Baby 5 Months Old And Sleep Patterns

Sleep patterns of a baby seem very complicated to a new mother. However, the fact is that babies sleep a lot. A five month old baby will sleep as much as 16 to 17 hours in a day. It may seem too much but these long hours of sleep are essential for a baby to grow normally. Proper feed and sleep play an equal and important role in the baby’s overall development.

However, if a baby is not sleeping and is awake all the time and is crying, then there must be something wrong. Here are some of the most common reasons why babies do not sleep and develop irregular sleep patterns.

Colic: Babies with colic are very difficult to handle. They do not sleep between a fixed time and cry most of the time they are awake. Colic is a temporary condition and can last anywhere from a few days to a few months. However, the baby sleeps during the day or night to compensate for the loss of sleep. Babies have a way to compensate even if their sleep pattern is irregular in most cases.

Illness: Babies cannot sleep if they have a cold, cough or have asthma like symptoms. Some types of fever or illnesses cause tummy aches which disturb the babies sleep. However, parents can immediately recognize such illnesses because a baby that does not sleep will definitely cry under normal circumstances.

If the baby does not sleep most of the time and is not crying either, then one should talk to their doctor to check the possibility of problems related to cognizance.

More Articles :

Sleep Disorder :

Bimodal Sleep Patterns

Bimodal sleep patterns are a bit difficult to understand because they exhibit contrasting characteristics. First of all people need to exactly understand a sleep pattern. Most people think that if they wake up easily in the night, then they are having sleep problems. However, this is not true. Sleeping without disturbance or waking up once or twice in a night does not amount to disturbed sleep patterns. More..