Here at the Baby Sleep Site, we’re not short on sleep-related facts and figures. Nicole, a self-proclaimed “numbers nerd”, can offer our clients all the sleep-related data their hearts could desire! Not all of us are as number-nerdy as Nicole, of course (myself included!), but sometimes, having data helps us understand our babies’ sleep issues, and even helps us come up with solutions to the problems.
Recently, Baby Sleep Site reader Beth E. e-mailed us some information about her own son’s sleep development. Turns out Beth (a Ph.D. Pharmacologist, Neuroscientist, and numbers nerd extraordinaire) had been using a smartphone app* to track her son’s sleep patterns from the time he was three weeks old up until now (at 9 months). And she didn’t just track sleep — she tracked feedings, diapers, medications, etc. As she put it:
“…the app meant the information was always with me for appointments, etc. And if there is one thing I’ve learned, the minute you think you can stop tracking things, the baby gets constipated or some such, the doc asks when was the last bowel movement, and you just don’t know. So, the app means I can log it in and it’s easy peasey!”
Beth says the process of actually tracking her son’s sleeping patterns was very straightforward and easy:
“I ‘check in’ the baby when he falls asleep and ‘check out’ the baby when he wakes up. For me, it has been most useful on the day to day basis so I can easily answer my questions, like, “When, exactly, did he go down for that nap?”, “Was that another 45 minute naplet?” and “Is he really short on sleep today?” For that, the app has been fantastic.”
Along the way, Beth turned her long list of data into a set of graphs, making it easier to see and interpret her son’s sleep patterns. The result of Beth’s work? An incredibly comprehensive, detailed account of how sleep develops in a baby from birth – 9 months! And because we love our readers so much, we want to share this awesome information with you. We know you’ll benefit from it.
Okay. Enough background information. On to the graphs!
Graph #1: Wake and Sleep Times
*Click graph to view a larger version in a new browser window.
This graph tracks the timing of Beth’s baby’s sleep — when he wakes in the morning, when he goes down for his first and second nap, and when he goes to bed. The numbers on the left indicate the time of day (in military hours); the dates along the bottom go week by week, from the time the baby is about 4 months old until recently, when he was 9 months. The red lines on the chart are what we want to focus on — they help us see the “average” for sleep and wake times.
What’s most interesting about this chart, in my opinion, is how much the morning wake times and first nap times correspond to each other. You’ll notice that they move together — when the baby wakes later in the morning, the first nap starts later. Bedtime also follows a smooth pattern, becoming gradually later as the baby gets older.
Even more interesting? The afternoon naps don’t correspond at all, to anything! They’re all over the place. This illustrates what Nicole often tells our clients about babies’ naps and schedules: the morning nap is the most important and the most restorative, while the afternoon nap can vary. If you have an errand to run or a trip to plan, try to do it after the baby’s first nap, if he has more than one.
Nicole’s Note
“The morning nap is the first to establish. It usually, but not always, becomes the most predictable and the easiest to get. The second nap, while some babies sleep better based on the clock, others sleep better based on how long they’ve been awake. Still others will even change their nap time based on how active or busy their morning has been. The interesting thing about this chart is you can see bedtime getting later as baby is getting older and you can see how wildly variable the schedule is when the baby is younger and it becomes more regular as he gets older. This shows that it does get better!”
Graph #2: Sleep Amounts and Duration
*Click graph to view a larger version in a new browser window.
This graph is identical in its set-up to the previous graph, but this one charts the length of Beth’s baby’s naps and nighttime sleep, instead of tracking the time of day the sleep happened. The numbers along the left and right sides (the number on the right are for nap #2) represent total hours. You can look at each of the red lines to see averages for how long the baby’s morning naps, afternoon naps, and nighttime periods of sleep were.
