As a new parent, one of the biggest challenges you face is managing the sleep of you and your newborn baby. You may wonder how much your newborn needs to sleep as some days it may seem like lots while a particularly unsettled night can leave you feeling like not enough.
Newborn sleep patterns aren't accustomed to the schedules and rhythms of a typical day and night so it is perfectly normal for them to sleep at "unusual" times. It can seem like your baby is sleeping a lot too if they sleep during the day.
From birth 0-3 months they are more asleep than they are awake with some babies needing more sleep than others. Also, no two babies are the same and some may sleep for 20 hours in a day whilst others only sleep for nine - either is perfectly normal.
Read more: How often should a newborn be fed? NHS advice on breastfeeding and using formula
The average sleep time for a newborn baby is anywhere between eight and 18 hours in a 24 hour period according to the NHS website.
How long should a newborn baby be awake for?
Despite how long newborn babies sleep, it may not feel very long as they tend to sleep in shorter bursts than adults and then wake up. According to American paediatrician and author Dr. Weissbluth, baby sleep is broken up into 7-8 naps which varies from 15 minutes to 4-6 hours.
Although it can vary from baby to baby, most newborns can't stay awake longer than 45 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes. There are some newborns who are sleepier than others and will fall asleep after a certain amount of time regardless of how hard you try to keep them awake.
Some are feistier than others and stay awake longer than their bodies can handle. Overall however, they are only capable of staying awake between 45 minutes to an hour or two before having a mini meltdown.
According to the No Cry Solution website, studies have shown that babies who have stretches of longer than three consecutive hours awake tend to have more disjointed sleep and shorter sleep stretches. It is therefore recommended that you make your sure your baby isn't staying awake past the time when they start showing their usual signs of fatigue.
Shorter awake periods tend to make for a happier baby and it is a good idea to keep an idea on the clock to gauge when sleep time is near. Get to know their signs of tiredness and let them fall asleep naturally when the time comes.
It is perfectly normal for your new born to wake many times through the night as babies are much lighter sleepers than adults but this can be exhausting managing. This is why it is the recommendation of every midwife to try and sleep when the baby sleeps.
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