Newborn babies don't know the difference between day and night yet - and their tiny stomachs don't hold enough breast milk or formula to keep them satisfied for very long. They need food every few hours, no matter what time of day or night it is.

How Long Will My Baby Sleep?
A newborn may sleep as much as 16 hours a day (or even more), often in stretches of three to four 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.

At first, these short stretches of three to four hours of sleep may be frustrating for you as they interfere with your sleep pattern. Have patience - this will change as your baby grows and begins to adapt to the rhythms of life outside the womb. At first, though, the need to feed will outweigh the need to sleep. Many pediatricians recommend that a parent shouldn't let a newborn sleep too long without feeding. In practical terms, that means offering a feeding to your baby every three to four hours or so, and possibly more often for smaller or premature babies.

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