From Vincent Iannelli, M.D.,
Your Guide to Pediatrics.
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About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by Kate Grossman, MD

In her first week, your baby likely just eats, sleeps, and cries. The same goes for this next week, although your baby will likely be more awake and alert for longer periods of time.

Eating

Feeding a baby on a strict schedule every three or four hours is now considered rather old-fashioned advice. It is usually thought to be much better to instead feed your baby "on-demand," when she is hungry. While this may mean having to breastfeed your baby every 1 1/2 hour at times, it will usually balance out with other times when she goes three or four hours without eating. The key to "on-demand" feeding is to only feed your baby when she is hungry, and not simply because she is crying. Using this method, she will quickly move to a more regular schedule that fits her needs and temperament.

Sleeping

Parents are often surprised by how much their newborn baby will sleep. In fact, the average one to two week old baby will likely sleep for about 16 1/2 hours a day. Of course that won't all be at one time, but hopefully you will get one stretch of four of five hours, and then shorter periods of two or three hours of sleep at a time.

Keep in mind that some babies sleep a little more and some a little less than these averages. However, your baby usually shouldn't go more than four or five hours without eating until she is gaining weight regularly and feeding well.

Crying

It is usually not a surprise, even to new parents, that their baby will cry. Most parents aren't prepared for the fact that they may have to cope with a crying baby for two or three hours a day though. That is how long the average baby cries each day, especially once he reaches two to three weeks of age.