NORMAL SLEEP PATTERNS: NEWBORN

The newborn sleeps for 18 hours a day or more, usually in spells of 2 to 4 hours at a time, and awakes only if he is hungry, cold, or otherwise uncomfortable. For the first few weeks of life, it is very difficult to ‘read’ the baby’s behaviour and sleep patterns. He is making a huge transition to the outside world and will be affected by such factors as his level of maturity (whether the baby is premature), any drugs given to the mother during labour, the delivery itself, and so on. Mothers often find it difficult to interpret signals from a newborn baby, and it takes some time, varying from days to many weeks, to settle into any sort of pattern or rhythm. This period of being unsettled can last considerably longer if the baby was very premature or has medical problems during the newborn period. A newborn baby tends to sleep very soundly and is not easily awakened by loud noises or body movements in the way that an older child is.

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