those magical figures did my head in when dd was a baby... absolutely worried me to the core... dd was always awake hours on end and didn't sleep nearly 'enough' according to what she should be.

the thing about those figures is, the number (ie 16 hours out of every 24) is the AVERAGE, therefore there are loads of babies that may sleep as little as 10 hours out of 24, and some lovely babies that sleep as much as 20 hours out of 24..... so really you need to throw the numbers out the window and just go with what works for you. i wish i had of realised this all those months ago it would have saved me a lot of worry (and wrinkles)...

it DOES get easier and you do learn to read their tired signs really well... but personally i think as long as they are coping okay, how long they are awake etc isn't too important... on the other hand if they are crying, cranky, highly strung etc etc etc, then clearly things aren't working too well and i'd be working at having bubs awake for maybe 1.5hrs then trying for a nap.

good luck and enjoy your bubba xx