how much sleep are you getting?

MrsH8611

LO is 7 weeks old,  BF only and eats every 2 hours night and day since birth. On a rare occasion he will wait 3 hours but that's happened maybe 2 times. I know BF babies and formula babies tend to have sleep differences because breast milk is more easily digested so babies get hungry again sooner, but I had 4 girlfriends have babies within weeks of me and their babies are sleeping close to 6 hours a night already and range in age of 3 weeks to 6 weeks. I wish!! LO eats great. He doesn't stop eating until he pulls off or falls asleep with a big belly So maybe I don't have him warm enough at night to stay asleep longer? Tips, advice?

Anyone else have sleepy babies or are you in the migraine, fall asleep standing up stage like me?

mrssamarataylor

At 7 weeks I was a nursing zombie. At 9 weeks it got a little better with DS sleeping 3 hrs max between meals. Now he eats more during the day and wakes up only once or twice a night. He is 11 weeks today. 

blueeyedrose86

My LO is 5 weeks and she usually sleeps 2-3 hours at a time. Twice she has gone 4 hours, but from about 7-11pm, so I didn't get any extra sleep.

EmR22

I am a FF and have been for all 4 of my kids but they all differed at sleeping. DD1 STTN at ~5 months. DD2 didn't until ~11 months. DD3 did at ~2 months and DS (12 weeks) just gave me a 8 hour stretch last night and probably only woke up because of his big sisters.

I think sleep is a horrible game and you don't get told the rules-meaning some like to swaddle, some don't. Some kids are warmer naturally and some are colder. I know your child will not sleep longer or STTN until they are ready (no matter what age) but you can experiment with clothing, swaddles, bedtime routine to see what might help. 

If your lucky you will find what they like and it may help them sleep longer. Obviously if they are hungry this won't work but my DD2 would wake up multiple times and it wasn't because she was hungry she was just hot or cold or had turned sideways. 

Good luck. Eventually LO will sleep longer some just take more time.

CaliforniaDream87

Meh, I have an FF baby and at 7 weeks was waking every 2 hours to feed. Every baby is different.

ranaverde

I have a two-week old, and she eats every 2-3 hours.  I think I'm getting about 5-6 hours of sleep a day, but it's all in half-hour and hour-long chunks (she eats slow, so it's about an hour and half between the end of one feed and the start of the next). 

I do find that taking an afternoon nap (while my husband or someone else holds the baby) makes a huge difference in my ability to cope with the lack of prolonged sleep at night.

thedash

Dd is EBF and sleeps much longer stretches than her brother ever did. He got both BM and formula, often with a bottle of formula at night. Every baby is just different!

olga1311

Have you tried tanking up LO? Like having two las nursing sessions before bedtime closer together so he sleeps longer at least on the first stretch? Our usual bedtime for LO is around 9pm so I feed her at 7:30 and then 9pm (so 1.5 hours apart instead of 3 hours). She eats less at 9pm but this feeding tops her off to a completely full belly so she gives us 3.5-4.5 hours first stretch and then wakes up 2.5 hours after that MOTN feeding. LO is 7 weeks

egsquared

No advice. DS is EBF and eats every 3 hours night and day. He's 8 weeks old. I don't remember when my DD started sleeping longer, but she was also EBF and was STTN by the time I went back to work at 12 weeks. I don't see that happening with DS....

TashnBabii

My son is 6 weeks and I feel like a zombie when I wake up in the morning. I get a total of maybe 4 hours of sleep at night, and it's broken up sleep. He wakes up every 2-3 hours for feedings. I also BF, so he usually wakes up closer to 2 hours. He's up for about an hour, in which case he will fall back asleep and I will also. I plan to return to work in 2 weeks, totaling 8 weeks. Hopefully, I'll be able to function by then! Hehe

BelhurstBride

These days DD is up every hour to eat. 

Tis life with a baby. 

TashnBabii

Oh btw, I'd like to add that having a 3-6 wk old baby sleep 6 hours a night is RARE and prossibly neglectful. At that age, a baby's stomach is the size of a golf ball, which is why they wake up 2-3 hours per night. What you're describing is completely normal, so just hang in there! It'll get better! :-)

MrsH8611

Thanks ladies!!! I hope sleep returns soon. Hubby works 12 hour swing shifts so I need me a break haha.  And LO sleeps in a fleece onzie with feet and we swaddle him (arms out because he hates arms in) but in the middle of the night I wake up and its strictly only wrapped around his tummy. He's kicked out and loosened every place else. So we stopped swaddling all together. We keep the place at 70 degrees but it's colder in our room where he is sleeping because the ceiling fan is going and the door has to be shut due to I don't trust our two cats not to jump in the bassinet with him. So when it's time to eat throughout the night, his hands are ice cubes  

sschwege

MrsH8611 said:

