Sleep in a newborn - how much is normal??

[ceebee74]

My baby is 3 days old and has pretty much slept all the time since he was born - he wakes (just for a feed) every few hours but has very little 'awake' time.

Is this normal?? I know they sleep a lot but this much? (I do have one DS already but seem to have forgotten everything )

Normal.
Ds was constantly asleep for the first 7 weeks apart fron feeding.
Everyone thought I had a doll in my sling.

They're all different but mine only woke to feed for weeks - asleep 20+ hours a day. Some of them are like this, its fine. For weeks if she was awake we used to shout each other (me and dh) "Look her eyes are open, you can see them!"

It is normal BUT only if the baby is putting on weight and feeds well when awake, weeing and pooing plenty etc. Otherwise it can be a sign of insufficent feeding.

I agree with TPL- it can be normal, as long as everything else seems ok. Our DD didn't sleep much but DS was constantly asleep for the first few weeks.

If your newborn is breastfed, they should be feeding 10-12 times in a 24 hour period. I was advised to wake DS after 2 hours to feed him (in the daytime, 4 hours at night)

It sounds lovely.

My DD seriously slept about 3 hours in 24. It was awful.

Agree with everyone else, as long as your DC is feeding frequently then all sounds well.

Am pleased to read this - mine is 3 weeks tomorrow and sleeps lots (which is great). I was worried she was sleeping too much, but she sometimes just doesn't want to wake up. She's getting weighed tomorrow, so if she's put on a little weight too, I'll be happy she's OK

I'm with you pamelat. My DD is 3 weeks today and she just screams when she's not feeding or sleeping and she only sleeps about 6 hours a day. I'm seriously worried she's not getting enough sleep.

DD2 is now 6 weeks but also slept pretty much all the time for the first couple of weeks - she has much more awake time now even after a few weeks so i'd enjoy it while it lasts! (coming from a mum who was up with her from 1 to 5 am last night!)

I may order a sleeper one next time

If it makes you feel better (Honeymoonmummy) at 5 months my DD became a brilliant sleeper!
Hour in the morning, hour and half at night and sleeps through (most nights)

Think (hope) that I got the awfulness out of the way in those early days

Woo hoo! DD slept for 6 hours straight last night!!