Page 99 - Choosing a Child Care Center

SLEEP—WHAT'S NORMAL

he rate of growth from infancy to preschooler
T progresses more rapidly than any other period of
childhood. It seems you just get used to one routine
and it morphs into something else. Because your
child’s growth pattern is constantly changing, it’s
hard for some parents to know how much sleep their
child actually needs. The following guidelines may
help:

Babies—(0-1 years)
The average sleep time for newborn babies is
about 16 to 20 hours. Infants usually want to eat
about every 2 to 4 hours and often fall asleep right
after eating. Their sleep patterns are usually divided
into 3 to 4 sleep periods a day. Infants continue this
pattern around the clock and usually wake up at least
once during the night. At about 3 months of age, they
will usually begin to sleep for a longer period at night.
“Sleeping through the night” generally means a 6-
hour span of uninterrupted sleep.
By one year of age, babies will sleep 13 to 14
hours a day; however, 1 out of 5 infants are still not
sleeping through the night by this age.

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