STMs: baby's schedule in vs. out

ScarlettV

Did this already get discussed? Wasn't sure how to word the question and searches turned up empty.

STMs: baby clearly has a schedule in my belly and wakes up around 11pm to kick the shiz out of me. The nurse at our breastfeeding class said that they come out of the womb on the same schedule as in the womb...so if he's kicking me at 5:30, he'll be fussing and awake at 5:30 when he comes out (I assume they mean for the first week or two).

Does this seem true from what you recall?

n8swife

DS was pretty much on the same schedule in the womb as he was as a newborn. Slept all day and got most active in the evening/night. However, that seems to be the norm for newborns so who knows. This one is on the same schedule. He's pretty quiet all day and then starts going crazy around 3pm and stays that way into the night.

mavgirl_73

1st was spot on inside vs outside. Which made for very long nights. 2nd was complete opposite. It's a crap shoot I think.

kittyh8r

My daughter was opposite of most babies and was active all day and calmed down when I fell asleep. She would kick and be crazy when I laid down, but once I fell asleep, I never felt her again until I woke up in the morning. She was the same when she was born. I had to set an alarm to wake and feed her in the first couple weeks. 

Lawren

Owen hardly moved when I was pregnant and he never slept, ever, once he was born. So for me that didn't really hold true.

lp0

DS used to kick and wake me up to pee three times a night. He got up way less when he was a newborn.

ScarlettV

EmmaBoBemma said:

My daughter was opposite of most babies and was active all day and calmed down when I fell asleep. She would kick and be crazy when I laid down, but once I fell asleep, I never felt her again until I woke up in the morning. She was the same when she was born. I had to set an alarm to wake and feed her in the first couple weeks. 

The alarm part is ironic because at the class the nurse said baby will cry as a last resort to be fed and make sucking sounds to say they are hungry....so a girl asked, "so does that mean I have to set an alarm to wake up and feed at night?" And the woman goes," no you will instinctively hear it and wake up." But what if they dont wake themselves? And I wear earplugs to drown out DHs snoring so I'm pretty sure I might be alarm setting too.

swirl25

DD was actually pretty quiet at night in the womb -- I would feel her a lot during the day when I was sitting at my desk at work. When she was born she tricked us in the hospital -- she slept almost the whole first day and night and was so quiet. Thought I hit the jackpot! By the time we got home however was a different story -- she was a night owl then! But after a few months she got on a more normal schedule.

This baby is more active overnight, but I feel her a decent amount during the day too, so we shall see what happens. Praying for a decent sleeper!

NJMom050911

With an anterior placenta I didn't feel much movement until they started running out of space at which point they don't move too much anyway so to me this wasn't true. DS1 slept in 2-3 hour stretches all day and night as a newborn. Praying I will get another good baby

KateVA

Both my boys knew their days from nights from the beginning. This baby seems much more active at night in utero so I'm worried!

MissyC979

I don't think mine was necessarily the same schedule as in the womb. I think he's just active at night now because that's when I'm mostly likely to be sitting down. Being up and moving around seems to make him quiet and he perks up when I am laying down.

It took us a couple weeks to get him into a routine, but I don't remember having a ton of trouble with days and nights. We just followed that recommendation to keep the curtains open during the day so he got a lot of light and to keep things pretty dim during nighttime feedings.

watercolor5

DD wasn't on the same schedule in the womb vs. out... I feel like she got lulled to sleep when I was up and active during the day, and woke up/moved around when I got still, though she woke up whenever I ate due to the bloodsugar spike.

After she was out she adjusted pretty quickly to day/night schedules, though I think a lot of that also had to do with our making sure we kept lights on during the day and didn't keep the house silent, and kept lights off/silence during nighttime hours.  She actually slept through the night better as a newborn than as a 4 month old...

kittyh8r

ScarlettV said:

My daughter was opposite of most babies and was active all day and calmed down when I fell asleep. She would kick and be crazy when I laid down, but once I fell asleep, I never felt her again until I woke up in the morning. She was the same when she was born. I had to set an alarm to wake and feed her in the first couple weeks. 

The alarm part is ironic because at the class the nurse said baby will cry as a last resort to be fed and make sucking sounds to say they are hungry....so a girl asked, "so does that mean I have to set an alarm to wake up and feed at night?" And the woman goes," no you will instinctively hear it and wake up." But what if they dont wake themselves? And I wear earplugs to drown out DHs snoring so I'm pretty sure I might be alarm setting too.

I hate when instructors say stuff like "you will instinctively hear it and wake up" because that's not always true. I woke up to every little move Emma made, but some don't. In the first week, until babies have reached their birth weight, you should wake them AT LEAST every 3-4 hours to eat. Emma slept 7 hours one night and her pedi said I needed to set an alarm until she surpassed her birth weight. Lucky us, once she reached birth weight she started waking up on her own every 3-4 hours. 

