Why Do Babies Sleep So Much?

Answering this question with the usual, “Because they are tired,” doesn’t really get at the heart of the matter. Why do babies sleep for half the day or even more (usually in shorter sections of three or four hours)? There are at least two key reasons.

Babies will sleep more if their hunger is satisfied and they aren’t ill, of course. One of the primary reasons for infants sleeping in short periods that add up to as much as 16 hours is that infants are growing and changing rapidly. They need to supply their bodies with food on a regular and frequent basis. But as mentioned earlier, the total amount of sleep time will also add up to half of a 24-hour day or more because infants can’t tell if its night or day. Darkness and regular habits of the family haven’t set in for the baby at such an early age.

There is no reason to be concerned about a baby sleeping so much, as long as the infant is generally healthy, eats well and seems happy and active. Some parents report that babies sleep as much as 20 hours a day. If this is spread across the day in short periods, there is no reason to be concerned. An infant’s body has a lot of growth hormones circulating through the muscle, internal organs and bones, as the pituitary gland works at a quicker pace during the time the infant sleeps.

Babies are also adjusting to an environment that is radically different from the safe and quiet womb. Add to this the rapid pace of physical growth and it’s easier to understand why sleep is so important. The baby’s body needs resting time to recover and grow, just as our bodies need rest after exercise or a day of normal activities.

However, the adult body isn’t growing and changing as radically as the baby’s body so we don’t need quite so much sleep. A baby’s weight can double in the first few months and this rapid growth is accompanied by plenty of rest time.

As a baby grows older and becomes a toddler sleep patterns will change. This is all part of adjusting to life in the “real world.” Parents have found that establishing a pattern, such as putting the baby in the crib at about the same time every evening, can help set the infant’s “biological clock.” It’s also important to keep the home atmosphere calm and quiet as the day changes to evening. This will help the baby get to sleep at a time that is better for parents.

With these activities becoming routine in the first two or three months of the baby’s life most infants will cut their sleep time down by a few hours. They should be sleeping up to eight hours through the night, in the absence of hunger or illness. So don’t be too concerned about a baby sleeping most of the day in the first few months of life. It’s the way things should be.