Babies don’t develop and mature all at the same rate, that’s for certain. Some babies, for example, will walk and talk much sooner than other babies. The same goes for mastering fine motor skills. Even areas you really don’t think about, such as sleep, can be affected by the rate at which your baby grows and develops. Understanding a little bit about baby sleep can help you to know what to expect as your baby grows.
Some babies will be able to fall asleep rather quickly. Those babies, however, are very often light sleepers, or they may not seem to sleep for longer periods at a time. Other babies may take quite a bit of time to settle down and quiet down, but once they are asleep they seem to sleep longer. For a few unlucky parents, some babies have a hard time falling asleep and don’t sleep for very long at a time.
During those early months after your baby is born, he’s not very likely to sleep for more than just a few hours at a time. It’s rare for a baby that young to sleep for more than about four hours, at least without having a feeding. Part of the reason for this, of course, is that babies have little tiny tummies that are in constant need of filling. What makes it worse is that babies sleep between about 14 and 19 hours each day, meaning that it seems like they’re almost constantly waking up and then falling back asleep.
The good news is that things will even out over time. After a few months, your baby should have very little trouble sleeping through the night, and as she gets older she’ll need less and less in the way of daytime sleep, as well. Eventually, you’ll have a toddler – which will potentially have his own sleeping issues!