Newborn sleeping 10hrs per 24hr period

[MakesThree3]

Hi lovely peoples,

Just wanted to run something by you;

My little one Zoe, three weeks old today, has only ever slept an average of 10hrs per 24hrs.
The most she's ever slept in a single day is 13hrs, and the least was 8.5hrs, after a gassy day.

She's my first child and so am just learning this parenting thing for the first time, so looked up what is 'normal' for newborns, and was shocked to find (from Sears, The No Cry Sleep Solution, google, etc) that anywhere from 12-14 or 14-16hrs is listed.

That's a bit different to her 10hrs!!!

As far as I can tell she's not overtired...no eye and ear rubbing, or yawning etc.
How do I know if this is okay?
How many hours per 24 does your little ones sleep?

Edit: Oh, I forgot to add that she sleeps easily at night, with 5-6hrs of her 10hrs being at night. She only goes to sleep by nursing (breastfed only) or in the carrier/car/pram (all of which I'm fine with, just wanted to mention it).

[MakesThree3]

Other info:

She's often awake for 5hrs during the day before going down for her big nap. Unless she's got gas, she's not crying during this period; just feeding, filling nappies, and quiet alert when not doing those two things.

She goes through 8-11 nappies a day.

I haven't tried swaddling yet.

Daytime sleeps are out in the lounge-room on a single bed mattress on the floor (where I nurse her lying down), with the curtains open (daytime level of light) and telly on. We talk and do everyday things at a normal noise level and it never seems to disturb her.

She has a few sessions each day where after a feed she will sleep for 5-15mins and be awake again.

[babygrey]

My DD was and IS like this. She's now nearly 18 months old; she sleeps an average of 10 hours/day. She has been that way since she was a newbie. I kept waiting for her to 'crash' after her newborn alert period... and it just never happened. She's totally healthy, active and happy.

In the beginning, I was worried I was doing something wrong. (okay, sometimes I'm still worried about that ), then I was worried there was something wrong with HER, tho, like your DD, she didn't exhibit any signs of tiredness. We messed w/ bedtimes and routines, we pitch-darked the bedroom, we gave her chamomile tea before bed... nothing made her sleep more. Thing was, even as a newbie, she would wake in the morning cheery and happy. (Waaaay more cheery than exhausted mommy)

I did a sleep log for two weeks when she was ~2 months old and again ~7 mons. I wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy, that she wasn't sneaking in sleep in tiny blocks I was missing. She wasn't.

I talked it over w/ her developmental ped. He basically shrugged, looked at her and said "well, it is a great trait to have as an adult, but a terrible one to parent." IOW, she's fine.

I would suggest doing a sleep log just to verify your experience of her sleep. I'd watch her growth and her health- if she doesn't grow well, or tends towards illness, those might be signs she needs more sleep.

[Mackenzie]

DS#1 was like this and still needs far less sleep than anyone else in the house. DS#2 always needed a lot of sleep. He still does (he is 6.5 and ds#1 is 10). DD (12) has always been in the middle. "Normal" is a verrrry subjective. =)

[kanga1622]

My DS is also not a great sleeper. He generally averages 10-11 hours of sleep in a day and has since about 6 weeks. Some nights he will be up until 11 happily playing and will get up for the day at our usual 5:30 (which means this WOHM is way tired).

There is no way we have found to get him more/better sleep but every few weeks he'll have a day where he takes an extra or extra long nap and then go back to his usual amount of sleep. It seems like he needs growth days and needs a little extra sleep just then.

[Knitting Mama]

I would say that it's worth trying other things, like swaddling or babywearing for sleep, but that you may just have a baby who sleeps less. But I don't see any harm in trying new techniques to try to get her to sleep more!