Newborns

While it is common that newborns and babies spend most of their time sleeping, most parents do not know how much sleep their newborns and babies should sleep. 

With Dr. Olfa, you will learn from a pediatric neonatologist and the best pediatrician doctor how much you should let your babies and newborns sleep.

Why Is Sleep So Important to Babies and Newborn

Sleep plays a vital role in your baby’s physical and mental development. For example, myelin, a fat-rich layer that covers the nerve fibers, forms while your baby is asleep. 

Furthermore, sleep strengthen the association between the brain hemisphere of your baby. This helps in the maturation of the brain function making your baby develop critical thinking, the ability to pay attention, and control their impulses. 

Babies and newborns who sleep adequately develop good learning abilities and have lower chances of having childhood mood disorders.

How Much Sleep Do Babies and Newborns Need

Unlike adults, newborns don’t have a fully developed circadian rhythm to regulate their sleep-wake cycle. For this reason, they spend most of their day and night asleep. 

However, the newborns’ and babies’ sleep is interrupted by the need to feed. Most newborns and babies wake up every 3 to 4 hours to feed. This is because their stomach is not big enough to hold an adequate amount of food to satisfy them. 

The best pediatrician in Dubai recommends that newborns and babies up to 3 months sleep for about 9 to 18 hours each day until they turn three months. On average, most newborns and babies spend about 14 hours sleeping. Babies above four months generally sleep for about 12 to 16 hours.

Factors That May Affect The Amount of Sleep Your Baby Gets.

The feeding method is the main factor that detects how much sleep your baby gets. For example, bottle-fed babies tend to sleep more, especially at night, than breastfed babies. This is because your baby’s digestive system takes a long to digest baby formula, unlike breastmilk.

Also, your baby may sleep for more hours (about 22 hours) if born prematurely. However, premature babies wake more to feed, unlike full-term babies.

What To Do If Your Baby Sleeps Little Or Too Much?

It is not normal for your baby to sleep too much or little. There are high chances your baby has a problem if they tend to sleep too much than the recommended upper limit of about 17 hours a day.

A child who sleeps too much is likely to miss out on feed leading to poor growth and development. 

On the other hand, a baby who sleeps too little often becomes fussy and exhausted and has difficulty getting full naps at night.

Talk to your pediatrician doctor or your consultant neonatologist if you notice your baby sleep too much or little to help your baby get enough sleep. 

Dr. Olfa is a pediatrician doctor in Dubai, UAE. Having acquired experience over the years, she is confident in attending to your baby before, during, and after birth. She has an MD in Pediatrics and a subspecialty in Neonatology. She has proven competency in pediatric patient care, medical knowledge, and practice-based learning and improvement. She is fluent in French, Arabic, and English. Make an appointment today.