Newborn sleep is one issue that women who become moms for the first time worry about. If you are a brand new mother, you would possibly be concerned about whether your little one is having enough rest. The following can be a guide to what you should expect, but you need to know that each baby will be different. Even though this isn't your first baby, this infant won't be just like any of the others. Newborn babies usually sleep about 16-17 hours in a 24-hour period. Usually, a baby will not sleep all the way through a night until they reach the age of 3 months. There are several reasons why. First of all, their stomachs are very small and they'll get hungry faster, especially if you're breastfeeding your baby. It is easier for them to digest breast milk than to digest formula, so they will have to eat more often, particularly at the start of their lives. They also sleep in shorter cycles and dream in shorter cycles than adults do. In general, though, a newborn baby should sleep about 8 or nine hours during the day and 8 hours or so at night. These won't be in 8-hour cycles, of course. In the beginning, those sleep times will be very short. As the baby gets older, up to about 2 years of age, she'll still be sleeping 13-14 hours, but the amount of daytime sleep will diminish month-by-month. By age 2, your baby should be sleeping through the night with a 2-hour nap during the day. Remember that all babies' sleep patterns are different, for example some need two naps per day while others make do with one longer nap. At this age though, try to discourage naps too late in the afternoon, as this can make it harder to get them to sleep a few hours later at bed time. Once a baby begins to regularly sleep through the night, parents are often dismayed when he/she begins to awaken in the night again. This typically happens at about 6 months of age and is often a normal part of development called separation anxiety. Again, this will vary by child. Relax if this seems different from your newborn baby. Remember that your baby is unique and his sleep patterns will be different too. Don't compare your newborn's sleep patterns with other babies.
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