The take-away from this chart, I think, is the simple fact that a baby’s sleep is a fluctuating thing. This chart illustrates a frustrating phenomenon that I think all of us parents have experienced: a baby who sleeps 10 straight hours one night (or takes 3 beautiful naps one day) is cranky and waking constantly the next. Just when we think, “They’ve got it!”, our babies prove us wrong.
Something else I saw — notice how the morning and afternoon nap lines tend to mirror each other. When the morning nap line dips, the afternoon line spikes, and vice versa. This seems to show that when the baby had a shorter morning nap, he made up for it in the afternoon, but when his morning nap was nice and long, his afternoon nap was shorter.
Nicole’s Note
“This graph supports the fact that a baby’s total sleep in 24 hours will stay relatively constant. Inconsistent babies, especially, may sleep a different amount every day, but the average will stay constant. As a baby gets older, of course, the amount of sleep will decrease, but it should not be abrupt. As you can see, it’s a slow downward slope, but not a sharp dip. Of course, everyone has an ‘off’ day, occasionally, even your baby.”
Graph #3: How Infant Sleep Develops
Those last two graphs are helpful, but it’s this one that caught Nicole’s eye, and made all of us here at the Baby Sleep Site shake our heads in amazement:
*Click graph to view a larger version in a new browser window.
This graph compiles all the data from that last two and shows the times of day when Beth’s baby was awake and asleep, as well as how long each of his “sleeps” lasted. In this graph, white shows all the times the baby was awake, and blue shows all the times he was asleep.
Do you see what we see? Right around the 3.5 month mark (mid-December, for Beth’s baby), the baby begins to settle into a sort of schedule. There starts to be more blue during nighttime hours, and more white during daytime hours. As Beth says,
“One week in December, the whole schedule started appearing…magic!”
Move a little farther to the right, and you’ll notice that around the 6.5 month mark (mid-March, for Beth’s baby), a more consistent naptime schedule develops. At that point, you can see three pretty distinct blue bars, showing the baby’s morning and afternoon naps.
Nicole’s Note
“Although not all babies will develop the same way, of course, this graph is a powerful image that a baby’s sleep in the newborn days can be very erratic and unpredictable. I know this can drive some of us a little crazy. 😉 But, take heart that your baby’s system will mature and patterns can emerge. Routines like Babywise may be too stringent for your baby who isn’t developmentally ready for strict schedules or routines. Sometimes, we need to wait until a baby is older to help guide his schedule.”
So what do we make of this? Well, here’s one fact this graph illustrates in crystal-clear detail: in our opinion and experience with many families, most babies aren’t ready for feeding and sleeping schedules until close to 4 months.”
Here’s another fact we can see laid out in this graph: as a baby grows, his sleep begins to organize as his central nervous system matures. Newborn sleep patterns are often scattered and unpredictable; then, as the baby grows, a more predictable naptime schedule can emerge. You’ll notice that Beth’s baby doesn’t follow a nap schedule perfectly (he is likely somewhat inconsistent), but he seems to have a naptime schedule that’s consistent enough to create the patterns we see on the graph.
Something you should know: Beth’s never done any sleep training with her son. For her baby, these patterns happened naturally. As Beth says,
“I probably could use some guidance on stabilizing the sleep patterns some… but for now I’m a no-cry momma with a little guy who doesn’t know how to take a bottle (so daddy can’t help) and I’ve allowed the nurse-to-sleep pattern. We’ll see if I start asking for help with a sleep package from you guys when I start weaning him in a couple of months!”
Now, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page: am I suggesting that every single baby will follow the exact patterns that Beth’s baby followed? Not at all! If you know much about the Baby Sleep Site at all, you know we believe strongly that there’s no such thing as a “one size fits all” approach to ANYTHING related to your baby.
Am I suggesting that sleep training isn’t necessary since babies will eventually “figure it out” on their own? Again — not at all! I’d better not be; Nicole might have a thing or two to say about that. 😉 Some babies will begin sleeping through the night on their own and naturally developing their own schedules, without any help from their parents. But plenty of others won’t, and those babies need a little guidance and coaching in order to develop healthy sleep habits.
