6 weeks old and he's never awake

laurenlalap · December 2016

I feel crazy as I've been reassured by 2 doctors that it's normal, but my good friend had a baby a week after me and her baby is 100x more alert than my DS.
I rarely see my son's eyes open... ever. He sleeps all day, every day. He will wake to feed every 2-4 hours, but usually it's just crying and screaming with his eyes still closed because he's hungry. He'll feed with his eyes closed and usually pass out on my breast.
He opens his eyes during diaper changes sometimes, and when I feed him naked to try and wake him up a bit, it's still difficult to rouse him and still difficult for him to keep his eyes open.

Anyone else have a baby like this? My first son was not like this at all. It's kind of alarming.

rspalding001 · December 2016

My DS sleeps way more than my DD did. It's weird for me too especially since I was conditioned to expect more awake time and overall fussiness. If it helps I have heard that the second child is usually more calm than the first so maybe it's normal? As long as he is eating enough and not alert at night vs the day I wouldn't worry too much. As im sure you already know nothing stays the same for long with babies

hollowway · December 2016

I would embrace the calm while you can! DS is an easier baby than DD was, but still not a sleep all day kind of baby. Before you know it, you'll be wishing he would just take a nap!

SandNStarsNJ · December 2016

I was just wondering the same thing about awake time. While DS is only 2.5 weeks, I feel like there is very little genuine, eyes open, awake time. He eats, but sometimes I wonder if he's really alert doing that.

arcticseal-2 · December 2016

Joining the very sleepy child club. My daughter is just over 5 weeks and is starting to pull more consistent 2 hr. awake stretches but she does sleep all day quite often. I read once that babies do sleep 16-20 hours a day. My daughter is definitely on the 20+ hrs a day side. That being wrote my second daughter was on the 16 or less side so....

laurenlalap · December 2016

Thank you everyone!
So it's almost midnight and I was militant with timing the minutes he had his eyes open for during the past 24 hours. It was only an hour and 10 minutes. Do you still think this is ok or does it warrant a trip to the doctors?

SandNStarsNJ · December 2016

laurenlalap said:

Thank you everyone!
So it's almost midnight and I was militant with timing the minutes he had his eyes open for during the past 24 hours. It was only an hour and 10 minutes. Do you still think this is ok or does it warrant a trip to the doctors?

I'd call the doctor just to be on the safe side, especially if there are other concerning factors like minimal weight gain. I mean, what's the worst they say, it's fine?

PrettyPalomino · December 2016

Mine is 3 weeks and also a 20+ hour/day sleeper. She wakes for feeds but I'm glad I never had to increase how many feeds a day she gets because I could never wake her. Not even a bath wakes her when she's really deep into sleep... but when she's hungry she screams bloody murder so I assume she's got good energy for the things that matter in life at the moment!

MLS6212 · December 2016

*Lurking from March 2016*

So first of all, I was absolutely shocked when I opened this thread and saw a picture of my old kitty, Allie, who passed away 6.5 years ago. Of course, that's not my cat, but holy crap do they look similar!

Image may contain cat

But I actually do have some relevant input! My son was the same way when he was little. We actually had a lot of difficulty nursing because he wouldn't stay awake long enough to eat (and when he was awake and trying to nurse he wasn't latching very well and would scream and push away from me). We'd try stripping him down to his diaper to feed, gently pinching his arms and legs, gently blowing in his face, nothing helped him stay awake. Eventually he started being awake and more alert and now he's a *very* active 9 month old who tends to fight sleep. As long as your pediatrician isn't concerned and your son is getting enough to eat and maintaining his weight I wouldn't worry about it.

I can't get over that cat though...

mrsmoose5 · December 2016

Enjoy it. My 6 week old is going on hour 5 of being awake ... and it's not happy awake :-|

knottie6f6d3f98cecb2888 · March 2024

Hi @laurenlalap, I am having the same situation and wanted to know if it’s something I should worry about or it’s something normal for some babies?
Thanks!

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