is it bad that my 8 week old never sleeps during the day?

bumble42

Ever since we brought her home from the hospital she hasn't really slept during the day. Ok, so it's not never, but she'll only take one nap a day usually and not everyday. This nap occurs anywhere from 1pm-3pm and will last for 2-3 hours. At night she usually goes to bed between 8:30 and 9:30, then will wake up at 3 or 4 am, then again at 5, 6 or 7 am and doesn't really sleep again til that afternoon nap. She sometimes wakes up at 1am too, but not all the time. Now I've always heard that babies grow while they sleep so I want to make sure she's getting enough sleep. Does anyone else's DC do this? My sister has a 4 month old and her daughter takes at least 2 naps a day and they last for about 2 hours and she STTN. If you think my daughter is not sleeping enough, what can I do? I can't force her to sleep. I have a Dr. appt this week, so I am going to talk to her, but just wanted to see on here if anyone else had this issue? How many hours should an 8 week old be sleeping?

Jessgran

According to my pedi, it's fine. They will nap if they are tired. Their nighttime sleeping habits are more important. (Not that naps aren't, but if you had to pick, etc. etc.)

Your LO can come chill with mine, b/c he's exactly the way you describe!

isithereyet?

Sounds EXACTLY like my DD!!!

juliane2004

Do you give her opportunities to nap? Whether by swaddling or a swing, etc? Or do you just think she'll fall asleep mid tummy-time or something? (My DD never fell asleep randomly, I always had to create "nap time" for her.)

With regards to "how much should she sleep", I sort of have the opposite answer, but I think it will help. This is the typical (aka not for everyone, but it worked for us) lengths of awake time between naps/bedtime:

Guideline for Awake time for babies
Newborn 50-60 mins
1 month 60 mins-hour and 15
2 months 1 hour and 15 - 20 mins
3 months 1 hour and 20 - 30 mins
4 months 1 hour and 45 - 2 hours
5 months 2 hours - 2.25 hours
Late 5 months/early 6 months 2.25-2.5 hours
6.5 - 7 months 2.75-3 hours. Some are getting more.
8 - 10 months 3 - 4 hours. Some are getting more.
11 - 12 months 3.5 -4.5 hours. Some are getting more if moved early to 1 nap 

So, at 8 weeks (2 months or so), she should only be awake for about 1 hr 10 minutes or so before creating that "nap time" for her. At 8 weeks, it's typical for two to four naps of about 1-2 hours.

For us, creating nap time (at 8 weeks) meant changing her diaper, swaddling her, putting her sound machine on, and putting her in the crib. It takes about 10-20 min for a baby to fall asleep (again, "typical" length).

Here's a post I wrote on sleep when my DD was 2.5 months:

https://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/29470977.aspx?MsdVisit=1

ETA: For me, good naps means good night sleep.

spappy

juliane2004:

Do you give her opportunities to nap? Whether by swaddling or a swing, etc? Or do you just think she'll fall asleep mid tummy-time or something? (My DD never fell asleep randomly, I always had to create "nap time" for her.)

With regards to "how much should she sleep", I sort of have the opposite answer, but I think it will help. This is the typical (aka not for everyone, but it worked for us) lengths of awake time between naps/bedtime:

Guideline for Awake time for babies
Newborn 50-60 mins
1 month 60 mins-hour and 15
2 months 1 hour and 15 - 20 mins
3 months 1 hour and 20 - 30 mins
4 months 1 hour and 45 - 2 hours
5 months 2 hours - 2.25 hours
Late 5 months/early 6 months 2.25-2.5 hours
6.5 - 7 months 2.75-3 hours. Some are getting more.
8 - 10 months 3 - 4 hours. Some are getting more.
11 - 12 months 3.5 -4.5 hours. Some are getting more if moved early to 1 nap 

So, at 8 weeks (2 months or so), she should only be awake for about 1 hr 10 minutes or so before creating that "nap time" for her. At 8 weeks, it's typical for two to four naps of about 1-2 hours.

For us, creating nap time (at 8 weeks) meant changing her diaper, swaddling her, putting her sound machine on, and putting her in the crib. It takes about 10-20 min for a baby to fall asleep (again, "typical" length).

Here's a post I wrote on sleep when my DD was 2.5 months:

https://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/29470977.aspx?MsdVisit=1

ETA: For me, good naps means good night sleep.

Very well said! DD was exactly like yours, and I read an article in Parent's magazine that said what julian2004 said. I tried it, and DD started sleeping 8+ hours at night. Better naps=WAY better nights.

DD will NOT sleep unless she is swaddled, and with something on the side of her face, so I have to make sure to make her nap time so she doesn't get overtired.