conflicting advice on sleep - help

Debra4869

My son seems to have his days and nights mixed up. He's 7 weeks and will sleep for 3-5 hours during the day but wake up every 3 hours at night to eat. To fix this problem, some people have told me to wake him during the daytime every 2 hours to eat so he learns daytime is for eating and night time is for sleeping. But I also know that sleep begets sleep (I'm a big believer in the Weisbluth book) and encouraging a sleepy baby to have awake time during the day usually backfires in the form of an over-tired, screaming baby. So - what should I do? Wake him to eat during the day or let him sleep and just hope it fixes itself as he grows? Thanks in advance

cagoldi

I wouldn't let him sleep 5 hours during the day at 7 weeks. DS is 8 weeks and I will wake him if a nap is approaching 3 hours. I'll feed him and change him, if he is still tired after that he goes back to sleep; I never try to keep him awake if he clearly wants to keep resting.

Works for me. We still have a pretty inconsistent nighttime schedule but he always gives us a stretch of at least 5 hours, and has even gone 8 a few times now.

juliane2004

I don't let naps go longer than 3 hours during the day (so feeds don't go longer than 3.5 hours apart). The point is that you don't want their longest stretch of sleep to be in the daytime. So if your LO is napping 5 hours in the day time, it's likely that is their longest stretch and will wake often in the night.

ksimo6

I woke my LO every three hours to eat during the day from the day she was born (11.5weeks now). I let her sleep at night. She has been sttn since about 9 weeks and we no longer have to wake her during the day. She's on a very predictable routine. I would wake your LO during the day and try to help him turn it around.

erbear

Waking up every 3 hours at night at 7 weeks doesn't sound so bad. I'd leave him be.

taraleanne

I think I'd wake every 2 - 3 hours during the day too and let LO wake when he wakes during the night. 5 hours during the day is too much, you'll want those calories to be consumed during the day, not the night. And expose LO to lots of natural light during the day so her clock gets set.

I wouldn't worry about a fussy overtired baby. Just watch for the sleepy cues and make sure she gets to sleep when she's tired during the day. It's not all that hard if you keep an eye out. Wake times will be short anyhow and will still sleep lots during the day just with more day wake up and less night wake-ups- eventually.

cvmyx

When our twins were 7 weeks, one was generally sleeping longer than the other both during the day and the night.  He would sleep 4-5 hours at a time in the day and 3-4 hours at night while the other one would sleep 2-3 hours at a time in the day and 1-2 hours at night. They're now 11 weeks and while they still tend to sleep similar amounts of time in the day, they now sleep between 4 and 7 hours at a time in the night. 

 

We don't wake them to eat. All we did to help differentiate between night and day is to try and keep the room bright and not be shy about making noise.  In the night we try to keep the room dimly lit and quiet.  We also try to minimize playing with them in the night and try to interact more with them in the day.  Hope that helps.

JaysonandKristin

Waking every 3 hours at night is normal.  Leave LO be.

Agree with @cvmyx, let daytime be about light, noise, activity and interaction. Let nighttime be about quiet, twilight light and necessities -- diaper changes (occasional wardrobe changes due to blow outs) and feedings.  

Try EASY - Eat, Activity, Sleep, You time.  So, upon waking, feed LO, then set LO down for some activity time or interaction with other people, then, watch for cues and put LO back to sleep.  Once LO is asleep do whatever you need to do for yourself.  This is a great way to start a routine, and it makes life really easy when things become really predictable (once they get a little older).  

slh6363

Every 3 hours at night is pretty normal at that point, so I wouldn't say days/nights are mixed up. However, 5 hours during the day is a bit long, I wake every 3 hours during the day and that has worked for us.

Littlemama01

I let my LO sleep and eat as much/little as he wants between 9am and 5 pm. (I don't wake him). Then at 5 we start a cluster feed until 9-10 when hes sleepy. In this time he spends time with daddy, dozes, sits in his swing, gets tons of burps out etc. Then at night he has one long stretch of sleep example, 11pm to 5 am, then back to 2-3 hour intervals, I also find he will have a long nap in the afternoon after lots of awake time in the morning. I only wake to feed in the evenings, and the feeds get quicker as the night goes on (i say I'm topping him up). the rest of the time I leave him to decide what he needs and when. My LO is 6 weeks.

jtraczuk

I'm a Weissbluth follower as well. I wake to feed every 3 hours during day, let sleep at night (usually goes only an extra hour so 4) We sleep him downstairs (lights, tv, talking, even beagle barking) during day and in room at night. It's dark in room, little interaction etc. I will say daytime naps are getting a little trickier so we have taken him up a few times- good luck!!