Infant Sleep Patterns: Vital parenting information from Eyewitness News

Newborn's sleep about 20 hours a day. Sounds great when we say it like that! But those 20 hours are broken up by awake time for feedings every couple of hours.

Dr. Joe Matusic/Pediatrician
They don't have sugar stores, the glycogen stores, the energy stores that you and I have. They have to build those up over the first couple of weeks.

But hang in there, you'll get relief soon. Many babies start sleeping through the night between three weeks and three months.

Dr. Joe Matusic
By three months of age, probably about 70-percent of kids are sleeping through the night. That means five or six hours, it' doesn't mean eight or 10 hours.

If they wake up in the middle of the night, that's ok. Give a bottle, change a diaper, help with teething pain, tend to what they need. Just try not to reward the behavior.

Dr. Joe Matusic
Help them out, get them back to bed. Don't go in and feed them, play with them and watch Barney and all sorts of exciting things because they're going to learn to expect that.

Dr. Matusic says the back to sleep campaign over the last decade or so, has been very successful in reducing the number of SIDS cases. And be strong and resist the urge to put your baby in bed with you. Dr. Matusic says he has seen tragic consequences from co-sleeping.

Dr. Joe Matusic
Co-sleeping is now the biggest risk factor. A lot of parents t hink they'll be feeling the baby and feel if they stop breathing. But that's not true. You're more likely going to roll over and suffocate them.

Overtime, your little baby will develop his or her own sleep schedule, and there are things you can do to help that along. You can rock your baby, sing, or read, all of the comfy-cozy bedtime rituals which are important. But when it's time for them to shut their eyes, it's into the crib they go.

Also teach them the difference betwween night and day. Simple for us, but babies don't care about time. So you have to teach them when they wake-up at 3am, that's not playtime. They have to go back into their bed to sleep. Daytime is playtime.