddenly learn to sleep on their own in a dark and quiet room? At this stage of development soothing aids such as wrapping – a reminder of the cozy / confined environment of the womb. A radio or soft music, rocking, patting and body contact will all help soothe your baby. It is helpful to think of this time as a transition from the womb to the world. Many parents stress thinking that their baby should be sleeping independently. Try not to expect too much of your baby or yourself during this period, allow this time to be flexible and give yourself and your baby a little bit of time to adjust.

12–16 weeks
At this time babies experience a surge in their cognitive development. This means that their awareness of the environment around them is increasing dramatically. The fact that they are more alert means that they will wake more easily during light phases of sleep. At this point it helps to remove distractions such as mobiles from the crib. This is a good time to begin a bed time routine with sleep cues such as sitting down calmly with soft music or singing a certain lullaby or reading a certain book. It is important to remove stimulus and allow some calm time before sleep. You can also experiment with putting them down at night when they seem to be getting drowsy but still awake so they can learn to fall asleep on their own. If your baby can manage this then when they wake during these light phases they are more likely to be able to resettle themselves back to sleep. Your baby may protest at first and is still very young so if they continue to cry, pick them up—you can try again later or another night. You will probably find times when they are better able to do this than others and there needn’t be any fast rule at this stage. In attempting this every now and then you are giving them a sense of self settling which will help in the future.

5–9 Months
New motor skills such as rolling over, sitting and pulling up are very exciting and your baby will want to practice them as much as possible including when they are meant to be sleeping. Through this stage you will find your baby getting out of their wrap more often and trying to engage in activity when it is meant to be bed time. Making sure that during their awake time they are getting a lot of floor time will help tire them out and satisfy their need to practice these skills.
A wind down period before bed with sleep cues like a book, some soft music or a song will let them know that play time is over. Also make sure that you don’t engage with them too much when it is meant to be sleep time. Avoid too much eye contact, soothe them, go through the sleep cues of a song or soft music, wrap (if they are still being wrapped) and keep things very low key. If they wake during their light sleep cycle and want to play you can try to resettle them by starting the sleep cues over again being careful not to over stimulate them.

7–10 Months
At this stage of development babies discover that they are in fact a separate entity to mum and begin to exert themselves as individuals. This developmental stage results in many mixed emotions one in particular is known as separation anxiety. Because your baby now realises that they are separate to mum, when mum leaves the room they wonder when and if she will return. It can become difficult to put them down to fall asleep independently or if they are put to bed after falling asleep to get them back to sleep if they wake through a light sleep cycle to find mum gone. It is important at this time to make them feel secure without discouraging them from sleeping. If they are having trouble separating from you at sleep time try not to engage too much with them while still letting them know that you are not far away and will be there when they wake up. If they call out for you first try to let them know you are still there without re-entering the room try softly speaking to them from the door way without any eye contact. It can help at this stage to have a sleep cue phrase like “shh shh shh time to sleep.” If this is consistently repeated at bed time and when resettling, they will begin to associate it with sleeping and feel comforted by it. It is also often helpful at this time to introduce a transitional object, such as a blanket or stuffed toy, to reassure your baby when you’re not there that there is still something familiar. In time if this security object is used purely at bed time simply holding it will begin to make your baby feel sleepy. .

Note: that from about 4 months and older teething can be uncomfortable for babies. Watch for signs such as drooling, irritability, ear tugging and erratic sleep patterns. Helpful hint: Develop a few comfort mechanisms like giving your baby a cold, damp washcloth to suck on, use some teething gel and if they seem really uncomfortable a dose of paracetamol can help. Try going back through the sleep cues like singing or soft music and resettle them after they have calmed.

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