EATING AND SLEEPING: ZERO TO THREE MONTHS

Babies have different feeding styles, from sleepy and slow to active and voracious. Tune in to your baby's personal style and feed her on demand for the first few months. Generally, bottle-fed newborns will eat every few hours. Breastfed babies will nurse more frequently, as breast milk is quickly digested.

Newborn efforts at feeding may at first seem clumsy and uncoordinated, as the tasks of latching onto a nipple, breathing and swallowing (more or less simultaneously) are accomplished. After six weeks or so, the baby will be more of an expert, anticipating feeding and doing her part more efficiently.

Newborns sleep two-thirds of the day, sometimes in a totally random fashion, but usually soon after feedings. Most babies will require a nighttime feeding for the first three to five months.
Newborns generally sleep about two-thirds of the time, but their periods of sleep tend to be rather brief and scattered all around the clock. Within six to eight weeks, almost all babies begin to sleep more at night and less during the daytime. Still, they differ greatly in the ages at which they begin to sleep through the night. Part of this variation has to do with temperament, but household patterns also have an effect. At first your baby's sleep patterns will be closely linked to feeding times, and he will tend to fall asleep readily after feeding and burping. Later, as the baby spends longer periods alert and awake, fatigue, rather than a feeling of being well fed, will lead to sleep. He may also cry and fuss, fighting sleep.

Most babies have some bouts of unexplained and inconsolable crying. About one in five infants experiences colic, a term with a somewhat vague medical definition. The symptoms are exasperating and unmistakable: The baby cries loudly and steadily for hours on end, often in the late afternoon or early evening. The baby's face may be flushed and she may draw her feet up, as if experiencing abdominal distress, gas or cramping. While many of the usual measures may soothe the baby for a few seconds, nothing provides lasting relief. During these bouts, don't leave your baby to cry alone; you'll undermine her trust. She needs your attention, even if it doesn't seem to be helping.

For more information about colic, check out this article:

Colic: A phenomenon of the first three months