How’s baby sleeping?
My more accurate circadian developmental goal: A baby who is happily weaned and potty-independent
”and how’s baby sleeping?” “are they a good sleeper?”
Sleep is the daily rhythm it seems most people are most concerned about in regard to a new baby.
Just how many times as a new mom do you get asked about baby’s sleep?
But how little do we actually understand the development of sleep patterns, especially in the context of the greater bucket of circadian health?
Sleep is the most well-known output of the circadian rhythm, but it’s not the only one!
Babies are born with immature circadian rhythms, and it takes about 2-3 years for their rhythm to fully mature.
Here are the most important stages of circadian development in a baby:
Body temperature rhythm (warmer in the day, cooler at night)
Melatonin rhythm (higher in the day, lower at night)
Sleep rhythm (consolidating toward the natural darkness)
Digestion rhythm (consolidating toward the natural daylight)
In my own understanding, early childhood circadian health can much more easily be assessed by understanding digestive rhythms, because they are a little further out on the periphery.
Join us for Sleep Like A Mother: Circadian Postpartum Planning at the end of the month by grabbing a ticket here.
A baby who is happily weaned and potty-independent has a fully mature circadian rhythm, whereas sleeping through the night does not indicate full circadian development.
From the archives to explore circadian development further:
Remember: Circadian health matters from preconception onwards across the whole lifespan!
Here’s a simplified version of what that can look like through the ages and stages (note the adolescent phase delay and cortisol spike—yikes! Sure explains a lot, doesn’t it?):
If you’ve ever wanted to hand a skeptical provider a real citation, or build a client handout with easy citations to add, I’ve already created the tool for it. The Circadian and Quantum Research Library gives you lifetime access to 1,100+ peer-reviewed sources curated across circadian biology, iron metabolism, mitochondrial function, and perinatal physiology, organized in Zotero so you can search, cite, and share from anywhere. One-time access, $97. (already a member? login here).