Your Baby’s 6 Week Cognitive Leap and Sleep
You already know sleep is super important for your child’s development, but you may not be aware of the reverse relationship: how cognitive leaps in development impact your baby’s sleep patterns. A cognitive leap is a period of rapid brain development in infants and toddlers during which they develop skills such as syncing circadian rhythms, understanding cause and effect, and forming mental representations (a fancy way of saying that your baby can collect and use mental images to represent real objects).
The timing of cognitive leaps varies from child to child, but the first one happens typically between 4 and 8 weeks of age. During this period, babies’ sleeping patterns change and become more organized, helping to consolidate night sleep. The first cognitive leap means your baby can start sleeping longer stretches in the first part of the night, up to 6 hours, and that they’ll be ready for an earlier and more formal bedtime.
Signs your baby has hit their first cognitive leap
How do you know if your baby has hit this cognitive leap milestone and is ready to sleep longer at night and tuck in for an earlier bedtime?
Purposeful social smiling. Your baby probably smiled in the first few weeks of life but those smiles were purely reflexive. Once they hit that first cognitive leap, they’ll start to smile purposefully in response to familiar faces and things they find joy in. Try talking to them, singing, or making funny faces to elicit one of those sweet smiles.
Longer stretch of sleep in the early evening (6-7pm). “Bedtime” isn't really a thing when your baby is sleeping 2-3 hour stints over a 24-hr period, with no real distinction between day and night. Starting around 6-8 weeks, you will start to notice your baby sleeping longer stretches around 6-7 pm as their circadian rhythms mature and send signals to their brain to fall asleep around sunset.
Witching hour. Your newborn may have been settling in for a long cluster feeding session in the early evening, but now your slightly older baby is fussy, irritable, and inconsolable around dinner time. Welcome to the witching hour. The witching hour is actually a sign of overtiredness. It’s a way for your baby to communicate with you that they’re overstimulated and ready for an earlier bedtime.
Things you can do to promote sleep during a cognitive leap.
There are 5 things parents can do to encourage their babies to get enough REM sleep during this period.
Implement an earlier bedtime. You can do it in one fell swoop or slowly push bedtime earlier by 15-20 minute increments. (Hint- if your baby has become really cranky in the early evening hours, that’s a sign they’re overtired and you may want to go ahead and implement the earlier bedtime all at once.)
Watch for sleepy cues. Sleepy cues are going to be your best indicator of when your baby is ready for sleep. Responding to them quickly will help you avoid a fussy, overtired baby.
Start a bedtime routine. Babies are pattern seekers and they learn routines quickly. A consistent bedtime routine can help signal to your baby that it’s time to relax and go to sleep.
Set up a comfortable sleeping environment. Before the leap, your baby could sleep anywhere. Grocery store? Restaurant? No problem. After the cognitive leap, they’ll need a distraction free space.. A dark, quiet, cool room with white noise is perfect.
Offer a Dreamfeed. Dream feeding is when you feed your baby, without waking them, one more time right before you turn in for the night, between about 10 pm and midnight. This can help you avoid the dreaded case of a baby who wakes up hungry 45 minutes after you've fallen asleep. Research shows that sneaking in an extra feed between 10pm and midnight usually reduces hunger-driven night awakenings.
Takeaway:
Your baby’s 6 week cognitive leap means that they’ll be ready for an earlier bedtime, and a longer initial stretch of sleep during the first part of the night. It also means they’ll be more aware of their surroundings and therefore will need a regular, quiet place for sleep instead of just nodding off wherever they happen to be.