At the newborn stage, babies are still adjusting to a regular sleeping pattern.

Sleep problems: 0 to 3 months old

Newborns generally sleep 14 to 17 hours in a 24-hour period, waking up frequently for feedings both day and night.

A 1- and 2-month-old should get about the same amount of sleep, 14 to 17 hours a day, broken into eight to nine hours of nighttime sleep and another seven to nine hours of daytime sleep over the course of several naps.. A 3-month-old needs 14 to 16 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period.

Even with all that snoozing, it can feel like your baby isn’t sleeping all that much. Very young babies often sleep in short, catnap-like spurts, in part because they need to eat so often.

So if it seems like your sweetpea is constantly bouncing back and forth between dozing and waking, hang in there. It’s completely normal right now and it will soon start to change.

That said, there are some challenges that can make sleep harder for newborns to come by. At this age, two of the most common issues are:

Resisting back-sleeping

What it looks like: Your baby fusses or won’t settle when laid on her back to sleep. Babies actually feel more secure sleeping on their tummies, but that sleep position is linked to a much higher incidence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). So experts recommend always putting your baby on her back to sleep.

How to solve it: If your baby just won’t settle down on her back, talk to your pediatrician, who may want to check for any possible physical explanations. Much more likely is that your baby just doesn’t feel as secure on her back. You can swaddling your baby and giving her a pacifier at bedtime. Just skip the sleep positioner, and stick with a consistent routine. Eventually, your baby will get used to sleeping on her back.

Mixing up day and night

What it looks like: Your baby sleeps all day, but then stays up all night long (not such a party for you!).

How to solve it: Your newborn’s nocturnal ways should correct themselves as she adjusts to life on the outside, but there are a few things you can do to help baby acustomnight and day including limiting daytime naps to three hours, and making clear distinctions between day and night (like keeping baby’s room dark when she naps and avoiding turning on the TV during nighttime feedings).

Sleep problems: 4 to 5 months old

By 4 months, your baby should be sleeping about 12 to 16 hours a day, broken up into two or three daytime naps totaling three to six hours, and then another nine to 11 hours at night.

How many hours should a 5-month-old sleep? These days, 10 to 11 hours of sleep at night is the norm. Your baby should also take two to three naps during the day.

Sleep regression

What it looks like: At 4 months old, your formerly sleepy baby may be ready for anything but bedtime — even though you’re ready to drop. Welcome to sleep relapse — a perfectly normal blip on the sleep radar that many babies experience between at around 4 months, then often again at 6 months, 8 to 10 months, and 12 months (though it can happen at any time).

Why is this happening right now? The 4 month sleep relapse typically strikes as your little one starts to really wake up to the world around her. With all this fascinating new stuff to play with and see and people to encounter, life is just too much fun at this stage to waste time sleeping.

There’s no official way to “diagnose” sleep regression — but chances are you’ll know it when you’re dealing with it. If your baby was starting to develop a pattern of sleeping for predictably longer stretches but is suddenly fighting sleep or is waking up a lot more often, you likely have sleep regression on your hands.

How to solve it: Stick with or start your daily routine — the bath, the feeding, the story, the lullabies and the cuddles. Also be sure your baby is getting enough sleep during the day to make up for lost sleep at night, since it’s even harder for an tired baby to settle down at night. Keep in mind, too, that sleep regression is temporary. Once your baby acclimates to her new developmental abilities, sleep patterns should return to baseline.

Changing nap routines throw baby off at night

What it looks like: As babies get older, they nap less. If your baby seems happy with her changing schedule and sleeps well at night, embrace this milestone and carry on. But if newborns are sleeping less but fussing more, or having trouble going to bed at night, she may be overtired and in need of some naptime encouragement.

How to solve it: Try an abbreviated bedtime routine before each nap (some quiet music, a massage or some storytelling) and be patient — it may simply take her longer to settle into a routine, but she’ll get there.

Sleep problems: 6 months old and up

These days your baby’s sleep pattern likely looks a whole lot different than it did just a few short months ago.

At 6 months, your baby should clock 10 to 11 hours of sleep at night and take two or three naps during the day.

By 9 months, she’ll start sleeping for a little longer at night — around 10 to 12 hours — and take only two naps during the day. Around 12 months, your baby might show signs of being ready to drop to just one long midday nap (though for most babies, that happens at around 14 to 16 months)

What’s more, babies who are 6 months old and up are completely capable of sleeping through the night. And yet, there are still plenty of things that can disrupt their snooze time.