The average 1-month-old sleeps just 5.7 hours at night and wakes two to four times during the night. Here are some tips from parents who’ve been through it.
Sleep is a precious commodity when you have a newborn.
It can be very challenging for parents and caregivers of babies under a year old to get the sleep they need for themselves, especially in the first few months.
Infant sleep at 1 month vs. 6 months
It’s no wonder parents of new babies are tired!
Research has found that during the average night, a 1-month-old sleeps just 5.7 hours and is awake for 2.4 hours, punctuated by two to four nighttime wake-ups.
Luckily, infants quickly start sleeping more at night. By 6 months, the average infant sleeps 9.5 to 11 hours per night, with an average total of 0.7 hours spent awake during that time and between about 1 and 3.5 nighttime wake-ups.
In other words, it gets better.
The same research also found that infant sleep patterns are highly variable, so one baby’s sleep needs and behaviors could be very different from another baby. There’s no one sleep solution.
Still, what has worked for other parents might work for you. We’ve partnered with Masimo Stork to round up stories and sleep tips from new parents to give you a few ideas — and let you know you’re not alone.
Aline Dias
Mother of a 12-month-old, based in Boise, Idaho.
The biggest challenge we had was getting our newborn to fall asleep (and stay asleep!) in her bassinet. We weren’t comfortable co-sleeping in bed with her, but we would let her contact nap [when the baby sleeps while being held] during the day if we were awake.
Using a co-sleeping bassinet was a happy medium and made all the difference. Both baby and I felt more at ease when I could reach in and pat her or pacify her while she also had a safe space to sleep.
Sara McLeod
Mother of an 18-month-old based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Our biggest sleep challenge was definitely the 4-month sleep regression. There is so much change happening in their little bodies then — more movement, growth, etc. Our son’s sleep was not great during that stretch.
Jenn P.
Mother of a 10-month-old, based in Montreal, Canada.
Anxiety about sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) when my baby was safely sleeping in her bassinet. I think parents need to learn to trust our babies: If we follow the safe sleep guidelines, there is no reason to be constantly watching the monitor and not getting our own much-needed sleep when we can.
Julie-Alexandra Langué Dubé
Mother of a 7-month-old, based in Montreal, Canada.
The biggest challenge is getting restful sleep. Since our son is exclusively breastfed, I had to be there for every feed in the beginning and afterward for most of them. Because they eat so often at first, I couldn’t sleep.
Thankfully, it did get better with time but it is tough to function on a few consecutive hours of sleep. Especially when it is less than 4 hours in a row.
Hope Looyenga
Mother of a 9-week-old, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
My son was born 4 weeks premature. He is bottle-fed (breastfeeding was a struggle, but that’s another story). This has allowed me to take advantage of my support system to get more sleep.
Consider a monitor to track baby’s vitals
If worrying about your baby’s safety is keeping you awake, getting the right baby monitor can help give you peace of mind.
The Masimo Stork Smart Home Baby Monitoring & Alarm System is a baby monitoring and alarm system cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which utilizes the same SET technology that neonatal intensive care units have used for over 25 years.
You can use it to monitor your baby’s pulse rate, oxygen saturation, and skin temperature, along with high resolution video and clear two-way audio from the Stork app.
Connect your Stork Sensor to the Stork App to set alarms that trigger if your baby’s oxygen saturation or pulse rate fall outside of preset ranges. You can also set alerts for changes in room conditions or baby’s sleep position.
The system is designed to help you know what matters when it matters.
*sponsored
Aline
Rely on your support system if you have one.
My spouse went back to work after 2 weeks, but we still split night duty. He’d take the 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. shift, and then I would take the rest of the night. It guaranteed we each got about 5 to 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
We’re also lucky to have my in-laws nearby and willing to help, too. My mother-in-law would stay over 2 to 3 nights per week and take one of our night shifts as needed.
Try to keep a consistent schedule. Babies don’t have an established circadian rhythm when they’re little, so feeding them and putting them down for naps around the same time every day really helps. It also helps you, too! It’s easier for you to fall asleep at a certain time if you go to sleep at the same time every day.
Sara
Stay consistent with a schedule and routine! Establish a routine when they are newborns and stick with it. It has helped our son understand that when we go up for his bath, it’s time to wind down for bed.
Jenn
Overnight, you need to focus on the bare minimum, feed your baby, change your baby, and get back to sleep.
Just because you’re awake doesn’t mean you need to get things done. Washing bottles or pump parts, clearing the kitchen, etc., can all wait until daytime.
I know everyone says so, but seriously accept help! Your mom, your best friend, your neighbor — they are perfectly capable of washing a few dishes or making a simple meal. Even if it’s not how you would do things, let it go and enjoy a bit of extra nap time or cuddle rest time with your baby.
Julie-Alexandra
After 4 months of our son refusing to sleep in his bed or crib, my husband and I decided to try sleep-training him with the Ferber method. It was heartbreaking to hear him cry without being able to console him the way we wanted, but we knew he needed to be able to sleep alone.
The sleep training worked well to familiarize him with his bed.
