This is how a child’s sleep pattern develops
Newborns sleep more overall than older babies and toddlers. This is nothing new. Why then is it precisely the first few weeks in the child’s life when young parents should be prepared for particularly short nights? And how long does it usually take for your offspring to stop turning night into day? We have put together the most important information about the sleep rhythm of babies and toddlers for you here.
Sleep patterns dependent on age
The sleep pattern of children has been researched extensively. A study by the American Sleep Society from 2004 showed, for example, that it is quite possible for parents to get the night’s sleep they long for in the first year of their child’s life. According to this, about a third of all children sleep through the night by the end of the first year of life at the latest. Of course, this is not the case from the beginning and it is not the same for every child. Basically, however, the development of sleep during the night can be divided into different phases, which depend on the age of your child.
The sleep rhythm in your baby’s first year
1st and 2nd month: No difference between day and night
In the first two months of life, babies usually sleep less than eight hours at night. But that doesn’t mean they’ve had a good night’s sleep. Your newborn needs a total of around 16 hours of sleep and doesn’t yet know the difference between day and night . Thus, it initially distributes its sleep requirement in a fairly balanced ratio of around eight hours each to the day and night.
3rd to 6th month: The nights are getting longer
Between the third and sixth month of life, your baby can get by with less sleep overall and only slumbers for an average of 13 hours a day. During this phase, your little one will also learn to distinguish between day and night and adjust their sleep pattern accordingly. During the day, people only get three to four hours of sleep, and nine to ten hours at night.
From the 6th month: The longed-for sleeping through
A continuous night’s rest, i.e. about six hours of sleep without eating in between, is usually normal from the sixth month of life. Up until the age of two, your offspring should also be able to get by with one nap in the morning and one in the afternoon and finally only the obligatory nap in the afternoon. On average, the additional sleep requirement per day during this time is still two hours. After all, most children give up the habit of taking a nap between the ages of two and four.
From the age of 7, the need for sleep decreases
Just in time for the start of school, the need for sleep in children slowly and steadily decreases again. Teenagers only need an average of nine hours of sleep, adults get by with seven to eight hours of sleep. The chart below on the development of children’s sleep patterns illustrates the average daytime and nighttime sleep requirements by age.