Quality sleep tends to happen before midnight for most babies (and adults!) so don't be afraid of an earlier bedtime. Find your child's “sleep sweet spot”, then stick to it – for babies younger than 12 weeks, bedtime should be around 9PM to 10PM. Babies older than 12 weeks do best with bedtime around 7PM to 8PM.
A young child's circadian rhythm naturally wakes them as early as 6:00 to 7:30 a.m. Too late a bedtime means they'll still awaken, but with less sleep. In fact, it is scientifically proven that babies in a consistent routine (including a reasonable bedtime) will fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.
Here's our guidelines for appropriate bedtimes, based on age (keep in mind, the lower range aligns with the younger age): Newborns (0 - 3.5 months) - 7:30-9:30pm (later because newborn sleep cycles aren't yet in place and circadian rhythm isn't driving sleep) 3.5 - 6 months old - 7-8:30 pm. 6 - 12 months old - 6-8pm.
Bedtime in newborns is naturally late, usually around 9:00pm or later, but it is important to start moving the bedtime earlier around 6/8 weeks. By 2 months, baby's last nap should be ending by 6:30pm. Bedtime should be around 6:30-8:30pm and should occur about 1-2 hours after the last nap ends.
An ideal bedtime for a 3 month old baby is between 7:30 – 9:30 pm. This is based both on the developing circadian rhythm (or body clock) of a 3 month old and also fits in with the 9 – 11 hours of nighttime sleep needed.
Bedtime for a 3 month old
At this age, we start to see bedtimes shift earlier. Plan for bedtime to be 12 - 14 hours after waking for the day but no earlier than 6:00 PM. That means an optimal bedtime for a baby waking around 6:00 AM will be between 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM.
Get the baby into a routine at night from 2-3 weeks eg from about 6pm you could massage your baby then give him/her a bath and then breastfeed or bottle of milk in a darkened room and then bed. This acts as an unwinding process and the baby will know that it is time for bed.
Most babies don't start sleeping through the night (6 to 8 hours) without waking until they are about 3 months old, or until they weigh 12 to 13 pounds. About two-thirds of babies are able to sleep through the night on a regular basis by age 6 months.
Getting them to bed a bit earlier than normal can help them avoid getting into a cycle of overtiredness which leads to more short naps, more wakes up, a harder time falling asleep and even worse quality of sleep.
Your baby will usually be able to sleep through from 7pm to 7am at around 4 months old, weighing around 15-16lb, and you can drop the feed altogether.
When your baby stays awake past their natural bedtime, they produce adrenaline to keep themselves awake. The adrenaline doesn't wear off quickly, resulting in more wake-ups in the first half of the night and actually causing them to wake EARLIER. Your baby is fussy, grouchy, or hyper during bedtime routine.
As long as your child is getting enough sleep (check out our age-by-stage sleep chart), then an early or late bedtime is fine as long as it suits your family's schedule. Sleeping from 9pm to 8am might be perfectly normal for a baby in one family, while sleeping from 6pm to 5am is the norm in another.
Babies fight sleep for a variety of reasons the seven most common being separation anxiety, overtiredness, overstimulation, teething, hitting a milestone, traveling and discomfort or illness.
While a night of longer stretches of sleep probably sounds amazing right now, unfortunately, you can't sleep train a newborn. Here's why: Very young babies don't yet have a sense of day or night. They're simply not capable of sticking to a sleep schedule.
A tired infant may rub their eyes and face or tug at their ears. Becoming clingy. Your baby may hold on to you determinedly and insist that you take care of them. Whimpering.
Sleepless nights are common in new parenthood, but they do not last forever. Most babies will begin to sleep for longer periods at night from the age of 6 months old. Newborn babies need to feed every few hours until the age of 3 months. After this, it is normal for infants to feed once or twice during the night.
Babies have no established sense of night or day, and they tend to have cycles that are far shorter than 24 hours long. This is because their timing systems for the 24-hour day are not yet fully formed at birth, and they won't function consistently until a baby is about two to six months old.
Though every baby is different, many newborns often begin sleeping for longer stretches between 2-4 months postnatal. While most won't sleep through the night for 8 hours or longer until after about 6 months, longer stretches of sleep can be both a blessing and a challenge!
Research shows that there's little difference between the total amount of sleep that breast-fed and formula-fed babies have . It's unlikely your baby would sleep better with formula milk, though there are some differences between breast-fed and formula-fed babies when it comes to sleep.
When your baby is about 2 months old, her internal clock will become a bit more predictable — and you can try implementing a basic newborn sleep schedule. Between 3 and 6 months, your baby's bedtime, naptime and wake times will increasingly happen around the same times each day.
But don't overfeed the baby to encourage her to sleep through the night. Some parents try to push more formula, breast milk, or baby food on the baby right before sleep and that can backfire because the baby might not settle in well, just like you when you've eaten too much at Thanksgiving dinner.
There's no need to give your newborn baby a bath every day. Three times a week might be enough until your baby becomes more mobile. Bathing your baby too much can dry out your baby's skin.
Bottle-fed babies tend to feed less often, about every 3–4 hours. Newborns who sleep for longer stretches should be awakened to feed. Wake your baby every 3–4 hours to eat until he or she shows good weight gain, which usually happens within the first couple of weeks.
More frequent night waking, trouble falling asleep at bedtime, increased fussiness, and suddenly resisting naps can all be signs your baby is having a sleep regression.