Baby Sleep Issues a Common Problem

among all Babies

All babies seem to be heavily burdened with baby sleep issues. Whether you have the baby who only naps in the car, the infant who resists naps, or the baby who thrives on three hours of sleep, infant sleep is at a premium. Every parent longs for the night their baby sleeps through. Is this even possible? What is preventing your baby from sleeping like a rock?

 

Different Types of Baby Sleep Issues

 

Even though each baby is different, many share the same baby sleep issues. Many babies survive with hardly any rest; others wake up constantly throughout the night, wake up before the sun even rises, rely on the same caregiver to fall asleep, while others babies simply resist any naps. Not only are the above mentioned baby sleep issues bothersome, but it is also quite common.

 

Misconceptions regarding Baby Sleep Issues

 

Parents need to realize that their expectations regarding baby sleep issues have to be realistic. An ideal baby is seen as the baby who sleeps through the night; however, such a baby should rather be viewed as the unrealistic baby. Night-walking is a common baby sleep problem in babies seeing as their sleep cycles are short – much shorter than that of an adult. A sleep cycle implies the time a person drifts off into light sleep, moves to deep sleep and comes back down to light sleep. Compared to an adult’s sleep cycle of 90 minutes long, a baby’s typical sleep cycle is only an hour long. Babies also spend more time in rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep, i.e. light sleep, than adults. It is thus therefore unfair to expect a baby to sleep through the night like an adult.

 

Time Frame concerning Baby Sleep Issues

 

Newborns experience the most baby sleep issues. Babies seldom sleep for more than four hours at a time before they reach three months of age; however, they still manage to sleep 14 to 18 hours a day. From three to six months of age, babies stay up more and may sleep for five-hour periods while waking once or twice at night.