How much does/did 2 week old sleep

ktwilley · November 2010

during the day? I had a doula come in, and she suggested keeping LO up except for about 4 hours during the day. It's killing me. Is this a normal amount of sleep for a newborn? Last night he did sleep from 2-7am, but I was miserable and exhausted keeping him up from 6-10pm.

When does it get better?

searcy7 · November 2010

I personally do not believe in keeping baby awake, but thats me. I know how you feel but to tell you the truth each child is different. What one child does another doesn't an ex. would be my 2yr old DD she did not sleep through the night till she was 1. Other children do better and it does get better all of the time and you will not be so tired soon. Hang in there.

saturdaynightdoubletree · November 2010

DS sleeps all the time... with the exception of 30-45 min wakeful periods randomly throughout the day, and when he is feeding or being changed.

I'mAcrossThePond · November 2010

I'm not really a believer in keeping kids up either. They are growing so much and need sleep. They'll work out the proper sleep patterns soon enough.

morelvetoyou · November 2010

My LO at 2 weeks would wake up to eat, have her diaper changed and then would maybe stay awake for 1/2 an hour or so then 2-3 hrs later we'd repeat.

Now at two months she is up for about an hour and 20 mins at a time (to eat, coo, etc...) then she's out again. She eats every 4 hours during the day and sleeps 7-8 hrs at night.

If I tried to keep her awake she would completely fall apart.

MD_Chocoholic · November 2010

At 2 weeks, LO was only awake to eat and maybe 30min after that. Then she'd sleep for 3 hours or so, and then the cycle would repeat. Keeping her awake would've been a nightmare.

peapine · November 2010

I wonder if your Doula has ever heard the saying "never wake a sleeping baby" - in my experience, sleep begets sleep. Keeping a newborn awake is cruel! If you LO is a good sleeper during the day- take advantage of it now and nap. My newest LO had a cold at 3 weeks old. She couldnt sleep during the day and it made for hellish 2 weeks. My oldest used to nap for 3-4 hours at a stretch during the day. I would have to debate whether to wake her to feed her!! And she started STTN at 6 weeks. So, I am not understanding why your Doula would make you keep your baby awake.

istalkgeeks · November 2010

My DS is an extremely fussy baby and didn't sleep much after week one during the day. That said, I would NEVER keep him up. My goal since he has been two weeks old is to get him to nap as much as possible. I would never keep him up for four hours straight, especially if he was fussy/upset/tired. Typically, he starts to get really upset if he has been up longer than two hours and he is 10 weeks. Nothing is worse than trying to put an overtired baby to sleep. My DS sleeps from 6pm-6:30am with 2-3 wake ups a night. I really think this is partially him getting older, partially working on getting him the best naps possible during the day.

Maybe you should look into infant sleep habits? Naps are really important for your baby's development.

Arielle27 · November 2010

I've never heard of that. In fact, my doula (and everyone else I've spoken to) has said it is very normal for the baby to sleep a lot in the day until he learns the difference between day and night - which may not be for a few months yet!

Britty685 · November 2010

LO used to sleep ALL. THE. TIME. She never had a problem sleeping at night unless her tummy was bothering her. Let the baby sleep, and when she wakes up to eat, feed her, then keep her entertained for a while by talking or singing to her.

ktwilley · November 2010

Thanks everyone.

This makes me feel so much better. My mom has been saying the same thing that you guys are saying, that the doula is crazy. I wish that she hadn't written out that schedule as now DH wants to follow it. I am the one home with LO during the day, and I can't physically or emotionally keep him up all day. I'm going to just go back to feeding him playing a bit and then letting him sleep and repeat.

Thank you so much!!

SarahWaggy · November 2010

Like it's been mentioned on here, each child is different. My 8 week old will sleep anywhere from 6 hours to 30 minutes at a time. He fortunately has started sleeping longer at night (4-6 hours), and one long nap during the day (1-2 hours), then short naps (1 hour to 30 minutes) off and on throughout the day.

I am lucky.

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