Published : 2024-09-30

1 Month Old Baby Sleep : Common Questions

- Categories : Baby Sleep

During the first month of life, your baby needs a lot of sleep. Indeed only a few weeks before, she had her own rhythm, the phases of sleep were being accompanied by the movements of Mommy’s tummy. The baby discovers the outside world but she is not yet accustomed to the day/ night rhythm. This is a big change and it will take several months for your baby to get used to the alternation between day and night. In this article, we explore the sleep characteristics during the first month of life of your baby and how to help her sleep well!

1-Month-Old Baby Sleep characteristics

A newborn sleeps a lot : from the first weeks of life, babies have different sleep profiles. When some infants will sleep almost 20 hours a day, others will need only 14 hours of sleep. On average, babies sleep 16 hours a day.

Being awake is essential for baby’s development: : Infants go through four stages during the day: calm sleep, agitated sleep, calm awakening and agitated awakening. During the first months of life, your baby is more often in a stage of agitated awakening. It is a less conscious state than the calm awakening state. Your little one sucks his thumb, reacts little and his eyes are fixed in the distance. He often cries and seems inconsolable. The calm awakening state in which babies are observing the surroundings with attention are rare (on average 3 or 4 times a day).

The newborn doesn’t differentiate the day of the night: : the baby's sleep is not influenced by the intensity of light and the awakenings happen during the day and in the middle of the night. Most babies sleep for periods of 3 to 4 hours. This type of sleep is also known as ultradian rhythm.

Babies fall asleep mostly in a state of agitated sleep : When a baby falls asleep, she slightly moves her fingers and toes, makes movements with her arms and legs. She stretches, growls, yawns and her face can even become all red! Her eyes move under the eyelids and she can even open them for several seconds without waking up! This type of sleep is common during the first month and is still very light. Be careful not to confuse agitated sleep with a pre-wake-up phase. Baby yawns and growls and we would tend to think that she wakes up slowly! In fact, agitated sleep represents 50 to 60% of sleep in infants. In adults, for instance, the paradoxical sleep (evolution of the agitated sleep) represents only 20% of the total amount of sleep.

Short sleep cycles : After each phase of agitated sleep (usually lasting 50 to 60 minutes) there is a period of calm sleep for another hour. Then again! Baby alternates agitated and calm sleep until sleeping for 3 or 4 consecutive hours before waking up!

Help your baby sleep well

Now that you know more about your little one's sleep, here are some tips to help him sleep well.

Tip # 1 | The Day / Night Rhythm : First, help your baby differentiate the day of the night. During the waking phases at night, try to make less noise, speak gently and limit the brightness during the nighttime feedings. You can whisper while soothing your little one and use slow gestures and movements. On the contrary, during the day, stimulate the baby by going out and bringing light into the house and into the nursery. Of course, avoid waking up the baby, even if it is daytime. She needs a lot of sleep!

Tip # 2 | Differentiate the agitated sleep from an awake period : As previously explained, in the first month of life, agitated sleep represents about 50% of baby sleep. If she yawns, moves her arms and legs gently it does not mean that the baby is awake. If she is really awake or hungry, her whole body will be moving and her eyes will be wide open. In general, if you hesitate if the baby is really awake, most probably she is still asleep.

Tip # 3 | A ride out to make her sleep : A tip which is well known by parents who have bad sleeper at home. A ride around the neighborhood by car can help a baby fall asleep especially for the nap! You can also go for a walk with the stroller.

Tip # 4 | Songs and lullabies : Your baby loves to feel you close to her and especially to hear your voice! Put her in the crib by singing a lullaby and you can even invent a special song for the occasion.

Tips # 5 | Massages : To help your 1-month-old baby sleep well, nothing better than a good massage. We advise you to perform two types of massages. First, the abdominal massage to improve your baby’s digestion. Put your hand on your little one’s tummy, just below the belly button, and make circular movements in a clockwise direction. Another massage technique you can try is foot reflexology. While your partner is holding the baby, you can hold her foot and massage it very gently. Make the contours of the foot by pressing lightly with your thumb and forefinger, then massage the inside. This is the occasion to spend a very pleasant moment with the whole family while helping your baby feel better.

Safe and pleasant environment

Good sleep is, of course, dependent on the environment of the baby’s room, it is important to pay attention to multiple factors when you prepare the baby’s nursery. Here are some of the rules to respect in order to ensure the pleasant sleep of your little one.

Pay attention to the bed : Although the risk of finding your baby stuck between the bars of the crib is low, do not buy a bed manufactured before 1986 (safety rules have changed a lot since then), and more generally avoid beds without labels and instructions. The mattress must be firm and fit perfectly to the crib to avoid the presence of gaps where the baby could get stuck.

Check the temperature of the room: To sleep well, babies need a temperature around 20°C. Remember to regularly ventilate the nursery.

Avoid stuffed toys, duvets and pillows throughout the first year: a baby could choke because of the presence of those objects.

Think about buying a baby monitor and a night light: To create an atmosphere propitious to sleep and also to monitor your baby's nights, a baby monitor and night light may be a great purchase. Nowadays, modern connected devices such as UrbanHello's REMI unite multiple features in one and allow you to follow the baby's sleep directly on your smartphone!

Common questions about 1-month-old baby sleep

When will my baby sleep through the night? In order for babies sleep for 5 to 6 hours in a row without waking up, they must have the necessary energy reserves. But other elements come into play, including the heart rate, the biological clock and the regulation of the body temperature.

It's only at around 8 weeks that the baby can sleep through the night. But some babies need more time. Each child is, of course, different and will have its own rhythm, but on average it will take about four months for the majority of the babies to learn to sleep for about 6 hours in a row. Periods of regression are also expected especially around the 8-9th month. These usually last a few days or even weeks.