Baby Charity Warns Parents Against Sleep Hacks and Urges Caution with Sleep Products
The Lullaby Trust’s annual Safer Sleep Week campaign (10-16th March) will explore baby sleep patterns in its 11th year to help educate families that it is not only usual, but safer, for babies to wake through the night.
The UK’s leading safer sleep charity is warning families that encouraging babies to sleep for longer and more deeply for their stage of development, may affect their ability to wake up if something is wrong and may increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
As part of Safer Sleep Week this year (10-16th March), The Lullaby Trust wants to raise awareness of what baby sleep patterns look like, and ultimately educate families that babies are meant to wake through the night. In fact, around a third of babies will have never slept through the night by 12 months, and that is okay.
The charity is using its annual awareness week to urge families to be mindful when it comes to using products that claim to help their baby sleep longer and deeper, or trying so-called ‘parenting hacks’ to encourage a baby to sleep through the night, as these are potentially unsafe.
Speaking as the charity launches Safer Sleep Week, its Chief Executive, Jenny Ward said: “Many have come to associate a ‘good’ or ‘contented’ baby with one that sleeps uninterrupted, but it is vitally important for families to understand that it is usual and expected for babies under one (or sometimes older) to wake during the night.”
“There is a concern that well-meaning advice and the idea that certain products or practices can help a baby to sleep for longer is putting pressure on families – making them feel they should try to help their baby to sleep through the night as young as possible. However, encouraging babies to sleep for longer or more deeply than is usual for their age can be harmful, and increases the risk of SIDS if the baby can’t arouse themself if something is wrong. Instead of focusing on the baby's sleep, we urge families to get the support they need when they feel sleep deprived.”
It is vital for new parents to understand typical sleep patterns in a baby’s first year to help alleviate the pressure put on them for their baby to sleep through the night.
Babies’ sleep is different to adults’ and changes over the first few years. Adults experience 20-25% of their sleep as Active Sleep (Rapid Eye Movement, REM) and 75-80% as Quiet Sleep, where the brain is resting. Newborn babies are very different, as over 50% of their sleep is Active Sleep, where they can wake more easily.
A baby’s sleep cycle is typically an hour long, with Active Sleep for around the first 20 minutes, followed by Quiet Sleep (deeper sleep) for the following 40 minutes. Whereas adults fall quickly into Quiet Sleep and later move into Active Sleep.
Over the first year, families can expect…
* Newborn: A baby may sleep for anywhere between eight to 18 hours a day, but only for two to three hours at a time.
* 3-6 months: A baby may sleep for longer periods now as they need fewer night feeds. Some babies may sleep for eight hours or longer at night, but not all will.
* 6-12 months: A baby may sleep for up to 12 hours at night but factors like teething, illness or hunger may mean they wake more frequently again.
As well as understanding a baby’s sleep patterns, it is really important for babies to have their own separate sleep space, and for families to follow The Lullaby Trust’s safer sleep guidance. Jenny added: “We know that greater awareness of safer sleep leads to a decrease in the numbers of babies dying. Sadly, around four babies a week still die from SIDS and if all families were aware of safer sleep advice, many lives could be saved.”
For more information on Safer Sleep Week parents and carers can visit - https://www.lullabytrust.org.uk/about-us/safer-sleep-week/ or if they are really worried about their little one’s sleep patterns should contact their midwife, health visitor or GP for support.