Here’s what I am suggesting: when it comes to helping your babies sleep well, it can be good to log your baby’s sleep to better understand how they sleep and what their natural sleep patterns might be. Beth’s charts and graphs are unique to her baby and your baby’s sleep patterns will be unique too. This might mean your baby’s sleep could be (and likely is) very different from Beth’s baby. You may want to consider sleep logging as a tool in your efforts to build healthier sleep habits for your baby.
Nicole’s Note
“The main takeaway from Beth’s graphs is that your baby will grow and change. Don’t worry if he’s not sleeping well when he’s 6 weeks old. That doesn’t mean he won’t ever sleep well! And, once he is sleeping well, don’t expect it never to change. ;)”
Now you get to weigh in — did your baby fall into a pattern as Beth’s did? Scroll down to share your experience with us, to ask questions, and to hear from other parents just like you!
*Beth’s App — Beth used a Time Recording — Timesheet App to track her son’s sleep. The app itself is intended to be used by employees, to track their time at work; in fact, when Beth e-mailed the app developer to tell him how she was using it, he was quite surprised! 😀
If you want to use the Time Recording — Timesheet App, Beth recommends using the free version of the app. She’s also quick to point out that there are other apps out there which are specifically designed to track your baby’s schedule. So, if you like the idea of using an app the way Beth did, you may want to use one that’s designed exclusively for that purpose.
Special thanks to Beth Ewaskowitz for creating these graphs and sharing them with us!
Emily DeJeu says
@ Emuna — thanks for pointing this out! These patterns definitely don’t apply to every single baby. Again, we at the Baby Sleep Site are big on emphasizing that every child is different, so your baby may not follow that principle (that a baby’s sleep in 24 hours remains constant from day to day). It’s probably true that the majority of babies’ sleep stays constant from day to day, but that definitely won’t be true for all babies.
Emuna says
I have to protest at something – when Nicole says that a baby’s total sleep in 24 hours will stay relatively constant, I can’t say I’ve found that to be true. I have heard from a lot of people “don’t worry, a baby will get the sleep it needs, they just will!” It frustrates me to no end. They don’t, necessarily! There are times where they really just don’t get the sleep they need! In my experience, if we have a tough night that doesn’t guarantee that baby will have longer naps the next day, or if she wakes from her morning nap too early, her afternoon nap isn’t always longer to compensate for it. Maybe some babies do, but based on my experience, babies do NOT always “just get the sleep they need.”
Emily DeJeu says
@ Katie — glad you found the article interesting! I was a bit worried as I was writing it, wondering if people might find it too technical, or too dull. But the response so far has been great! Apparently, we have plenty of numbers nerds for readers 😉
Glad to hear your daughter scheduled herself so nicely. It’s SO nice when it works out that way!
Katie says
Well this is really interesting stuff! My baby was bf and I also allowed her to feed to sleep. I definitely noticed a 3 nap routine develop around 3 monthishvbut timings would be completely variable depending on what time she woke. She developed a fab nap routine pretty much to the clock around 6-7 months, and I haven’t put this in place. I did start to keep her going a bit longer in the morning or I found shed wake after 45 mins, but when I pushed her thru until about half 9 (unless particularly tired) she slept for almost 2 hours. Reslly interesting that I know a few people it’s similar experiences. She settles herself and sleeps 7-7, I do let her have a soother to settle herself but she doesn’t have it in the day. I remember months 4-6 being really tough at night but it car with time and perseverance, I haven’t let her cio
Emily DeJeu says
@ Michelle — thanks for sharing these specifics! So glad you found the article helpful 🙂
@ Chloe — Baby ESP has been mentioned a few times — sounds like it’s a fantastic app! We’ll be doing an article at some point soon reviewing the best apps for parents of babies; we’ll make sure Baby ESP is in there. Thanks for sharing!
