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How long should a newborn sleep all day and for how many hours?

My son will be 3 weeks old tomorrow. He only wakes up three times a night, but he sleeps all day long. Waking every four hours to eat and sometimes I have to wake him to eat. I only ask because I have a thyroid disorder and wonder if I may have passed it down. So is it normal for a newborn to sleep all the time? When he is awake he stays awake 1 to 2 1/2 hours.

Public Comments

1. Most babies that age will sleep 18-20 hours a day. They sleep a lot. It will gradually get less and less until they sleep about 12 hours a day and they do that for a really long time. My two year old still sleeps 12 hrs a day and my two month old sleeps at least 18 hrs a day.

2. A newborn may sleep as much as 16 hours a day (or even more), often in stretches of 3 to 4 hours at a time. And like the sleep all of us experience, babies have different phases of sleep: drowsiness, REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, light sleep, deep sleep, and very deep sleep. As babies grow, their periods of wakefulness increase.

3. They say newborns sleep an average of 18 hours a day. My daughter was the exact opposite, and was constantly awake. She still is, actually. Count yourself lucky, and use the time wisely...ie, eating, showering, and sleeping.

4. This is totally normal. Within about a week or so he'll be awake longer. Enjoy it while you can. :)

5. Babbies sleep alot when they're first born. As long as he's still gaining weight and eating fine I wouldn't worry. It sort of sounds like he might have his days and nights mixed up though. Your next doc appointment ask about it.

6. Count your blessings! It is perfectly normal for a newborn who is content to sleep this much. All of the mums out there with cranky, colicky little ones who seem to never sleep are jealous!

7. Some babies sleep a lot he should go about 1 hour 2x a day without sleeping and at a month old he should go between at least 2 feeding without sleeping. if you have any questions call your doc

8. Normal, healthy babies can sleep up to 20 hours a day! My baby slept ALL THE TIME but as long as they wake up to eat from time to time, he is definitely okay, your doing a great job mommy, and know it is completely normal to be paranoid, thats what we mommy's do.

9. My 4 mth old son did the same thing in the beginning. He slept heaps and heaps, and then one day he stopped sleeping and became a terrible sleeper. Usually newborns will sleep heaps until they become aware of their surroundings (my son changed at about 5 weeks). They will come out of their 'sleepy' phase and then you may or may not be lucky enough to have a baby that will sleep. My advice, enjoy his good sleeping as much as you can as it will probably stop / subside soon. As long as he is eating well and gaining weight, all is well.

10. my daughter is 4 weeks and she sleeps all day waking about every 4 hrs to eat. Everyone says take advantage of her sleeping all day cause in a few months she wont. Your baby aint the only one sleeping all day.

11. this sounds normal, I would try to make him wakeup every 4 hours during the day this will help to sleep more during the night. I always took a damp washcloth and wiped their face, changed their diaper this would wake them up. Then I would try feeding them sometimes they wouldn't take it sometimes they would but I would always try at the 4 hours so that they were full. this really helps at night