Baby’s sleep needs at 3 to 6 months
Some more sleep tips from MyChild.ie
By 3 to 4 months of age, babies begin to settle into a sleep and wake routine.
How much sleep your baby needs
Between 3 to 6 months, your baby needs between 12 to 14 hours sleep across the day and night. They will usually nap for around 3 to 4 hours. There should be 2 to 2.5 hours between naps – see below for more information.
Feeds
Your baby may still go straight to sleep after a feed. They’ll then wake for a while before the next feed is due. By about 6 months your baby will stay awake for longer and be more alert between feeds.
Waking during the night
It is normal for your baby to wake briefly during the night. Avoid stimulating your baby if this happens. For example, by talking loudly or playing with them.
They may drift back to sleep or cry. Settle and soothe them if they are crying by talking softly and holding them. Feed them if hungry.
Difference between day and night
At this stage they are starting to identify the difference between day and night. A bedtime routine can help show your baby that sleep time is approaching.
Bedtime routine
You can build a sleep routine by:
- having your baby out in the daylight early in the day and being active in the evenings. This helps them to make the hormone melatonin that helps them to go sleep
- not exposing your baby to bright screens like a mobile phone, tablet or TV. This can make it harder for them to get to sleep.
- having ‘wind down’ or quiet time in the hour before bed – use dim lights and a low voice in the evening along with relaxing activities like a bath
- feeding your baby after a bath or after you change them into sleeping clothes – have 30 minutes between feeding and putting them to bed
- putting your baby to sleep in the same place when at home
- putting them into the cot while awake so that they fall asleep where they will be waking up.
- avoiding feeding or rocking to sleep – otherwise they’ll always need this to sleep and if they wake up during the night
During the night
- Use a yellow or red dim light when you feed your baby at night as a bright one may over-stimulate them – avoid blue lights and bright screens in the bedroom.
- Speak to your baby in a quiet calm voice when you are feeding them at night – talking loudly may encourage them to stay awake.
- Put your baby back into the cot drowsy but awake so that they wake up where they fall asleep.
- Don’t change your baby’s nappy during sleep time unless it is dirty.
Naps for babies and young children
It is important for your baby or toddler to take naps during the day. Children who are well rested find it easier to get to sleep at night. Children will usually continue to take naps until around age 3.
Naps can help their:
- growth
- development
- health
When your baby or toddler should nap
Babies nap for between 3 to 4 hours per day. At 2 months of age, your baby will take around 4 naps a day. They will reduce this to 1 in the middle of the day at around 12 to 15 months of age.
You should space out the length of time between your baby or toddler’s naps.
A baby or toddler who naps frequently will not get the same benefit as one who has solid naps. Look at how long they have been awake and judge when they’re due to sleep.
Spacing out naps
- Up to 3 months: there should be 1 to 2 hours between naps
- 3 to 6 months: there should be 2 to 2.5 hours between naps
- 6 to 9 months: there should be 2.5 to 3 hours between naps
- 1 year or over: 1 nap a day
- 3 years or over: phase out naps
Babies over 9 months of age should not sleep after 3.30 pm in the day. This is because it will cause difficulties with bedtime and may also cause early morning waking.
Older children should not have naps in the late afternoon. This is because it may also make it hard for them to go to sleep at bedtime.
Help your baby or toddler nap
Your child will find it easier to nap during the day if you:
- have a consistent daily routine so that your baby or toddler knows when it is time to nap
- do not let your child play or relax in bed. Your child’s bed should be for sleeping only
- keep their room dark during nap time
- take off your baby or toddler’s shoes and outer clothes so they do not become too warm
- give them a special blanket or toy as a comforter
- read them a story in a calming voice
It is better to let your child wake up on their own, as they will be in a better mood.
For more information on all aspects of your child’s health, well being and development see https://www2.hse.ie/my-child/
If you need some support on sleep issues with your child please contact your Public Health Nurse who has been specially trained. You can find contact details for your PHN on the Parent Hub Donegal Services page by clicking this link http://parenthubdonegal.ie/services/job-listings/?search_keywords=public+health+nurse&search_region=0&search_categories%5B%5D=147 Put in the region of Donegal you are in (http://parenthubdonegal.ie/donegal-regions/ will help you) and click update.
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I thought it may be useful to share the link to the guide - https://switcher.ie/broadband/guides/how-to-keep-your-children-safe-online/ - which you can include on your website ahead of Safer Internet Day, to help parents and children who may need some extra support. We've also put together some handy top tips you can use on your website: 10 tips to keep your children safe online
- How to reduce the risks online
- How to recognise cyber bullying and grooming
- How to educate children on cyber safety
- How to set up parental controls on devices
- Talk about it:Make time to chat about online risks and how to use the internet safelyas soon as they're old enough to go online. Encourage your children to speak to you about what they view online and empower them to act if they're worried about anything.
