Is my newborn sleeping too much?

Most newborn babies spend more time sleeping than they do awake, but their sleep may happen in small chunks or on an irregular schedule.

Managing their sleep pattern can be a challenging task, especially for new parents. Newborn babies are not accustomed to schedules or bedtime routines on a typical day (just yet) - and because of this, their sleeping hours are very irregular.

Some parents may worry that their baby is sleeping too much, or too little. So, for concerned moms and dads what you can do is to keep a sleep log and document the times that your baby sleeps. This way you are able to tell if your newborn baby is sleeping much less or much more, than they thought.

By 3 months of age, most babies are able to sleep for up to six to eight hours in the day, and another six to eight hours in the night. But like everyone else, every baby is different. Some newborns only sleep for eleven hours, and some sleep for up to nineteen hours a day - for a duration of 30-45 minutes, to as long as 3-4 hours at a time.

This sleep pattern for a newborn is very normal, and it only gets easier. As your newborn grows into an infant, he or she will slowly develop a schedule and will eventually start sleeping at night, and take short naps in the day. Most babies do not have a regular schedule until they are about 6 months old.