First you, then he, now baby makes three. What a wonderful and scary event! Now that your new baby is home you find yourself wondering if you will be good parents. What will you do if the baby cries,or won't sleep or eat, or gets sick? These tips will give you general causes of some common occurences and what to do when each happens. Newborn babies spend about 70% of their time sleeping,20% eating,and only 10% awake. So if you think your baby sleeps too much, don't worry. Newborns can get over-stimulated easily and this can cause crankiness and other problems. Let your baby sleep as much as she wants. She will wake up when she is hungry or when she has had enough sleep. As she gets older, she will sleep less and less. Enjoy the quiet times now! When your baby first comes home she will drink about 2 ounces of formula or breast milk at each feeding and will want to feed about every two hours or so. I don't recommend waking the baby to eat-she will wake herself when she is hungry! As she grows the amount she eats will increase, up to about 8 ounces, If she does not seem satisfied after 8 ounces of formula it may be time to consider starting her on solid food such as infant cereal and fruit. This may happen as early as six months of age or as late as one year, depending on how fast she isgrowing. Your baby wakes up crying for her midnight feeding. You feed her and put her down to sleep. But an hour later she is awake and crying again,and doesn't seem interested in food. And she will not stop crying-in fact,she is screaming! If this happens every night at the same time it is probably colic,which means she is suffering painful stomach cramps due to gas. This is not harmful to her, only annoying and frustrating for you. Rapid movement seems to help. Rock her rapidly or hold her and walk back and forth. Go for a car ride. If you have a baby swing this works wonders. I also found it helpful to put one drop of peppermint oil in the formula for the midnight feeding-it seems to break up the gas. baby-care The Infant Sky Nursery Maid This page last updated on August 26. 2000