Helping Your Baby Sleep in the Hospital

We all know sleep is important. As adults, when we don’t get enough sleep, we feel cranky, can’t focus, and feel run down. Sleep is even more important for babies and children.

• Healthy full-term babies need 14-18 hours of sleep a day.

• Preterm infants would be sleeping most of the time if they were still in their mother’s womb.

• All babies in the hospital need even more sleep than healthy babies to help them recover.

• Sleep helps your baby grow, feel better, and build their brain.

• Babies move through 3 main stages when they sleep:
  
  
  
  Drowsy: Baby looks away with eyes half-closed, movements slow down, or they may get cranky and fidgety.
  
  
  
  Light sleep: Baby’s eyes are closed but they may still move around.
  
  
  
  Deep sleep: Baby’s eyes are closed but eyelids might flutter. Eyes might open briefly but close again. Baby’s body is still.

To protect your baby’s sleep:

• When you visit your baby, check if they are asleep.

• If your baby is asleep, try to let them sleep, knowing that they are busy growing and healing.

• Talk to your nurse about your baby’s sleep that day and ask when a good time for skin-to-skin (also called kangaroo care) would be. Babies sleep very well during Kangaroo care!

• Keep a journal of your baby’s sleep, tracking how long they sleep and how long they are awake.

• As your baby gets older, they will have more awake time for play!

Reviewed July 2024 by Casey Hoffman, PhD