New-born babies generally required sleep for about?

Appeared in: DSSSB - 29 August 2019 (Shift-1)

Explanation

Newborns (neonates up to 3 months old) require a significant amount of sleep, averaging about 16 hours per day.
This extensive sleep is essential for rapid physical growth and neurological development, particularly the maturation of the central nervous system.
Sleep in newborns is not continuous; it occurs in short cycles of 40-50 minutes, with waking periods for feeding every 2-4 hours.
Approximately 50% of a newborn's sleep is REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, which is believed to be crucial for stimulating the higher brain centers.

Option A: 9 hours of sleep is insufficient for a newborn. This amount is closer to the recommended sleep for a school-aged child (6-12 years) or an adolescent.
Option B: 12 hours of sleep is the average requirement for toddlers (1-2 years) and preschoolers (3-5 years), not newborns.
Option C: 6 hours of sleep is severely inadequate for a newborn and would be a significant cause for concern, potentially indicating an underlying health issue.

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain Normal sleep requirements for a newborn as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
Nurses play a vital role in educating new parents about normal newborn sleep patterns. This helps manage parental expectations and reduces anxiety about frequent waking.
Understanding normal sleep duration is crucial for assessing a newborn's health. A significant deviation from the 14-17 hour range can be an early indicator of illness, such as infection, feeding problems, or neurological issues.
What if? If a 1-month-old baby is consistently sleeping only 10 hours a day and is irritable when awake, the nurse should first perform a thorough assessment, including feeding patterns, weight gain, and signs of illness, and advise the parents to consult a pediatrician to rule out underlying medical problems.

How to Approach the Question

Identify the key subject of the question, which is the 'new-born baby'.
Identify the specific parameter being asked, which is the duration of 'sleep'.
Recall the physiological norms for the neonatal period (first 28 days of life). Newborns have very high sleep requirements for growth and development.
Evaluate the given options. 6 and 9 hours are far too low for a newborn. 12 hours is typical for an older child.
Select the option that aligns with the known high sleep requirement for newborns, which is around 14-17 hours.
Confirm that 16 hours is the most plausible average among the choices provided.

Concept Tested & Keywords

QF_HOI0vgGLs-OQFGWvpHj

E6 Nursing Fundamentals Potter Perry 12e Part 5 p. 114-116

E6 Nursing Fundamentals Taylor p. 214-216

E6 Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics(2024) — Volume 1 p. 247-249

Practise the full DSSSB - 29 August 2019 (Shift-1)

Attempt every question from this paper in a timed mock, then review the full solution for each one.