Baby Sleep : 3 Months to 6 Months

At around 3 months of age, your baby will be sleeping for about 15 hours a day, and her night time should be anywhere between 8-12 hours at a stretch – which sounds good for you as well since it means that you will be getting a bit of rest yourself as well. The baby would have probably dropped his night feedings as well, to roughly one or two feeds, which will come as a huge relief for you. If that is not the case with your baby, there is no reason to worry,; many babies wake up more than once for the feed, which will then drop down by the time he is half an year old, and then he will be ready for night weaning.

Typically, babies get ready for night weaning at about 4 months, but there are chances that he continues to wake up even though he doesn’t need the feed, but to seek assurance and comfort of his mother. A baby is likely to wake up more in the night during teething, cold, or any other change that he might be going through. Very likely, he will insist on night feedings if you have been away from him, owing to your resuming work or otherwise, since this is the only way he feels close to you and gets his reassurance that you are around.

Set up a bed time routine like giving your baby a warm bath

At around this age, your baby would have settles into a bedtime routine – if you haven’t set one, we’d say do it now. A bedtime routine saves a lot of unnecessary hassles for you as well as the baby. It can be a simple bath or change of clothes for the night, giving the idea that night is for sleeping. Setting regular nap times and sticking to them develops your baby faster and also gives room to your for undisrupted sleep during the night. Fit your baby in your families night time schedule (which should not be too late) and wake him up at a particular time (if he sleeps more than usual) else the baby will not set a daily clock. These simple steps will ensure that the baby follows a regular sleep-wake pattern and gets recharged for his actions.

If you like, you can also start training your baby to sleep independently and on his own, though some parents prefer not to do this. Experts say that the babies who do not develop independent sleep habits early in life face troubles later on. If you and your baby is ready, this is actually a good window to set an independent sleeping routine.