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Babies: 0 - 3 Months
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Newborn eating and sleeping schedules
My DD is 10 days old and I would like to get her on a more consistant eating and sleeping schedule (if this is even possible!). During the day, I try to wake her every 2-2.5 hours to eat, but she is SO sleepy sometimes that I can only get her to eat for 10 min max (I've tried changing her, using the cool washcloth, playing with her feet, undressing her etc. and she is just so sleepy). I would like for her to be this sleepy during her night time feeding. After she feeds at night she stays awake for another hour or two and fusses in her pack n play. Any tips on how I can continue to try to reverse her nights and days?
For example today she has eaten 3 times and was awake this morning for 2.5 hours. We just went for a walk, so she is asleep now. I need to wake her at 2:00 to eat again. Any advice is appreciated!
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Re: Newborn eating and sleeping schedules
Make a distinction between daytime and nighttime naps/feedings. During the daytime we're downstairs in the family room. Lots of lights on, tv on, I talk on the phone and do things while she is napping (when she does nap, she hasn't slept well during the day the past few days).
At nighttime, I feed her on the glider in my bedroom. It's dark except for the tv (on mute) and a soft light from the bathroom. I don't talk to her or play with her when she's eating or burping or anything. When she's done eating, I burp her and let her fall asleep on me (realizing I may need to stop doing that eventually...), then walk her to her bedroom and put her in her crib with the baby crack machine on.
In general, she feeds every 1 1/2 - 2 hours or so during the day, and 3-4 at night. Though she's so young that's just a rough estimate. I'm just thankful that she seems to have some distinction between day and night.
Newborns don't really do schedules. They sleep when they want, eat when they want, and poop when they want. We're all just along for the ride.
Great advice I got pre-baby: go with the flow, ignore your clocks. There is no night, no day, just you and baby doing what you need to do. The time for scheduling is later, when baby is a couple months old at least. Now, it's just about the baby's need for sleep or food - and their little bodies know when to do what to grow.