Patient's question:
My baby is 20 days old today. She doesn't sleep right after eating like other kids. Sometimes she stays awake with her eyes open. Do newborns need to sleep 18-20 hours a day? Is it normal for her to be like this?Doctor's answer:
The average daily sleep time for newborns is 18 hours, with each deep sleep cycle lasting about 45 minutes. During a deep sleep cycle, light sleep and deep sleep each account for half. Newborns spend most of their time sleeping in naps, transitioning from one deep sleep cycle to another. Generally, they wake up every 2 to 4 hours to eat or urinate when hungry or needing to go. Newborns' circadian rhythms have not yet been established, so their biological clocks do not require adjustment—let nature take its course.