Hope
Try sleeping in shifts if you’re bottle feeding. My husband and I take shifts to ensure we both get at least a stretch of sleep. He goes to bed around 7 p.m., and I take the first shift, sleeping in between feeds but still taking all of them until 2.30 a.m., then we switch off. This ensures we both get at least 5 hours of sleep. This has worked quite well for us.
Accept help. I am privileged to have family nearby. They offer to help, and I have taken them up on it.
Set boundaries. I have been really blunt, telling them I really need them to hold our son so I can take a nap. If they come over and seem like they want to be entertained or socialize, I chat for a few minutes but then bluntly say, “I am going to go take a nap now. Thanks for watching him!”
Aline
- blackout curtains
- sound machine
- breast milk collectors that fit inside a bra to wear while sleeping if you don’t wake up to pump or nurse every 2 to 3 hours
Sara
When we first moved our son to his own room the best thing for me to personally get sleep and be less anxious, knowing I was going to wake up to feed him throughout the night regardless, was a good-quality monitor that I could see him breathing and was loud enough to hear him cry.
When we were in the thick of the 4-month sleep regression, we loved Baby Merlin’s Magic Sleepsuit. Our son also found pacifiers to be soothing for him when he slept.
Jenn
A bedside bassinet is key, especially if you get one on wheels that you can roll around the house (i.e., beside the couch or in eyesight from the kitchen).
We got the one that attached to our stroller and even used it while visiting family for naps on the go. It seems counterintuitive, but the more baby sleeps, the better they sleep.
We used the Huckleberry app to track everything from milk intake to diapers to sleep and to predict wake windows. It was a game-changer to help us forecast naps, especially as she got a bit older. It was incredibly accurate for us and helped us establish our routines.
We also got a basic video monitor with a parent console (didn’t use all the battery on our phones!). It really helps to quicky have a glance at her when we hear noise without having to get up. Newborns and young babies are surprisingly noisy and most often they are sound asleep, just grunting or making all the cute noises you’ll soon get used to.
Julie-Alexandra
I think that we tried most of the tricks that we could find to facilitate our son’s sleep, but here are some things that have worked for us:
- Blocking out the light in his room has been a real game-changer since our baby is extremely easily stimulated. We couldn’t put him to sleep without rocking him 40 minutes at a time before we installed the blackout blinds.
- Creating the same routine every time we want to put him down to sleep. We put the same playlist in his room, and we dress him with one of his sleeping bags.
Hope
Sleep sacks are great. Otherwise, babies wake themselves up with their startle reflexes. Baby GasX for a gassy baby is worth it if this is preventing them from sleeping.
Aline
“You’ll sleep when baby sleeps.” As nice as this would be, it’s often unrealistic. If you can, kudos to you!
“Only the mom is responsible for taking care of baby at night.” Both parents are responsible for their child. Take turns, create shifts, alternate nights, whatever works best that you agree on. Even if one or both of you work.
Understand that for any of you to get sleep, you’ll all sleep a little less than usual. It’s only temporary.
Being tired and cranky isn’t an excuse to be mean to your partner. Try to see each other’s perspectives and respond with kindness.
Sara
That the books or courses you see on social media are going to make your baby sleep. Sure, they’re helpful to reference to get an understanding of things to do or signs to look out for, but every baby is so different.
Be consistent in your routine, reinforce good behavior you want your child to continue, and eventually, they will be great sleepers.
Jenn
There are many forms of “rest” that don’t need to be sleep. For example, snuggling on the couch with a contact nap watching your fav show or reading a book, going for a gentle stroller walk in the sunshine, having a long shower while someone else keeps an eye on the baby.
Julie-Alexandra
I believed that I would easily be able to sleep at the same time as my baby. While it’s an excellent idea, and I recommend it, it was hard to achieve.
In the beginning, our baby could only sleep with us, and for a very short period of time. On top of that, I remember being so exhausted that I was afraid to fall asleep while my baby was sleeping. Needless to say, that sleep was not restful.
Hope
I have learned you can get by (and feel OK) with a lot less sleep after your body adjusts to it.
Aline
It won’t last forever! It feels incredibly lonely and exhausting while it’s happening, but you’ll barely remember it. You’ll miss the contact naps. Allow them when you can and when you’re awake enough to keep the baby safe.
Sara
This is a season, not a lifetime. But really, everything is temporary.
Don’t compare yourself or your baby to anyone else because they are all so incredibly different.
Jenn
You might be surprised how just a few quality hours of sleep can make a huge difference. You get used to short, intense sleep, and if you are lucky, as your baby gets older, they will sleep for longer stretches. It really doesn’t last forever — even if it feels like it at 2 a.m.
Also, there’s nothing wrong with contact naps or naps in the baby wrap, your baby just wants to be close to you and feel your heartbeat like they did for 9 months inside. As they get older, you can transition them to a bassinet or crib. They will grow out of it and you will miss them terribly, so enjoy your baby while you can!
Julie-Alexandra
Let your partner, your family and friends help you in any way so that you can get long stretches of sleep.
Hope
Routine has helped so I can know what to expect. I know generally what time he will go to bed, how long he will sleep, and when his feeds will be. This took several weeks to establish, but has improved our sleep.