How Much Should My Baby Be Sleeping During the Day?

My son is also 9 weeks old. He sleeps about 5-6 hours during the day, usually 2 or 3 naps. I am nursing and my son was eating every 2-3 hours day and night until about a week ago. He is now eating every 2-3 hours during the day and every 3-4 hours at night. He seems to be a good sleeper, but his appetite prevents him from sleeping in longer stretches at night (he is still less than 10 lbs). Based on what I have been told and what I have read, just follow you baby's lead at this age, if you are at home and can be flexible. And watch for signs of fatigue like yawning or lack of interest in playing as signals that he may be tired, and try to put him down for a nap.

I agree with the advice to check out babycenter.com Also, my son was sleeping 8 hours a night by the time he was 2 months old as well. He also used to take 2-3 hour naps during the day. Some babies are just great sleepers! At this age, you should follow your son's cues as to when to sleep and when to eat. Good luck!

P.S. My son is now one and still a great sleeper - 11-12 hours at night. just so you know that it is a trend that usually keeps going! :)

Hi T.,

My son is 13 months old and that sounds like what he was sleeping. I'm assuming you meant that he was sleeping for 3 hour stretches during the day, not just for 3 hours. Check out www.babycenter.com. They have a lot of good information for each month/stage of you child's development.

My favorite advice on sleep comes from this awesome mom who is "in the trenches" like us - check out what she has to say:

The Quick & Dirty on Sleep
http://moxie.blogs.com/askmoxie/2005/12/quick_and_dirty.html

Bottom line: sounds like he's a great sleeper right now, so enjoy it while it lasts because as babies grow and change, so does their sleep! Don't be surprised if his sleep goes through waves of being great and then being difficult, especially when he starts teething or hitting big developmental milestones like crawling/standing/walking. That's all normal. :)

Congratulations on the birth of your son!

T.,
Hello and congrats! I am also a first time mom and I will tell you one thing that I did not fully get til my now 15m old was about 3 months old that is " EVERY child is diffrent" My daughter literally slept 3 hrs (total) during the day and about 5 straight at night then another 2-3 hr stretch at nite.
I remember sitting in my recliner with her in the swing one day after feeding her just about in tears thinking why won't she sleep so I can sleep LOL :) As long as hes gaining weight (even if a little) I think its fine. But if your worried call the dr. They know about us first timers and usually are very understaning and helpful :)

T.,
It sounds like he is doing great! If he is sleeping 5-6 hours at night and you are breastfeeding him, that is just awesome! I think the three hour naps during the day are right on target. I found with mine that anything longer than three hours would often affect their sleeping patterns at night. Congratulations on having such a great routine down already.

J. F.

Hi T.,
A great piece of advice my doctor gave to me when I was really worried about my son not sleeping at all during the day. My dr. said it's not how much he sleeps just in an 8 hour day, but an entire 24-hour period. I remember he only slept 13 hours in a 24-hour period when he was just weeks old. He is 19 months now and doing fine. Some babies (like people) require less sleep.
Best of luck and congratulations!

Hi T.,

At this age my daughter did 2 naps during the day. A morning nap for about 1-2 hours and an afternoon nap that was longer at 2-2 1/2 hours. Sounds like you have a great sleeper!! I would just try to add 1 additional nap. Hope this helps!

D.

Hey T., sounds to me like he has his day and nights mixed up. Try to wake him up every 2 to 3 hours during the day to eat, then let him sleep longer at nights, it will take a couple weeks, but soon he will catch on that he sleeps longer at night and not as long during the day! My daughter was the same way when I first brought her home too, but it didnt matter what time of the day or night it was, because she wanted to nurse every 45 minutes! She didnt start sleeping thru the nights till I went back to work when she was 4 weeks old, and daddy was putting her to sleep by rocking her to sleep. ( Wanna talk about a hard habit to break-- that was it!) Good luck!

Hey T.,
I'm a first time mom as well. Don't worry about how much your little one is sleeping. My little girl slept thru the night since she has been born and she will be a year old soon. When the baby sleeps it means they are content and happy and comfortable. This means you get to rest too which is what you need cause your body just went thru a huge ordeal and needs to get built back up.

Newborns sleep A LOT. And it's GOOD for them to sleep. When they're sleeping, they're getting boosts of growth hormones. So sleeping equals growth. Let him nap! :-)

Hi T.,
That is wonderful how much he is sleeping already!! My kids are almost 4 and almost 8 so I don't remember how much they slept at that age. However, I babysit a little girl who is almost 5 months old and she isn't even close to doing that. If I am lucky during the day, she will sleep 1 1/2 hours and be up for a few and at night, her mom tells me, she is getting up 3-4 times between 11:00 pm and 5:00 am. Count your lucky stars...sounds like you have a sleeper.