Most newborns sleep between 11-17 hours in a 24 hour period with the average around 14 hours. However, this amount of sleep is usually in 1-4 hour blocks with approximate hours equal during the day and at night. By 2-6 months of age, the nighttime sleep starts to dominate the amount of daytime sleeping. Some infants can achieve 8-12 hours of uninterrupted sleep as early as six weeks of age; it all depends on the unique characteristics of your baby as well as their environment and feeding schedule. A newborn’s circadian rhythm differs from an infant’s rhythm and of course an adult’s rhythm. Newborns spend more time in REM sleep which is important for brain development. An infant starts to produce melatonin (our sleep hormone) and cortisol (our awake/stress hormone) when they are a few months old which also influences their sleep-wake patterns.

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