For the first year of your baby’s life, sleep will take up the biggest part of his day. Babies’ sleeping habits change month-to-month, but it is important to build good sleeping habits from the first days of your baby’s life.  

During the first three months, a newborn will sleep about 17 hours a day, usually divided in periods of three or fours hours. Their bodies need frequent feedings and they are just getting adjusted to longer periods of sleep. At about six months, your baby’s sleep patterns will start to even out, and he will sleep for about 15 hours a day, with up to seven hours at a time.

Getting enough sleep is crucial to a baby’s development.  Here are a few ways to make sure that your infant is getting enough quality sleep:

-  Put him down on his back, not his side or front
-  Make sure his feet are at the bottom of the crib, so that he can’t wriggle down under the blankets
-  Use a sheet and a light blanket instead of a duvet or comforter
-  Check on your baby’s temperature by touching his stomach. If it’s warm, remove a layer; if it’s cool, add a sheet or raise the room’s temperature.
-  Get to know the signs that your baby is tired and needs sleep.  Notice when he rubs his eyes, pulls on his ears or gets cranky.  Eventually you will develop a sense of when your infant needs to sleep.
-  A gentle baby massage before bed-time can relax your child and help him fall asleep faster.


Routine is particularly important in order to create good sleep habits in babies.  Make sure that his sleeping environment is quiet and calm.   Make a distinction between night and day by dimming the lights and keeping nighttime feedings as quiet as possible.  Prepare your baby for sleep by bathing, massaging and reading to your baby, putting on gentle music, and make sure to keep a consistent order in your routine.  As your baby gets older, he will associate these activities with relaxation and with sleeping, and he will grow into a good sleeper with a strong development.

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