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Your baby's changing feeding & sleeping schedule

Team AckoFeb 8, 2024

Once your baby is over 2-months-old, a shift happens in her nap routine, making it necessary to adjust her feed-wake-sleep schedule. Since now your baby would be awake for a longer duration at nights, her sleep schedule will undergo some changes. This will be alongside her feed schedules, with some alterations in times of night feeds, etc.

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Effective tips are essential for building the right schedule the right way. To know better about your baby’s changing feeding and sleeping schedule, let us study a sample of baby feeding and sleeping schedule.

The feeding schedule of your little one

Feeding your baby is the most important part of caring for her, but it is normally time-consuming and sometimes tiring. Your baby’s stomach capacity is considerably larger now than it was in the early days and weeks after birth. Your ten-week-old baby is likely to be able to go for longer stretches between feedings. You will also observe that your baby feeds more frequently during the day and is beginning to reduce night feedings.

Sometimes this may not be the case. Do not worry as this too is normal. It is good to remember that if you are breastfeeding, you would want to continue to breastfeed at least every few hours during the day and most likely your baby will continue to need night feedings too.

Between seven and ten weeks, your baby may drop her middle of the night feeding and begin sleeping 8 hours at night. But then she will not be reducing her daily milk intake. However, she would drink more milk during her daytime feedings, especially in the mornings of her first consumption.

In the first few weeks after birth, your baby’s stomach is small and so, she will digest breast milk or formula milk pretty quickly. So, you need to feed frequently to quench her hunger. By 10 weeks your baby’s stomach would have gotten larger and she will feed sufficiently and stay fuller longer and she will hopefully sleep for extended periods of time.

Sleep schedule of your little one

If you are wondering about how many hours of nighttime sleep your baby is able to handle before she needs to be fed again, it depends upon each baby’s needs. According to the rule of thumb, a ten-week-old baby can handle a seven-hour sleep at night to be fed again. Remember, your baby will usually develop her own sleep patterns and you will also notice that each day is not the same as another day.

These sleep patterns may also change as your baby grows and you will have to adjust your own schedule to her. According to researchers, from 2 weeks to 10 weeks of age, babies sleep on an average of 15.5 hours to 17 hours in total, about 8.5 hours to 10 hours at night and six to seven hours during the day which is spread out over three to four naps. You need to have patience and realise that it is going to take some time for your baby’s internal clock to kick in. Sleep varies from baby to baby and so do not compare your baby’s sleep habits with another.

You must create the right atmosphere for your baby to sleep relaxingly and peacefully. Ensure that your baby has a firm mattress to sleep on and that the room is not too hot or cold. 65 degrees Fahrenheit is the perfect baby bedtime temperature.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends putting the babies to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. Also, the pressure of swaddling, which is similar to what babies felt in the uterus, comforts them and lengthens their sleep.

Do not practice certain sleep rituals regularly like singing a lullaby, playing a CD or having a white noise machine in the bedroom, or encouraging your baby to doze off with the bottle in the mouth every night.

Grandma’s Tip: Rocking your little one to sleep might seem harmless but it can actually obstruct her sleeping patterns later on. These practices become a supporting tool that makes it harder to get your baby to sleep on her own. Yes, I am saying it from experience because my child had gotten so used to me rocking him to sleep that later it became a big fat trouble to make him sleep on his own! So, learn from my mistake and don’t do it regularly!

Start to practice to get in the habit of putting her down drowsy but awake at least once in every 24 hour period. She does not have to be wide awake but she should not be rocked, fed or swung each time she goes to sleep. She might fuss a little but give it a moment or two. Do not pick her up at the first squeak and gradually make this a norm at bedtime. It is a good idea to set a bedtime routine for your baby.

To establish this routine, practice with a bath, feeding, reading a book, and then bed. This will signal your baby that it is time to go to sleep. This practice of relaxing and preparing for bed can really herald a perfect night routine as your little one grows older.

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Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only, based on industry experience and secondary sources. It is not a substitute for professional advice. Please consult a qualified expert for health or insurance-related decisions. Content is subject to change, refer to current policy wordings for specific ACKO details.

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