Need help with bedtime and sleeping

Lskypeck · October 2014

DS is 6.5 weeks. Our pediatrician suggested the following schedule to get him to sleep at night: Wake up 7am- feed, keep him awake for at least an hour 10am- feed, keep him awake for at least an hour 1pm-same as above 4pm- keep baby awake until 7pm with last bottle at 7. We try to stick to this as much as possible, but DS is getting sleepy around 6 and I know it's too early to put him to bed. Lately it seems like he isn't napping for very long during the day, only 30-45 minutes at a time. We will have some good days/nights where he'll sleep from 9:30pm to 1:30am, 2am to 6am and sometimes we have terrible nights when it seems like he is just wide awake from 10pm to 2 or 3am. It's really wearing on me and DH. He works second shift so it's just me doing the bedtime routine 4x a week. Right now DS takes about 4oz of breastmilk every 3-4 hours and is gaining weight. any suggestions? I think we need to push bedtime back to 8 or 9, so should I just let him nap around 5 or 6? I'm driving myself insane looking at the Internet For ideas, don't rock him, put him down when sleepy etc. we use a pacifier and he hates being swaddled, he likes his hands free to put over his head. We either rock him to sleep in our arms or in the glider. It can take up to an hour! Any advice or help is appreciated. We'd like to be on some kind of schedule by the time I go back to work in December. P.S sorry if the formatting sucks, I hear iPads can do that on this forum.

Lskypeck · October 2014

We started out trying to get his nights and days unmixed up. Is this not a good schedule to try and get DS to STTN? We tried a later bedtime last night and he did really well, woke up around 12:30am, 3 and 6:30

littlemissmarla · October 2014

Way too early to be on schedule, please don't try to keep your newborn up in order to make him STTN later, he needs to sleep when he wants to sleep to help him grown and develop! December is a long ways away.. we allowed DD to set her own schedule, shes 12w and has been STTN since 10w. You don't know where your LO will be at that point so try not to force it.

Lskypeck · October 2014

Thanks for the responses. I guess I'm just worried about going back to work. I'll try to be more relaxed and let DS set the schedule.

ashiscute · October 2014

At 6.5 weeks I would just follow his lead. It is crazy to try to keep a newborn awake when they are tired. I understand that you want things to be a bit easier when you're at work but I think it will be more difficult to try adhering to a schedule that doesn't fit your LO. Where did your pedi come up with this schedule anyway?

I would keep up with a bedtime routine. Bath, jammies, song, feed, rock whatever. At this age you need to get your LO to sleep however it works for you. I nursed both of mine to sleep until they weaned (13 and 14 months).

I feel like STTN is some magic land that people are always talking about and trying to attain but really some shit (4 month wakeful, teething, sickness, learning new skills) is always going to happen and regressions will always take over. Just work on getting him enough quality sleep each day.

junebug555 · October 2014

My LO is 6 weeks now and I'm trying to figure this out myself. But,at least, what I've gathered so far is let LO sleep whenever, but I wake her up during the day when it's been 3 hours since her last bottle. She sleeps during the day anywhere between 30 min to 1 1/2hrs. She usually has her evening bottles (on her schedule) pretty consistently around 8-9pm, 11-12, 3am and then 6am.
I've been trying to lay her in her crib as soon as I see the first sign of sleepiness, even though she wakes right back up when I lay her down. I still keep her there and pat her. The only thing I'm trying to figure out now is whether to swaddle her day and nights or just nights (she hates this too, but she sleeps longer when she sleeps with it vs without it).
And the last thing I'm trying to figure out is when to do the bedtime routine - for the 8pm or 11 feeding. I'm guessing the 8.
I know this didn't answer much, but I hope it helps that your LO's sleep routine seems pretty normal.

nienot · October 2014

Now that I'm back to work, I prefer a longer sleep right before I wake up to go to work as opposed to two short periods of sleep during the night. So, I've really been trying to wear my LO out by keeping him up as much as possible in the evening and he'll usually go down around 11, and I stay up and get things done I need to from 11 until 1 or so, and then wake him up about 1am to eat again and then he will usually sleep from about 2am until 7am, which is enough for me before work.

Good luck, but I agree with others...don't stress so much about a schedule.

Lskypeck · October 2014

He's been extra sleepy today, so I'm going to try to go with the flow and let him sleep on his schedule. I'll let you know how it goes! I didn't think he would be sleeping through the night, I was just hoping for longer stretches. Sorry if I was confusing in my wording. All of your responses are very helpful!

heatherdances · October 2014

I let my 8 week old sleep when she wants, she is just happier and sleeps better at "night". She takes around 4 naps a day with one of them being around 7-8ish but she always wakes up again and that is when we bathe her and give her an evening bottle. We put her down between 10 PM and 11 PM and most of the time she sleeps until 2 or 3. Stop wracking your brain on how to get them to sleep, I did this and it drove me crazy...just do what the baby wants and you both will be happier!

Unknown · October 2014

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M2M85 · October 2014

its pretty rare to have a newborn on a schedule, like everyone else said. swaddling helped us a lot with our LO sleeping and she sleeps great in her zippy sack now. This is a phase and your LO will be sleeping through the night before you know it. Just put them in the crib, the earlier the better.

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