An article from USA Today details why a regular sleep routine is important for babies. They can suffer from lack of sleep and can become sleep deprived with irregular sleeping times just like adults.
Newborns generally have irregular sleep rhythms, and most parenting or pediatric sleep books, including Weissbluth's, describe how patterns emerge over the next few months and years, including times of day and night the child tends to get sleepy and when he or she usually starts sleeping through the night.
The failure to recognize a little one's natural rhythms lays the foundation for future problems, including bedtime battles, difficulty falling asleep, night wakings, and early morning wake-ups, say pediatric sleep experts.
"Chaotic family schedules interfere with the stabilization of a child's circadian rhythms," says Richard Ferber, director of the Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders at Children's Hospital Boston. "The lack of a sleep routine, unenforced bedtimes, and no limit-setting leave a child feeling unwell in a manner analogous to jet lag," Ferber says.
Even babies and toddlers can suffer from lack of sleep or poor sleep, says Michael Twery, director of the National Center for Sleep Disorders Research at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
The article also cites some figures from a 2004 National Sleep Foundation survey that gives an idea of how many hours of sleep babies need.
According to the survey, infants (3 to 11 months) sleep 12.7 hours, even though up to 16 hours are suggested. Toddlers (1 to 3) slumber 11.7 hours, when 12-14 are advised. And preschoolers get 10.4 hours, even though 11-13 hours are recommended.
You can read more from that sleep survey here on the Sleep Foundation's website.
The USA Today article also displays a useful child sleep chart from the University of Michigan Health System. We all need sleep. It is not a surprise that babies are any different.
