Early Sleeping Patterns
Although your baby is likely to do a lot of crying and eating, the one thing that he should be doing even more of is sleeping. Babies sleep about sixteen and a half hours a day during the first week of life, and may sleep even more during the first few days.
Can my baby sleep too much?
Your baby may be sleeping too much if he is missing feedings, is difficult to wake up for feedings, or if he isn't awake at least briefly for some part of the day. Very young infants would not be able to get enough to eat if they don't continue feeding through the night.
To help your baby sleep, you can try swaddling him, or wrapping him snugly in a blanket. And always put him to sleep on his back to help reduce the risk of SIDS. Remember that it will be a few weeks or months before your baby gets into a regular pattern of sleeping more at night. Until then, he probably will sleep and eat on regular two- to four-hour cycles.