- Recognise the risks: Educate yourself about the potential dangers children could face online so it’s easier to spot warning signs. Get to know what platforms your children use, and learn about dangers such as phishing, grooming and cyberbullying.
- Teach the do's and don'ts: Be clear about the non-negotiables. For example, teach your child not to share personal details or photos with strangers and instruct them not to click on links to unknown websites or texts. Do encourage your child to question what they see and only accept friend requests from people they know.
- Spot the signs: Pay attention to your children's behaviour whilst on and off their devices. Being alert to changes in your child can help prevent problems from escalating. Some warning signs are withdrawing from friends or family, sleeping and eating problems or losing interest in previously loved hobbies or interests.
- Set boundaries:Let your children know what they can and can't do on the internet from the get-go. Agree on what devices they can use, when, and how long they can spend online. As they get older, explaining and negotiating boundaries may be more effective.
- Take 'parental' control: These ready-made boundaries put parents in control of what children can see online. They can be set up through your internet provider at device level to block specific websites and filter out inappropriate content.
- Be social media savvy: The popularity of social media apps like TikTok and Snapchat makes it harder to keep track of what your child is accessing online. Fortunately, each social media platform has its own privacy settings and safety tips for parents. Check them out before you let children have their own accounts.
- Protect from harm:Install antivirus software on family devices to minimise the risk of cyber attacks or scams. Use two-factor authentication (2FA) for extra security on your online accounts. This can also stop children from signing into services they're not allowed to use.
- Set a great example: You're the greatest 'influencer' in your children's lives when they're young. Limiting your time online, discussing dangers you've come across, and questioning what you view can help reinforce the rules you are setting for your children and, in turn, influence their online behaviour.
- Seek support:The more you learn about online dangers, the better equipped you'll be to handle them. There are some great resources like webwise.ie, internetmatters.organd cybersafekids.ie to help you recognise and reduce online dangers and seek advice if you think your child is experiencing cyberbullying or is at risk online.
Short videos on the Importance of Play have recently launched which was a collaboration between North Central CFSN and Lifestart Services. Volume 1 https://youtu.be/xl2F2vZXhbg Volume 2 https://youtu.be/OOy4lmWggtM Volume 3 https://youtu.be/tmv40--l7fA Volume 4 https://youtu.be/Wr9bfTWddts Volume 5 https://youtu.be/7HLkBXvVTFE Volume 6 https://youtu.be/NuUXb51qZY0
Infant Mental Health Awareness Week runs from June 13th-19th.
This week provides an opportunity to focus attention on the wellbeing, social and emotional development of our babies and young children. It highlights the importance of early relationships and a relationship based approach to interventions with infants and families. As our understanding of IMH and its evidence base develops, so also does our knowledge of how to apply this knowledge and an ‘IMH lens’ to interactions with infants, parents and caregivers in health and social services.
What is infant mental health?
Infant Mental health (IMH) refers to the healthy social and emotional development of Infants starting at conception up to three years of age.
The first 1000 days of life are recognised as a critical period of opportunity to support infant mental health. Decades of research have shown that it is the quality of the early caregiver relationship that is a significant determinant of the infant’s healthy social and emotional development and in turn physical health, right up to adulthood.
The National Healthy Childhood Programme has embedded IMH as the foundation of the development of its resources and in the approach of the delivery of the universal child health service. This embedding of key messages can be seen in the My Child suite of books (www.mychild.ie/books) and also on www.MyChild.ie where key messages around bonding and relationship building have been embedded for the parent/caregiver.
In clinical practice the topic of IMH has been included for the first time in the National Standardised Child Health Record. To build on this, the National Healthy Childhood Programme have just completed a suite of three eLearning units which are now available on HSEland for healthcare practitioners / caregivers who are working with children and families.
Throughout the week you will see videos and key IMH messaging being promoted on the HSE MyChild social media pages ( Facebook / Instagram ). Keep an eye out in the National Newspapers for articles from our experts also. (IrishTimes article)
In addition The National Healthy Childhood Programme have developed a series of ten practical videos with HSE expert advice which are now available on YouTube and on the relevant pages on the www.mychild.ie website.
These videos (2-3 minutes each) are aimed at parents/guardians of children (0 – 3 years).
These new video resources are available here while lots more expert advice for every step of pregnancy, baby and toddler health can also be found at www.mychild.ie
There are a suite of posters available focusing on the promotion of IMH messaging to order from healthy.childhood@hse.ie