sleeping longer at night

kathyn21 · June 2012

pedi told us friday that we can let DD sleep longer at night and not to wake her every 3 hours and let her go up to 5. well, one time she went 4 hours. last night she was up from 11p-2am fighting sleep and just snacking an ounce here and there. i've started a routine of bath, lotion, eat and bed at night between 7-9pm depending on when she eats next. i also decided not to swaddle during the day in hopes she'll learn the difference btw day and night somewhat soon. i don't expect her to be sttn by any means, just wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to help teach her the difference better.

jcsntms06 · June 2012

My DD is just now sleeping between 4-5 hours at night and she's 2.5 months old. We have a bed time routine, but she's still getting up at least once in the middle of the night. Your LO will get there, but it may be a few months.

mrsV719 · June 2012

At 39w GA your LO should still be inside. It is too early for your LO to be able to tell the difference between day and night. I also wouldn't stop swaddling yet (you might find that you can't). My LO is 16m/13m and still has nights where he doesn't sttn. You will finally get some stretches of sleep around 2m adjusted and then the 4m wakeful period comes. Then around 8m adjusted you will get more sleep, then the 10m wakeful period hits. Then there is teething!

Although your LO is too young... another thing to indicate it is night and not just a nap is to have naps and bedtime in different places. For a while, LO never napped where he slept. That was saved for night time only. GL!

kathyn21 · June 2012

i don't expect her to know the difference completely yet, i'm just curious as to how to start teaching her. i am only not swaddling during the day. she's super strange anyway and doesn't seem to care either way. idk she constantly grunts and groans (which apparently is normal, even tho i dont think it is) i just need to know where to start.

Irishsapphire · June 2012

I winged it with my son. I found that my son eventually imitated us and slept through the night. And my daughter sleeps in the same room as my son in his crib and myself--so she has us as examples--but she woke me up 2 times last night. I just wait until she really cries to get up and change her diaper and give her something to eat. When my daughter goes through a continuous for a long period of time, I just think that she is going through a growing spurt. Last night, it was a slurpy fest while I was breastfeeding my daughter and for my son while my husband was giving him milk and orange juice so that he would go to bed.

urbanflowerpot · June 2012

kathyn21:
i don't expect her to know the difference completely yet, i'm just curious as to how to start teaching her. i am only not swaddling during the day. she's super strange anyway and doesn't seem to care either way. idk she constantly grunts and groans (which apparently is normal, even tho i dont think it is) i just need to know where to start.

The grunts are completely normal - and believe it or not you will probably miss them. I do. I'm glad I caught them on video. It's just a preemie thing, though some FT babies do it, too. They grow out of it.

If you're just asking how to set up a routine it sounds like you're already establishing one that works for you so keep at it. DS turned out to be a lousy sleeper so he only started STTN consistently withing the last month or so. GL!

haziedaze · June 2012

I agree with others, you may get a few longer stretches now, but then they may decrease again, esp. around the 3 week growth spurt. As far as suggestions, we did the same routine you mentioned and that seemed to help. We also kept stimulation to a minimum at night (low light, voices low, diaper changes only if critical (loaded up the butt paste instead)). That really helped and by about 1 mo adj he seemed to get that there was a day/night difference. He still woke up frequently, but ate and then conked right back out, instead of daytime when he'd want to look around for a bit after waking up. Good luck!

katie4253 · June 2012

kathyn21:
i don't expect her to know the difference completely yet, i'm just curious as to how to start teaching her. i am only not swaddling during the day. she's super strange anyway and doesn't seem to care either way. idk she constantly grunts and groans (which apparently is normal, even tho i dont think it is) i just need to know where to start.

Your baby is still supposed to be inside you. Cut her some slack!

Once your baby gets to about 12 weeks adjusted, then you can start thinking about sleep training her. Until then, relax. Enjoy the newborn phase. And, realize, you aren't supposed to be getting much sleep. Sleep as much as you can when she sleeps.

She isn't strange. She is a baby. Babies have their own likes and wants. Just roll with it. As far as the grunting, it is totally normal (even for a full term baby). However, it is more pronounced in preemies.

sleeping longer at night

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