The newborn sleep schedule.

A lot, in small pieces. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) puts it at about 16 to 17 hours a day, but often only 1 or 2 hours at a time. The NHS says a newborn’s total can be around 18 hours, and the National Sleep Foundation’s range for the first three months is 14 to 17.

The sources differ a little because every baby does. What they agree on is the shape: short sleeps, spread right around the clock, with no real difference between day and night at first.

Want the numbers for your baby’s age? The sleep calculator shows them month by month.

Mostly, to eat. A newborn’s stomach is small, so sleep comes in the gaps between feeds. The CDC says a breastfed baby feeds about 8 to 12 times in 24 hours, every 2 to 4 hours at first, and that you may need to wake your baby to feed. The AAP says most newborns eat every 2 to 3 hours, with 8 feeds a day as the usual minimum.

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital advises not letting a newborn sleep longer than five hours at a time in the first five to six weeks. If your baby is so sleepy that feeds are a struggle, tell your midwife, health visitor or paediatrician.

Many newborns have their days and nights confused, and there’s no set schedule at first (Cincinnati Children’s). The body clock that tells day from night generally starts to show after about two months.

You can help it along. The NHS suggests:

• By day, open the curtains, play, and don’t worry about everyday noise while they nap.
• At night, keep the lights low, talk little and keep your voice quiet.

The AAP’s version is the same: stay calm and quiet at night.

Feed, a short time awake, sleep, and round again, day and night. Awake times are short at this age. The sleep calculator shows the range many parents use for a newborn, 45 to 60 minutes, but treat that as a rule of thumb: no medical body sets wake windows.

Your baby will have their own pattern, the NHS says, and it’s unlikely to match other babies you know. Signs of tiredness tell you more than the clock: rubbing eyes, yawning, looking away and fussing.

Regular sleep cycles usually arrive at about 4 months (AAP). Many parents feel ready for a bedtime routine at around three months (NHS 111 Wales): the same few steps in the same order, like a bath, a feed and a song.

Longer nights come gradually. Most babies don’t sleep through the night, six to eight hours, until about 3 months or 12 to 13 pounds (Cincinnati Children’s). Between 3 and 6 months some sleep 5 to 8 hours or longer at night, but not all (NHS).

From 4 months, the AAP suggests putting your baby to bed drowsy, rather than waiting until they’re asleep.

Whatever the schedule, the AAP’s safe-sleep basics apply to naps and nights alike:

• On their back, for every sleep.
• On a firm, flat sleep surface.
• In your room, in their own space, for at least the first 6 months.
• Nothing soft in the sleep space: no pillows, loose bedding or soft toys.

A newborn who wakes every few hours, eats well, seems content and is alert for part of the day is fine sleeping the rest of the time, the AAP says. Call your paediatrician if your baby is rarely alert, doesn’t wake up for feeds, or seems too tired or uninterested to eat.

Get urgent help, the NHS says, if a baby is difficult to wake or can’t be woken, or isn’t feeding.