Newborn babies sleep quite a bit, usually waking up every two to four hours for feedings.  At about two months of age, they generally start sleeping through the night, although a few cooperative babies may start sooner.  You may have heard that starting solid foods (e.g. cereal) will make a baby sleep through the night.  There is no evidence this is true.  Awakening your baby to feed or offering food every time they stir during the night will either start or propagate a habit of waking up to feed.  Try to allow your baby to go as long as they will tolerate between nighttime feeds.  The following table is a guideline as to how much babies sleep:

How Much Sleep?

Age Total Nighttime Total Naptime Total Sleep time
0 to 2 months Continuous Continuous 10-18 hours
2 months 9.5 hours 5 hours 14.5 hours
6 months 11 hours 3.5 hours 14.5 hours
12 months 11.5 hours 2.5 hours 14 hours
3 years 11.5 hours 1.5 hours 13 hours