Your baby needs a lot of care when she's awake, and you may feel relieved when she drops off to sleep and looks so contented. You may worry if your baby seems to sleep less than you expect, but you'll soon be swapping stories with other parents about broken nights and tough days.
The trouble is, your baby has her own sleep pattern and this can vary from day to day and night to night. Babies aren't born with the ability to sleep through the night. As confidence grows, she'll be able to settle for longer.
In the early weeks, your baby's sleep, or lack of it, will be affecting you. It's normal to feel tired as broken sleep and night feeds interrupt your routine.
Babies need feeding during the night for the sake of nutrition, comfort and the closeness they get by being with you.
Your newborn baby will sleep through most noise and activity, though a sudden noise might wake her. A baby who seems very sleepy a lot of the time and who doesn't wake to feed may be ill, so don't assume a baby like this is 'being good'. Contact a health professional if you're worried.
Leave the light off, talk in a soft voice and only change your baby's nappy if necessary. This will help your baby realise that day and night feeding are different.
Leave the light off, talk in a soft voice and only change your baby's nappy if necessary. This will help your baby realise that day and night feeding are different.
Research suggests that 22 per cent of nine-month-olds have difficulty settling to sleep and 42 per cent wake frequently in the night.
After six months, new sleep problems may start and night waking happens in 50 per cent of the children who had previously slept through.
Newborns usually sleep about eight hours at night, but not in one long unbroken sleep - they may sleep for just one hour, or perhaps for three or five hours before waking.