Why is Sleep for Babies So Important?

How many times a day do you utter the word ‘SLEEP’? The answer is guaranteed to be multiple times.

Sleep is a biological need, not a luxury!!

In the womb, babies spend about 95% of their time asleep. As soon as they make their entrance into the world, they’ll still spend the majority of their time sleeping—the transition from the womb to the real world is overwhelming and exhausting for your little one.

It’s hard to imagine all that going on inside of this tiny person—but it’s happening—and it’s setting them up for proper growth and development as they get older. In fact, your baby’s brain will double in size in their first year, and most of that growth will happen while they’re asleep.

We’re taught from an early age that sleep is important. Our parents and teachers try to tell us when we’re young. Your doctor harps on it at your yearly visit. And we rarely listen – because who’s got time for 8 hours of sleep every night?

But for your newborn, getting enough sleep is essential. Here’s why:

• Most of baby’s brain development happens during sleep: literally. This is when the connections between the left and right hemispheres of their brains are being formed.
• Brain synapses are formed during sleep: more than 1,000,000 million neural connections are formed per second during their first 3 years.
• Memories are formed and stored: your baby’s brain stores what they’ve learned that day during sleep
• Lack of sleep can cause bigger problems down the road: cognitive issues, developmental delays, etc. can sometimes be linked to not getting enough sleep
• Besides the impact sleep has on your baby’s growing brain, it also impacts your baby’s mood, eating, behaviour, etc., which is why an overtired baby quickly turns into a fussy baby.

A baby who gets enough sleep is going to generally be more agreeable, eat better (which is important for development!), less fussy, easier to soothe, more responsive, etc. A well-rested baby is a happy baby!