Every new parent knows that getting a good night’s sleep with a newborn is next to impossible.
New parents can often be observed with dark circles and shuffling feet. But even if they are the most tired people on earth, they are also the happiest.
It can be hard to know how much sleep your newborn actually needs and if your baby is getting too little or too much.
It is no lie that newborns need a lot of sleep, often around 14-18 hours per day for stretches of about 2-4 hours, with waking periods of about 45-60mins, though as with everything, this can vary.
There can be huge variations in the sleep pattern of a newborn – after all, they can’t tell what time of day it is, whether it is the middle of the day or 3am. They just know they need to be fed. Newborns wake mostly according to their need to feed, a need which is their most important.
If your baby is feeding properly, as often as he should and reaching weight targets as he should then you shouldn’t worry if it seems like he sleeps too much.
Because a newborn really only wakes to be fed, once they are satisfied and there are no other issues such as wind bothering them, they should nod off easily.
These first six weeks in particular will be hard for you and your regular sleeping pattern but try to remember that by the time your newborn is three months things will have settled slightly and you can try to establish some sort of sleep training.
For newborns it is impossible to establish any type of sleep pattern because they need to feed so often.
Remember that every baby is unique; some sleep more, some less. You will adapt accordingly when the time is right.
