Full-term newborns spend approximately ____ hours per day asleep.

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Multiple Choice

Full-term newborns spend approximately ____ hours per day asleep.

Newborns spend most of their day sleeping because rapid growth and brain development require a lot of restorative rest. For a full-term newborn, the total daily sleep typically falls around 16 to 18 hours, often in short bouts throughout the day and night. They wake for feeding and caregiving, then go back to sleep in a polyphasic pattern since their circadian rhythms aren’t yet established. This makes 16–18 hours the best general estimate. Fewer hours (12–14 or 14–16) are shorter than the usual total for newborns, while 18–20 hours is above the typical average, though some infants may fit there.

Newborns spend most of their day sleeping because rapid growth and brain development require a lot of restorative rest. For a full-term newborn, the total daily sleep typically falls around 16 to 18 hours, often in short bouts throughout the day and night. They wake for feeding and caregiving, then go back to sleep in a polyphasic pattern since their circadian rhythms aren’t yet established. This makes 16–18 hours the best general estimate. Fewer hours (12–14 or 14–16) are shorter than the usual total for newborns, while 18–20 hours is above the typical average, though some infants may fit there.

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