Do you have a new baby at home? Are the baby's erratic sleep patterns playing havoc with your schedule and your life? Many new parents are confused and befuddled when they try to make some sense of the ups and downs of their children in the crib.

Some new babies really do sleep as many as 18 hours in 24, but their sleep isn't at all like ours and may not be at all what you expected. Adults spend up to 80 percent of their sleeping time in sound, deep sleep, compared with only about 20 percent for new babies.

The rest of your baby's sleeping time will be in a light doze, and he'll often dip in and out of that light sleep, so you scarcely have time to drop off yourself before he surfaces again either crying or just fussing.

If you're trying to nurse him to sleep and then leave him in his crib, you may feel that he always wakes up when you put him down. It's just as likely that he was going to wake anyway so don't drive yourself crazy. This just isn't deep sleep time, and the sooner you understand that you're not going to get a two hour break from his company right now the better off you'll be.

As your newborn begins to take larger and larger feedings and starts spacing these feedings out just a bit, you'll begin to see a clear connection between a full tummy and his sleep.

At this point it may be worth your while to make a point of putting him in his crib whenever he sleeps, and getting him up again as soon as he wakes.

The sooner he makes a clear differentiation between sleep and wakefulness, the sooner you'll be able to count on some peace while he does his sleeping.

Dr. Alvin Eden is chairman of the department of pediatrics at Wyckoff Heights Hospital in Brooklyn and associate clinical professor of pediatrics at Cornell University Medical Center. Dr. Eden has authored several books including "Positive Parenting" and "Healthy Kids." His "Visit With A Pediatrician" column regularly appears in "American Baby" magazine.