There are few things more peaceful than watching your baby sleep. During those quiet moments, it's easy for parents to look down at their little one and realize that all their efforts, stress, sleeplessness, and hard work have been worth it. But how do you know if your baby is getting the amount of sleep they really need? Not to mention the correct quality of sleep? And how do you possibly keep track of your little one's sleeping habits on a day-to-day basis?

What Makes Sleep So Important for My Baby?

We all think our little ones look like angels when they sleep, but a variety of essential things happen during sleep when it comes to your baby's development.

• Sleep improves a baby's immune system: During hours of sleep, your little one develops their immune response. When your little one sleeps, their body produces proteins vital to immune health, helping them fight illnesses and infections.
• Sleep facilitates proper growth: During the first year of their lives, babies are growing rapidly (up to an inch a month for the first six months!), and their body has to produce enough human growth hormones (HCG) to support that growth rate. HCG is most commonly released during sleep, so making sure your little peanut gets those ZZZs actually does help them grow up big and strong.
• Appropriate amounts of sleep keep emotions balanced: As the parent of a little one, you probably know firsthand that lack of sleep can make you a little bit cranky. The same thing happens when your child doesn't get enough sleep to function properly.
• Sleep habits during infancy predict sleep habits later in life: You've probably heard it said that the best indicator of future behavior is past behavior. Well, when it comes to sleep, this is true. Babies who adhere to sleep schedules and have consistent sleep patterns are typically found to sleep better and more predictably as they age.
• Sleep aids motor development: While it may seem counterintuitive to think that your baby learns and develops their motor skills while asleep, research has shown motor development does actually continue to take place as your little one sleeps. All those adorable little twitches and wiggles your baby does while snoozing? Those movements activate circuits within the brain, forming connections that teach your baby about their limbs and how they can move them.
• Sleep strengthens memory: Just like with adults, sleep benefits the cognitive abilities of your little one, improving skills like memory and language. And the best part? During sleep, the learning center of the brain 'resets,' allowing your little cutie to wake up with a clean slate, ready to learn even more new information when they wake up! 

How is Infant Sleep Different from Adult Sleep?

While it may be easy to assume that sleep is sleep, no matter how old you are, babies and adults have different sleep cycles (patterns where the type of sleep being experienced changes). There are two main types of sleep to be aware of when considering sleep cycles: rapid eye movement or REM sleep (also known as light sleep) and non-REM sleep (or deep sleep).

Babies experience considerably more light or REM sleep than children and adults, as REM sleep is important for cognitive development. This 'light' sleep is one of the reasons waking a baby is so easy. Additionally, babies have a shorter sleep cycle, around 40 minutes, compared to an adult's 90-minute sleep cycle, meaning babies naturally wake up more often. 

Baby Sleep Patterns by Age

0-3 Months

Newborns typically sleep anywhere from 11 to 19 hours throughout the day and night. Most of their sleep is spent in the REM state. The length of time a baby spends during a single sleeping period will depend on a few factors, including metabolism and stomach size, as babies this age often wake up due to hunger or a need for a diaper change. Babies 0-3 months of age most commonly wake up every 1-3 hours to eat or be changed, though, during the latter part of these months, the baby's sleep will likely start responding more to changes in light and dark rather than hunger.

3-6 Months

After hitting the 3-month mark, children begin to sleep deeper, sleeping for 10 to 18 hours daily, within only a few naps, a couple of hours each. At this age, the sleep pattern of your little one will be more influenced by the light and dark as opposed to hunger levels.

6-12 Months

By 6-12 months, your little one will follow sleep patterns much closer to your own. They'll be sleeping anywhere from 10-16 hours per day, with a 2-4 hour nap during the day.

Sleep Coaches: Sleep Tracking Made Easy

While there are some consistencies when it comes to sleep patterns for babies, it's important to remember that every little one is different, so their sleep patterns will naturally vary, just like anyone else's. Sleep patterns also change a lot throughout the first year of life. So, if your little one isn't sleeping the same as another person's child, don't worry. Instead of comparing your cutie to others, consider comparing their sleep patterns to normal ones. 

One great way to track your little one's sleep is by using a sleep coach, like the Smart Sleep Coach created by Pampers. 

Smart Sleep Coach by Pampers

Keeping track of your little one's sleep patterns and ideal nap times has never been so simple. With a user-friendly interface, the Smart Sleep Coach by Pampers assesses your baby's sleep patterns and creates a unique sleep schedule designed specifically with your cutie in mind. The best part? As your baby's sleep patterns change, the Smart Sleep Coach adapts and adjusts, optimizing naps and bedtime schedules based on real-time feedback, letting both you and your baby sleep more peacefully.