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| Anne Geddes |
When I had my baby girl, I often asked this question: how often should my baby sleep? I've learned that our babies are unique, and we're getting to know each other every day. Of course, the baby is the only one who can answer this question. One baby needs a lot of sleep, while another surprisingly little. As long as babies are satisfied with their feedings, comfortable, get plenty of fresh air, and sleep in a cool place, you can leave it to them to take the amount of sleep they need.
Most babies in the early months sleep from feeding to feeding. I remember my baby girl was sleeping all the time until 2 months old; and she was fed on every two hours (day and night), and this was exhausting to me, but, going back to that period, I liked it so much, because I had plenty of time for myself when the baby was sleeping. Now, when she's older, I miss those days, but every child's age has its own charm and excitement. Meanwhile, I've learned that my baby girl was different from other babies, that she was unique, that she had her own growing rhythm, her own schedule, and I had to adjust for it.
As babies get older, they gradually sleep less and less. I've noticed this first in the late afternoon, especially after 6 months. In time they become wakeful at other periods during the day. As I said before, each baby develops a personal pattern of wakefulness and tends to be awake at the same time every day. Toward the end of the first year,most babies are down to two naps a day; and between 1and 1/2 years, they willprobably give up one of these. It is only during infancy that you can leave the amount of sleep entirely up to the baby.
A child by the age of 2 is a much more complicated being. Excitement, worries, fear of bad dreams may keep children from getting the sleep they need.
Text source: Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care - Benjamin Spock and Michael Rothenberg