Thanks ladies!!! I hope sleep returns soon. Hubby works 12 hour swing shifts so I need me a break haha.  And LO sleeps in a fleece onzie with feet and we swaddle him (arms out because he hates arms in) but in the middle of the night I wake up and its strictly only wrapped around his tummy. He's kicked out and loosened every place else. So we stopped swaddling all together. We keep the place at 70 degrees but it's colder in our room where he is sleeping because the ceiling fan is going and the door has to be shut due to I don't trust our two cats not to jump in the bassinet with him. So when it's time to eat throughout the night, his hands are ice cubes  

Does he hate being swaddled even while asleep or only hates the process?  I ask because DD would scream bloody murder when we swaddled her, but I would nurse her, she would fall asleep and then sleep great!  She went from waking every 1hr and 15 minutes around the clock to sleeping 4-6 hours when swaddled.  We used the Woombie which is basically like a sleep sack only tighter and there are no arms.  It's pretty much impossible for them to get out of it or get over their faces.

The only reason I knew to start swaddling again was one night I actually watched her sleep and she just kept startling and hitting herself in the face.  They also make Merlin's Magic Sleep Suit which worked wonders for DS. 

MargaretC5

For the past week, we have been giving our LO a 5oz bottle of BM right before bed (I BF the rest of the time), and we have noticed that first stretch of sleep is longer, 4 hours usually, but he did go 6 hours one night.  After that first stretch he is feeding every 2-3 hours.  We found this out my chance, I just hope it keeps working.  My LO was a month old yesterday.

michelle7482

LO is 9 weeks.  First stretch is 5-7 hours usually from 8pm-2:30am and second stretch is about 3.5 hrs.  I get anywhere from 5-7 hrs of sleep depending when I go to bed.  We FF.

MrsH8611

I've been hearing a TON about these sleep sacs so i may just get one. He doesn't mind the process, I think, because he's usually asleep or drowsy when I do it. He loved it in the beginning but when he sleeps without a blanket he is sprawled out so I don't know. But I am definitely gonna try this sleep sac I hear so much of!!!

Carnation77

DS's sleep at night has varied.  First he woke every two hours, then he woke once a night (starting around 6 weeks), then he slept through the night (weeks 9 and 10), then he hit a "wonder week" and the time change and has been waking every two hours again.  Last night he actually went every four hours and I felt like a new woman!  

So it just takes time.  Using a white noise machine did help us go from waking once a night to STTN.  He also discovered sucking on his hand around that time, which has helped him put himself back to sleep.  

The one thing I would advise is make sure your LO is really awake and not just making noise while transitioning between sleep cycles when you get him or her up.

smilingeyes2308

My lo is 9 weeks. Since 4 weeks, she sleeps from around 11 - 4:30, goes back down at 5:30, wakes at 9:30ish, eats, then sleeps until 11 and then us up for the day. Just try and find what is comfortable for your lo, but remember every baby is different. Up until 4 weeks, we would swaddle and put DD in her bassinet...she'd be up in 20 minutes and we figured that's just his she was. Then, we put her in her bouncer one night and she slept for 5 hours.. Pedi said that it's fine to let her sleep as long as she eats on demand, so to the pp who said it's possibly neglectful, I beg to differ. Just try different things to see if your lo will do a longer stretch.

KimIC24

We found white noise to be super helpful.  Also, what a previous person said about stacking up feedings at night.  Around that age we did a sort of 'forced cluster feeding' at night.  Start offering the breast closer and closer together, going from about 2 hours apart, to 1 hour 30 min apart, to 1  hour...  you can see what works best for you.  Have a last offering right before you go to bed.  We would joke about topping off the tank before bed.  That way baby will be as full as possible right when you go to sleep too.  I think it worked for us.  It might not, but I don't think it could hurt to try.  And now that LO is 12 weeks old, he has naturally spread out these feedings while still sleeping better.  Good luck!  Sleep is necessary!

HFrizzle

Mine is 4w and I'm not sure what sleep is anymore. I get maybe 3-4 hurts a night and then I'm up all day with him and my 3yr DD. It's rough, but my body is getting use to it.

BlessUrHeart29

I would estimate that I get anywhere from 4-6 broken hours of sleep a night, depending on how long it takes DS to eat and fall asleep after feedings. DS (5wks tomorrow) typically eats around 8-9pm then has a late night feeding around 11-12. He's usually awake for a while between those feedings. Next feeding is anywhere from 3-5 and then a morning feeding somewhere from 6-8am. So he wakes to eat throughout the night, but it's really not terrible at the moment. The longest he's gone between feedings is 5 hrs I think. I'm anticipating a 6wk growth spurt soon, so I'm sure that will throw everything totally out of whack.

melosch

I have an 11 week old and he still wakes up every 2 hours to eat. I _just_ got my first 4 hour stretch last weekend, but then he started his 3 month growth spurt early and was nursing every 45-60 minutes for 3 days. 

Every baby is different - I know it won't be for forever!

LWilson82

My son is 11 weeks and he sleeps 12 to 13 hours a night. He is formula fed now due to major breast feeding issues. He's been a good sleeper pretty much from the beginning. Swaddling worked big time with him and we make sure he is stimulated during the day. I'm sure my next kid will be an insomniac lol