So Your Newborn is Home…Why Do They Sleep So Much?

We are starting a series of blogs to share what with our customers what we found out about their precious newborns and babies. We hope all these readings will help us and all parents out there understand our precious models better. 

~ By Ashley Low 

SO YOUR NEWBORN IS HOME.. WHY DO THEY SLEEP SO MUCH?

Hi all!

We have gotten many questions from our customers as to why their newborn sleeps so much in their first few days on planet Earth, so I have decided to read up on this and these are what I have come up with.

Newborn babies need to sleep A LOT. In their first week of life, their typical sleep cycle is about 14 to 18 hours a day, and 12 to 16 hours by the time they’re a month old. Also, they have to wake up every couple of hours to feed. The reason why is because newborns have very tiny and small tummies. Babies who breast-feed have to feed often, about 8 to 12 times a day. Bottle-fed babies do not feed as often, probably every 3 to 4 hours or so. The difference is because we do not know how much we are breast-feeding our newborn as compared to being bottle-fed where there is a gauge for us. Each baby have their own different sleep patterns. Some sleep more, and some sleep lesser. This isn’t a cause for concern unless they do not even wake up to have milk or eat. It is perfectly normal to have to wake your precious baby up for a feeding. On a side note, I have read that newborns should wet about 8 diapers a day. Other than that, do not worry about it and take advantage of the extra time while they are asleep to catch up on your sleep.

The author of ‘The Happiest Baby on the Block’, Dr Karp, believes that babies needs another trimester in the womb. Do you even think that is possible? But if you consider that there is a likelihood that what he mentioned is true, it means that the first 2-3 months of your baby’s life is full of rapid growth and, therefore, your baby needs to sleep a lot.

Some of our parents have also feedback to us that their newborns have opposite sleep schedules of them. Their babies think that they are supposed to sleep in the day and be awake at night. This can be pretty tiring for parents, isn’t it? Most babies do not start to sleep throughout the night (about 6-8 hours) until they are at least 3 months of age. However, this differs for each baby and some do not even start sleeping through the night until they are about 1 years old.

Newborn babies may not be able to have their own sleeping patterns. But this is where you, as a parent, can help them. You can learn to recognise signs when your newborn is tired, and also teach them to fall asleep on their own.

Some signs your newborn may show when he/she is tired:

• yawning and stretching a lot
• fusses and cries at the slightest touch

You also may teach your newborn (once he/she is about 2 weeks old) the differences between day and night:

• having a simple bath in the morning and change his/her clothes to signify the start of the day
• letting the sun shine in during the day, and create a dark and calm environment at night
• talk and play with your baby during daytime feedings, whereas night time feedings are to be dark and quiet
• putting your newborn in his/her crib to sleep at night

Having said all of the above, we do love it when your newborns are asleep during our photoshoots This enables us to be able to pose your babies in the cute poses you guys request for, like the chin on hand pose or our various beanbag poses (like the bumblebee, tutu skirt etc). With sleeping babies, we are able to do more poses and move them around. Also, do remember to bring more milk for our little models to satisfy them fully. As people always say, a hungry person is an angry person. This applies to our precious models as well. A full baby is a happy baby!

Written by:

STACEY YONG

SALES & MARKETING / PHOTOGRAPHER’S ASSISTANT

ASHLEY LOW PHOTOGRAPHY