KFED103

I don't remember the specifics, but for me there was no corellation whatsoever

northport6

@GWeiners said:

I hope this is the case, b/c gf definitely knows her days from nights.

Mine too! I feel like we should grasp hands and jump giddily up and down if it turns out this schedule holds.

MamaGrillo

Mine slept a lot for the first week or so and then woke up FOREVERRRRR!
Probs a bit drugged from the pain meds still in my system.

To your question: i find that they are/were rocked to sleep when I'm busy and wake up when I'm still.
In the past the girls did mimic the same schedule. This lo was sort of on my work schedule. Busy at 3-4am-ish. So I expect to be up around then. I do think she woke up around then because I'd eat.
I guess we'll find out in a couple of weeks!

Habrsk87

My DD didn't follow along with the pattern of sleep she had inside once she became an outside baby. First 2 weeks were amazing and I was congratulating myself on making such a chilled out baby. Their sleep patterns will change every so often mine became a night owl after she was 2 weeks old.

notkateanymore

EmmaBoBemma said:

ScarlettV said:

My daughter was opposite of most babies and was active all day and calmed down when I fell asleep. She would kick and be crazy when I laid down, but once I fell asleep, I never felt her again until I woke up in the morning. She was the same when she was born. I had to set an alarm to wake and feed her in the first couple weeks. 

The alarm part is ironic because at the class the nurse said baby will cry as a last resort to be fed and make sucking sounds to say they are hungry....so a girl asked, "so does that mean I have to set an alarm to wake up and feed at night?" And the woman goes," no you will instinctively hear it and wake up." But what if they dont wake themselves? And I wear earplugs to drown out DHs snoring so I'm pretty sure I might be alarm setting too.

I hate when instructors say stuff like "you will instinctively hear it and wake up" because that's not always true. I woke up to every little move Emma made, but some don't. In the first week, until babies have reached their birth weight, you should wake them AT LEAST every 3-4 hours to eat. Emma slept 7 hours one night and her pedi said I needed to set an alarm until she surpassed her birth weight. Lucky us, once she reached birth weight she started waking up on her own every 3-4 hours. 

Oh I'm so glad I had a pedi that didn't believe in that. Never wake a sleeping baby was her rule and DD turned out just fine!

edenkeever

There was no correlation between in utero activity and newborn wakefulness with either of my kids. Totally random. I also never ever wake a sleeping baby to eat...if baby is hungry, baby will wake up. Don't you worry. (I say that with the exception of if your baby has health or weight issues that require more frequent feeding. Mine never had issues)

mavgirl_73

We made the mistake of waking the sleeping baby.....ya nope never again unless she has extenuating circumstances like being a preemie or some other medically related issue. We paid dearly for that waking. Didn't wake 2nd and she was and is fine.

MamaGrillo

Oh the things we can sometimes do with those first babies...sigh. Live and learn.

kittyh8r

KateMW said:

EmmaBoBemma said:

ScarlettV said:

My daughter was opposite of most babies and was active all day and calmed down when I fell asleep. She would kick and be crazy when I laid down, but once I fell asleep, I never felt her again until I woke up in the morning. She was the same when she was born. I had to set an alarm to wake and feed her in the first couple weeks. 

The alarm part is ironic because at the class the nurse said baby will cry as a last resort to be fed and make sucking sounds to say they are hungry....so a girl asked, "so does that mean I have to set an alarm to wake up and feed at night?" And the woman goes," no you will instinctively hear it and wake up." But what if they dont wake themselves? And I wear earplugs to drown out DHs snoring so I'm pretty sure I might be alarm setting too.

I hate when instructors say stuff like "you will instinctively hear it and wake up" because that's not always true. I woke up to every little move Emma made, but some don't. In the first week, until babies have reached their birth weight, you should wake them AT LEAST every 3-4 hours to eat. Emma slept 7 hours one night and her pedi said I needed to set an alarm until she surpassed her birth weight. Lucky us, once she reached birth weight she started waking up on her own every 3-4 hours. 

Oh I'm so glad I had a pedi that didn't believe in that. Never wake a sleeping baby was her rule and DD turned out just fine!

Ha, I'm sure your daughter turned out just fine.

I would never feel comfortable letting a baby that hasn't reached birth weight sleep longer than 3-4 hours with out eating. I'm not talking 3-4 months. It doesn't take long for them to reach birth weight..waking up every 3-4 is hardly a sacrifice. 

Oh and if you're breastfeeding, going 7-8 hours without nursing can be terrible to a supply. A friend of mine took her 2 week old to a pedi appt., she thought she had the perfect baby, who slept8 hours every night until they realized she still wasn't at birth weight and he milk supply was tanked. She had to supplement(which isn't the end of the world) AND power pump(which sucks!) for a few weeks to get things back in order. This isn't everyone's story, but it happens.