Most newborn babies will sleep 16-20 hours out of 24. They wake when hungry or uncomfortable and are fairly easy to soothe once the reason for crying has been established. For the first few weeks it would appear that there is no routine. Baby can demand a feed at intervals of bewteen 2-4 hours. Some times this interval varies throughout the day. During growth spurts more feeds are required. In these early weeks it is not possible to alter baby's sleep wake cycle and there should be no need to. A baby will wake and sleep as the infant's body requires.
Recognising when an infant is tired takes time. Some babies will rub their faces on the person holding them, yawning, closing their eyes and sometimes even stretching before a nap. In the early stages the infant lacks the co-ordination to pull at an ear or rub tired eyes. An upset baby can be soothed by low frequency noise. A washing maching, vacum cleaner, a radio not quite tuned in to the station, music which before was heard through the thick abdominal wall, now played softly may halp.
If you are holding an upset baby try patting slowly at slightly less than heart rate, about 60 pats a minute, this reflects a resting heartbeat and is reminiscent of the rhythm heard in utero.
Soothing a baby to sleep requires a general slowing down of everything. Voice interaction should be quiet and of a low pitch. Put your infant down in the crib before they are completely asleep will help them to accept that going to sleep does not require any adult intervention. This will prevent problems later.
Once the child is about 3-4 months a more definate pattern starts to emerge.
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