Keeping baby awake during the day...

Myzticsunshine · February 2013

My S/O has decided we should keep our LO up during the day as much as possible because these past couple of days he's gotten to be really fussy about waking up and wanting to eat multiple times in a row and keeping us up for hours. I do get frustrated, but could probably deal with it. But my SO has work early in the morning so he is sorely bothered by it. Is it dangerous to keep the baby awake, he seems to be trying to sleep and I really don't want to wake him up if it could impact him negatively in any way.. Would it even help to keep him awake during the day?? Or would the sleep schedule be the same???

mydixiewrecked · February 2013

I wouldn't try to keep your baby awake during the day.In my experience they get overtired and that isn't any fun for them or you. I understand babies can be exhausting but the comment that your SO is sorely bothered by it,well...he kind of signed up for this.

When they are this little you are just at their mercy. If he is fussy have you tried a tight swaddle and loud white noise? With Connor he gets a bath before bedtime,a massage.with bedtime lotion,a bottle,TIGHT swaddle and a box fan on high in our room. He sleeps from 9-6 for the past 2 weeks. Good luck

buffyverrban1 · February 2013

It would do damage to keep baby up during the day. When they sleep is when they recharge, commit everything they learned from short term to long term memory.

Not only that, keeping baby up would have the opposite effect. When babies don't sleep they get overtired and become much harder to get to sleep and keep asleep.

If baby isn't sleeping well, try getting him to sleep a bit more. at 0-3 months old your baby should be sleeping about 16+ Hours a day. (10-12 at night plus naps) (More if you are closer to the younger side)

Maybe let your husband sleep in another room with earplugs or something one night to recharge and he'll be able to be a better help.

If your LO is fussing, it could just be a growth spurt and he needs more food, but definitely don't keep him up.

sbevmc09 · February 2013

I don't know how old your LO is, but based on your pregnancy ticker it's probably not more than a few weeks. At this age you really can't mess with their sleep because they're going to sleep when they want regardless. Babies get up overnight, it's what they do. They need to eat and that's their normal sleep cycle. They also need to sleep during the day. By intentionally messing with their natural cycle this early you're more likely to end up with an overtired baby than one who will sleep more at night. You'll be much better off just letting them stick to their natural schedule, which will very quickly evolve at this age.

Wild_flower25 · February 2013

Don't do it. The better/more they sleep during the day the better at night.

mben1119 · February 2013

Babies that age need to sleep when they're tired. Keeping them up is a recipe for an overtired disaster.

MeaganG11 · February 2013

Additionally, it's been shown that babies only release growth hormones when they're asleep. So you could be stunting baby's mental and physical growth.

ArmyWife114 · February 2013

Wild_flower25:
Don't do it. The better/more they sleep during the day the better at night.

This.

freelancemommy · February 2013

Yes. Sleep begets sleep. Overtired babies sleep poorly and are majorly cranky!

watermellens · February 2013

ditto everyone else - the more sleep babies get, the more they want to sleep. Keeping them up all day would be disastrous.

this decaf life · February 2013

Do not force your baby to stay awake. They should be sleeping for most of the day. You will overtire your baby making it more difficult to feed & more difficult for LO to fall asleep. Huge mistake, we didn't mean to but we weren't putting in enough effort getting her to nap and it was absolutely awful.