With the right 10 week old sleep schedule, your baby will sleep in longer stretches at night and take longer naps. In this article, we will share tips to a great infant sleep schedule based on my 15+ years as a baby sleep consultant.
In this article:
- How Much Sleep Does a 10 Week Old Baby Need?
- What is the Best Schedule for a 10 Week Old Baby?
- Can You Sleep Train a 10 Week Old Baby?
- How Many Hours Can Your Baby Go Without Eating?
- 10 Week Old Baby Sleep Tips
How Much Sleep Does Your 10 Week Old Need?
Most 10 week old babies need 14-16 hours of sleep every day. This sleep is typically broken into 10-12 hours of sleep at night and 3-4 hours of sleep during the day.
If your baby is waking up at night at this age, that’s normal. At 10 weeks old, babies usually wake up every 3-4 hours at night for feedings. Some babies will do one 5-hour stretch, which is technically considered “sleeping through the night.” However, since babies go to bed so early, it hardly feels that way to most parents.
What is the Best Schedule for Your 10 Week Old?
The best schedule for your 10 week old typically includes wake windows of less than two hours. The first wake windows of the day are usually shorter than the afternoon wake windows though all babies are different.
In addition, you will want to offer milk at least every three hours during the day. If you are feeding your baby formula and you are following 12 Hours by 12 Weeks, over the next two weeks, you will be gradually moving to feedings every four hours. If your baby is breastfed, I caution you to be careful and not try to get your baby to 12 hours so soon. It can negatively impact your milk supply, and it can be difficult to get it back.
Can You Sleep Train Your 10 Week Old Baby?
While you can try gentle sleep coaching techniques at any age, we generally do NOT recommend traditional sleep training at such a young age.
How Many Hours Can Your Baby Go Without Eating?
At this age, we typically see babies go around 4-5 hours in their first stretch and then wake up every 3 hours for the rest of the night.
If your baby is formula-fed, we often see just 2-3 night feedings at this age (e.g., 12:00 AM and 3:00 AM).
If your baby is breastfed, however, we often see an additional feeding at night (e.g., 11:00 PM, 2:00 AM, and 5:00 AM).
Every baby is unique, but as long as your baby isn’t waking every one to two hours at night all night, most babies this age are truly hungry.
10 Week Old Baby Sleep Tips
Although we don’t recommend sleep training just yet, there are things you can do right now to help get your 10 week old on a baby sleep schedule which may help you avoid sleep training altogether!
- Establish a consistent bedtime routine.
- Watch for your baby’s sleepy cues (yawning, staring off into space) and avoid overtiredness.
- Use appropriate wake windows at any age.
- Create a soothing environment in the bedroom.
- Try an Eat-Play-Sleep Routine.
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