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Baby Sleep

As your baby grows, their sleep needs and patterns change. During the 3-12 month period, babies begin to develop more regular sleep cycles. It’s important to be responsive and follow your baby’s cues and create a flexible feed, play sleep pattern. Working on consistent sleep habits during this period will help both you and your baby get more restful nights.

A sleeping baby girl

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Understanding Baby Sleep Patterns

Babies in this age group typically sleep around 14-15 hours altogether over a 24-hour period, this may include longer stretches of sleep at night and 2-3 naps during the day. By about six months, babies typically may start sleeping for up to 6 hours at night without waking for a feed. This is different for every baby and can change from day to day. You can read more about age-specific routines and what to expect by selecting your child’s age range from the menu below.

3 -4 months old | 5-6 months old | 7-12 months old

Safe Sleep Guidelines

Creating a safe sleep environment is important for your baby’s health. Follow these simple steps to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and ensure your baby sleeps soundly:

Sleep baby on their back from birth, not on the tummy or side.
Sleep baby with their head and face uncovered.
Keep baby in a smoke-free environment before and after birth.
Provide a safe sleeping environment for your baby both day and night
Sleep baby in their own safe sleep space. Baby is safest in the same room as an adult caregiver for the first 6 to 12 months.
Breastfeed baby if possible.

Responsive Settling

Responsive settling is a gentle approach to help babies aged 3-12 months learn to self-settle while still receiving comfort and reassurance from their parents/carers. This technique helps babies feel secure, supported and can help your baby to start to learn to settle themselves with time.

Karitane Stepped Approach to Settling

Responding to your baby as your baby wakes

When your baby wakes during the night, pause to see if they will settle themselves. If they don’t, enter the room quietly and provide comfort with minimal stimulation—no bright lights or active interaction. Use soft words, gentle pats, or a soothing shush to calm them

Over time, watch your baby's cues and allow them time to settle themselves. For example, you might like to try shortening how long you stay in the room or reducing the amount of physical touch as your baby calms down while settling.

Responsive settling ensures that your baby feels supported, and can help your baby to start to learn to settle themselves with time, helping your baby to have longer stretches of sleep at night.

Managing Night Wakings and Settling

It’s normal for babies to wake frequently during the night, but there are ways to help them settle back to sleep. Keeping interactions calm and quiet during night feedings, can be reassuring for your baby, and getting support from your partner or family may be helpful to you on nights where your baby is more unsettled.

We acknowledge that it can be hard initially when making any sort of change. When settling, an upset baby, regularly question how you and your baby are coping. Keep baby safe and notice if you are getting frustrated or angry. Try taking deep breaths, slow speech, lowering your voice, and using only gentle pats. Use positive self-talk or put your child in a safe place and take a short break to calm yourself and get support when you need to. Lean on support from family and friends and reach out for help if you need to. Judgement-free support is available to you from Karitane.

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Baby Sleep FAQs

At Karitane, we don’t promote controlled crying. Being responsive to your baby’s cues is important to help them feel safe and secure. This resource can help you be responsive to your baby’s sleep as they wake, remember to look out for tired signs and hunger cues.

Some babies may need more support to go back to sleep whilst some require less support. This can change over time depending on what is happening for your baby and your family. Your baby’s development, temperament, sleep environment, relationship with you, life events, and physical health can all impact on sleep.

Whilst it is ideal for your baby to go into the cot awake, it is not uncommon for your baby to fall asleep during a feed especially in the early days. Responding to your baby’s cues is important, when you notice some tired signs in your baby, prepare them for sleep and gently place your baby in the cot awake when possible.

For at least the first six months, it is recommended that babies sleep in the same room as their parents but in their own sleep space. This is to lower the risk of SIDS. Sharing a room but not a bed lets you be close to your baby to feed and comfort them while still making sure they have a safe place to sleep

When you travel, try to keep your baby's sleep pattern as normal as possible by bringing things like a favourite blanket or a bedtime story. Responding to your baby’s cues is important, when you notice some tired signs in your baby, prepare them for sleep and gently place your baby in the cot. Be patient as your baby gets used to the new place and know that they may have trouble sleeping at first. 

To get your baby used to their new sleep environment, start by letting them take naps in their cot in their own room. Move bedtime to the new room slowly, make sure the room is safe, cosy, and set up the same way every time. During this time of adjustment, be patient and offer extra support and encouragement. 

Safety Tip: For at least the first 6 to 12 months it is recommended that babies sleep in the same room as their parents but in their own sleep space. This is to lower the risk of SIDS. Sharing a room but not a bed lets you be close to your baby to feed and comfort them while still making sure they have a safe place to sleep.

Sleep regressions can be common when babies and children reach developmental stages like learning to crawl or when they are teething. Supporting your baby by being responsive to their cues is important. Being consistent in how you respond with care in your touch and voice can help make the acceptance of change much easier for your baby.

Offer extra support during these times. You may also like to talk to your child and family health professional or GP if you have worries about your baby’s sleep.

Navigating the world of new parenthood whist getting less sleep than usual can feel hard, but there are ways to make the journey a bit smoother. 

Be gentle with yourself and remember that it's important to look after you. If possible, try to share the load with your partner or get help from family and friends you trust.

Creating a soothing bedtime routine for yourself, just like you would for your baby, can also help get your body ready when it's time to rest. 

And if you find yourself feeling more than just tired – if you're experiencing symptoms of postpartum depression or anxiety – please don't hesitate to reach out for professional support. With the right help and support, things will improve for you and your baby. You can read more about this here.

You’ll find different risks arise at different ages and stages. You can reduce risks by: 

Following SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) guidelines 
Have a firm, flat, well-fitting mattress - not tilted or elevated
Have a breathable mattress, sheet and blanket.
Remove the plastic mattress cover
Don’t have bumpers, pillows, doonas, lambswool or toys in the cot
Sleep your baby on their back
Position your baby’s feet at the bottom of the cot
Tuck in blankets firmly
Do not put your baby to sleep on a waterbed, beanbag or couch
Never use hot water bottles, electric blankets or wheat bags
Babies need to be comfortably warm but not too hot- avoid overheating your baby with bedding and room heaters 
Keeping the cot sides up when your child is in the cot (do this no matter their age) 
Ensuring cot rails are higher than your child’s shoulders when they stand
Keeping the cot or bed away from blind and curtain cords 
Removing necklaces and cords when your baby is sleeping  (this includes dummy chains and/or cords) 
Feed your baby outside the cot or bed, it’s preferable for you to hold them in a semi-upright position
Ensuring prams and cots meet Australian standards 
Never leaving your baby unattended/alone in a pram or stroller 
Make sure you're gentle, no matter how upset or frustrated you may feel

 Safety Alert: No matter how frustrated or upset you may become, it is dangerous to shake your baby. Your baby’s head is still big and heavy in comparison to their body, and their neck muscles aren’t strong enough to hold it still. Shaking your baby causes tiny blood vessels in the brain to tear and bleed, which can cause blindness, brain damage and/or death. This video further explains the dangers of baby shaking.

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Karitane acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work and live. We celebrate the diversity of Aboriginal peoples and their ongoing cultures and connections to the lands and waters of NSW. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

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