A QUICK GUIDE TO SLEEP, AWAKE AND FEED TIMES FOR 3 MONTHS OLD BABIES.

A Quick Guide to help establish a sleep routine for a 3 month old baby

3-month old’s often have 4 – 5 naps per day

Morning wake up between 5:30-8am

Milk feed on waking, Play – including short periods of tummy time as your little one tolerates

NAP ONE:

Around 1hr after initially waking

This sleep should be more than one sleep cycle, so over 1.5 hours

On waking, offer solids (if you have introduced solids) and milk or vice versa

Example Solids; Play; Milk; Play

NAP TWO:

Around 1hr15m after waking

This nap is generally still a long sleep at this age (more than 1 hour) however if your little one is starting to do a lengthy first nap (closer to 2 hours) and this nap is heading towards a catnap that is ok

On waking – offer a milk feed and then play

NAP THREE:

Around 1hr15m-1hr30m after waking This nap may be a single or a lengthier nap

On waking – offer a milk feed and then play

NAP FOUR:

Around 1hr 30m after waking

Again, this nap is ok to be only one sleep cycle

On waking, hold off on a milk feed Instead, you could: – Play, Milk feed (40mins prior to bedtime), Bath, Book/song, Bed or – You can feed straight after last nap, then play, feed again (40 minutes before bedtime, Bath, Book/song, Bed

Awake time between 4th nap (last nap) of the day and bedtime should be approx. 1hr 15m with the earliest bedtime should be 5:45pm and latest to be 7:30pm

NIGHT FEEDS.

It is appropriate for a 3-month-old to be having 1 – 2 x night feeds

I would ensure the 1st is after 11pm to discourage further night waking occurring and the 2nd (if required), to be a minimum of 4hrs later By 3.5 – 4 months when little ones can self-settle, they tend to only require one-night feed

STAYING AWAKE ON FEEDS.

Babies around 3 months old often have a hard time staying wide awake on feeds. Their milk feed should be at the beginning of the awake period to minimize the chance of them getting too drowsy or falling asleep on the feed – which will often lead to ‘snack feeding and snack sleeping’.

Try to engage your 3-month-old as much as possible during their feed – talking, touching etc. The more alert they are, the better feed they will take and the bigger their appetite for sleep will be when their next sleep period is due.

SLEEPING IN THEIR OWN COTS.

Try to offer your 3-month-old the majority of their sleep in their own cot/bassinet, rather than on your chest. I agree that newborn cuddles are undoubtably the very best but offering your little one sleep in their own sleep space as much as possible will assist in building their confidence in teaching them to fall asleep independently.

BEDTIME ROUTINE:

Bottle or Breastfeed (40- 45 min before bed).

I do this to separate the feed to sleep association

Bath, PJ’s, book or song, smooches, straight into bed AWAKE