Sleeping too much?

babym6705 · April 2014

I know all newborn babies do are eat, sleep, and poop, lol, but I am a little worried bc my LO is 2 wks old tomorrow and sleeps most of the day and night. I have not tracked his exact hours, but I'm guessing he is only awake for maybe a total of 3-4 hours a day max. He sleeps a lot. For example, yesterday he woke up at 2am for a feeding/diaper change and didn't wake up again until 9 am and that was because I had to wake him so I could change his diaper and feed him and he went back to sleep by like 10:30ish. Sorry to ramble, but I guess my questions are: how long should a 2 wk old be sleeping? and Can they sleep too much?

Avion22 · April 2014

Sounds normal. Seven hours sounds like a really long stretch for a two-week old to go without eating though?

fourthnlast · April 2014

All i have to say is enjoy it! I'm insanely jealous!!!! Does your LO sleep all day too?

WifeofaComposer · April 2014

It's normal for babies to sleep up to 20 hours per day for the first month. The only concern with one who sleeps for 6+ hours at a time is that they are missing a feeding and may not gain weight as quickly as expected. Try to wake him up after 5 or 6 hours to feed him if he doesn't get hungry on his own. As long as your baby is alert when he is awake, and doesn't seem sluggish or disinterested in stuff, he's likely fine - BUT, I'm not a doctor, I'm just a mom and a childcare provider, so I would recommend you talk with your baby's practitioner.

snowbound · April 2014

Oh how I wish this were true in my situation. My newborn didn't get the memo apparently. Lucky you!

babym6705 · April 2014

I love that he sleeps such long stretches and he has regained his birthweight and he is alert when he is awake, but the long stretches make me so nervous. I have a 4 yr old daughter and when she was a newborn she woke every 2-3 hours on her own. My pediatrician said it was fine but I have never heard of a newborn sleeping this long of stretches either.

LindsayB0505 · April 2014

I asked the health nurse about this the other day because my son had been literally sleeping all except for about 2, 1 hour stretches up until Friday (he now has a little more awake time during the day). She said it was totally normal as long as he is having the right amount of diapers. He does however, wake up to eat on his own every 3-4 hours.

Ashleypixie · April 2014

I was so nervous about it too! My pediatrician told me that newborns sleep 20 hours a day. I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts because she spends most of her waking hours pissed off or hungry.

LittleLady77 · April 2014

My munchkins are just over 4 weeks now and starting to wake up MUCH more and it's getting very difficult to stimulate and hold them as much as they want. Enjoy the sleepy, squishy newborn phase!