Newborn sleep patterns

[Flexiko]

First time mom here and trying to get a handle on what is ‘normal’ sleep patterns in the first few weeks. Baby only sleeps for periods of 30-40 minutes at a time (day and night) Occasionally for longer (1-2 hrs) but this is the exception. He goes down alright (white noise, swaddle, and gentle patting) but he won’t sleep for much longer than 30-40 minutes. Is this normal and when can I expect him to begin sleeping for longer stretches of time? I am so exhausted and wondering when I’m going to start enjoying this whole parenting thing.

Sounds normal to me but it's a bit like how long is a piece of string because all babies are different. My first woke this regularly in the early days and she wasn't getting enough milk from me and had lost quite a bit of weight. Once she had more milk and put on weight she slept better. My second just slept like that regardless of milk (I have never been so exhausted and so down). My third slept about 3-4 hours at a time. It's luck of the draw unless there's a medical or milk issue.

Google Harvey Karp 5 S's - and also four month sleep regression and also sleep cycles. They will all help everything make sense. Sorry for the brief reply - dealing with non napping 7mo!

Every baby is different.
My little man has only just started sleeping 5-6 hours every night. But that's after keeping him up with us in evening and the bathing about 10 and then a feed, he is only just 12 weeks old.

Maybe try feeding in a quiet room with lullabies playing softly off your phone, that sometimes works for my little man, and then he sleeps for a few hours in the afternoon.

My children always slept well. I would not let them have extended day time naps - I woke them after an hour and a half or so. I think you need to stick to your routine and it will click eventually. If they didn’t settle for a nap I’d have them up and not try until next nap time.
Sounds exhausting for you but hopefully this phase won’t last too long!