Parents Share What They’ve Learned About Newborn Sleep

Bringing home a newborn rapidly transforms your understanding of sleep deprivation.

“Give yourself grace and know that this, too, shall pass,” says Megan Imhoff, 38, a mother of three boys, including an 18-month-old, in Richmond, Indiana.

Thanks to tiny bellies, a frequent need to eat, and erratic sleep cycles, newborns typically only sleep for stretches of about 20 minutes to four hours. Precisely when they might graduate to longer snoozes varies, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. But often, they begin sleeping through the night by their first birthday.