You can begin to teach your baby that it's much more fun to be awake during the daytime than it is at night. If your baby was in the nursery at the hospital, day differed little from night. There were lights on, babies crying, and people moving about twenty-four hours a day. At home, though, you can make day and night distinct. Try waking your baby up every two hours in the afternoon, and make these fun times. Talk to him, get out those baby toys, take him outside to listen to the birds, and introduce him to visitors.

At night, don't talk to him much, don't turn on anything more than a nightlight, don't play with him — don't even change his diaper unless it's dirty or soaking through. In time, most babies will welcome nighttime with their longest chunk of sleep — as much as four or five hours. (Realistically, though, you probably won't go to bed the minute your baby does, so you still won't be getting nearly as much sleep as you need.)

Between six and twelve weeks, your baby should begin sleeping for five to six hours at night. (But still not, unfortunately, in long enough stretches to make you feel like you've really slept.) In addition, by three months your baby will probably be taking two one-to two-hour naps during the day. But like all other statistics, lots of babies sleep less; some sleep more. Talk to your health care provider about your baby's sleep patterns.