Chloe says
I thought this was interesting to read because I have tracked everything my son did (night sleep, naps, diapers, meals, meds, and more) for a full year, too. I use the baby ESP app, which I guessed she mentioned when referring to baby tracking apps, and I just saw above that I am not the only one recommending it. 🙂 It also graphs and I saw similar results regarding sleep. It was so helpful when trying to analyze if a natural pattern was emerging, as well as helping me look back and see with certainty what might be affecting my son’s mood (“oh, whoops, he has been up too long”, etc).
Michelle says
This is fascinating! Thank you so much for posting (and thank you to the lady who shared.) My baby is currently 7 months/1 week, and I recall at her 3 month pediatrician visit that the doctor said that we could start to sleep train. Fortunately for us, she just sort of fell into a pattern on her own, and we didn’t have to do that much training. She seemed to want to sleep all night, right around the 3.5 month time period. She would get noticeably crabby and sleepy right around 9:30 PM, and practically demand to go to bed. Around 4.5 months, she would come home from daycare very tired, and sometimes take a nap. I noticed that she seemed to want to go to be earlier, so we changed her bedtime to 8:30. Now it’s creeping up to 7:30 (although sometimes she will fight it until 8 or 8:30, and get overtired, but generally it is between 7:30 and 8.) The inconsistencies come when she is going through a developmental stage. Towards the end of 6 months, she began to crawl, and when I would put her in her crib, she would spend about an hour rolling around, rocking on her hands and knees, playing. Then she would get overtired and cry because she was wound up. Now, as I said, she is falling into a pattern of wanting to go to sleep earlier and going to sleep more easily and smoothly. For my baby, it has been a matter of paying attention to her cues and looking for signs of tiredness. I’m not always great at figuring them out, but I try! I’m looking forward to the day when she can tell me that she’s tired and it’s time to go to bed!
Emily DeJeu says
@ Susan K — so glad this article resonated with you. It’s really interesting, isn’t it, to see those graphs? I’m not a mathematical, science-oriented person (not by a long shot), but even I found the graphs fascinating. Glad to hear you did, too 🙂
@ Diana — Beth actually recommended that app to us as well, but since we’ll be doing an article in the near future about the best apps for parents of babies, we though we’d save it for that article. You’re right, though; since that app is specifically designed for tracking your baby, it’s more comprehensive than the one Beth used. Good tip! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Diana says
I have been using a similar app, for android, called Baby ESP. after many many apps tested. There is a free trial but after that the app costs about 5$. Best 5$ ever spent!
It tracks everything, it;s more user friendly then the app Beth used and best of all it creates all these graphs by itself, so no need to be a numbers nerd 🙂
I am not affiliated with this company, I just love their app so much.
It tracks sleeping, feeding, diapers, medicine, bottle, pumping, baths, you can set up custom tasks, and also stats and graphs for all the data.
My baby is now 7 mo and 27 days , I can see he sleeps from 7 to about 6 am, he eats at 12 am, and 4 am, and also all his feedings during the day, solids and breast, and naps at 9 am and 1 pm. He was all over the place also, and it’s so nice to see his sleep and eating consolidating, so you know witch way to “nudge” him.
I also bought Nicole’s ebooks to know what I am doing, so that I don’t force anything on my baby.
All in all we are blessed with so many good resources, I sometimes cry thinking about how hard it was for my mother.
Susan K says
I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am to read this article today! Just this morning I was thinking to myself “If only I could get my 11-month old daughter to be more consistent in her sleeping and waking times.” Reading this article and seeing Beth’s graphs make me realize that (1) I’m not the only person with an inconsistent child and (2) while they aren’t perfect, my daughter’s sleep habits have definitely improved as she’s aged (and will hopefully continue to do so).
Thank you so much for such great information! I look forward to my weekly emails from the Baby Sleep Site and this one just might be my favorite yet!