Just wondering how long your babies were sleeping for each day at 7/8 weeks. And do they go go sleep straight away after each feed?
My little one who will be 8 weeks on Tuesday quite often doesn't want to go to sleep after a feed. He is not upset or unhappy just doesn't want to sleep. He is happy to lie in his cradle watching the world go by and then may or may not fall asleep on his own. Normally after a feed I wrap him, cuddle him and try to rock to sleep in arms - sometimes this works and his eyes will close and he will drift off but most of the time he is looking around eyes wide open. Very rarely will he cry if he is put down in the cradle. He is happy little baby and very alert so don't think we have an over tired / stimulated baby issue here.
Any advice on what the rest of you are doing would be great. Or how long they should be awake for at this stage.
DD is 4 months old now and she rarely makes it 2 hours awake before its time for bed. Generally she stays up for about 1 1/2 hours then she is tired and ready to go to bed. Although she normally only sleeps for 30 mins, 1 hour if I'm lucky, or 2 hours if i'm really really lucky!
At that age he is probably just starting to 'wake up' and be interested in his surroundings, rather than just eat & sleep. As long as he doesn't seem unhappy I'm sure he's fine and getting enough sleep, and probably just saying "hello world"!
I know with DD we don't follow the MCHN 'rule' of sleep, eat, play, it's more sleep, eat, play, sleep, play, eat, play, sleep etc. Just depends on how long she decides to sleep for!
There is a website called Ngala which has a great table...its a link that says secrets of good sleeps. It just gives basic general info on awake times how much sleep needed etc and this is the info for 0-3months
Breastfeeds approx 2-4hr throughout 24hr period
Tired signs - Jerky arms and legs, pulling away (disengages), difficulty focussing, clenched fists, grizzly cry
Sleep amount - Total sleep 16-17hrs 7hrs during day. 9hrs at night, interrupted by feeds.
Sleep patterns - sleep 20mins-5hrs, most sleeps 1-3hrs, one sleep each 24hrs may be up to 6hrs
Awake times - Usually tired after 1 - 1.5hrs awake time, may stay awake for up to 2-3 once in a 24hr cycle.
Play activites - Watching faces, listening to voices, singing, cuddles touch and massage.
It sounds like you aredoing great, if you are feeding when you baby wakes it is unliikely he will want to go immediately back to sleep. I think maybe try to take note of when your baby wakes and 1 - 1.5hrs later when he shows tired signs, touching his face etc and that way you havent missed that point and have an overtired baby.
Its the sleep amount on the table that it confusing me. The 16-17 hrs as he won't be getting that. And doesn't seem to be interested in getting it nor appears to be an overtired baby. Maybe I am completely missing the signs but he is generally happy very rarely cries. Only if I don't get my act in gear quickly enough once he has decided he wants to be fed! His eyes are wide open and looking around some times I'll continue to hold him and rock gently talking to him, other times I put in his rocker and other times I'll put him to bed - if I do that I hear him talking away to himself. When he does sleep however is at night after feeds in the later evening and middle of night he will go to sleep then.
My feeds normally take approx 1 hr (am topping up as well as offering breast - has been some issues) and aiming for 7+ per day. So if I take 7 x 1 = 7 and then take that from 24 that leave 17. If I then add in some awake time plus settling time I am way under the 16-17 hrs.
Now the advice that I've received regarding when he starts demand feeding properly is that feeds of 8-12 per day will be common which will reduce down the time available to sleep even further! At the moment he wakes for some feeds and then I have to wake him for others.
Congratulations Meadsie, sounds like you are doing a fantastic job and have a very happy, healthy little man.
I wouldn't get too caught up in what the books/experts say you should and shouldn't be doing, instead I'd focus on what your little man is telling you. By the sounds of things he's getting all the sleep he needs and simply wanting to soak up the world around him. All babies are different and need different amounts of sleep, the averages are just averages and you will always have babies at either end of the spectrum.
I know when my DS was 6 weeks I started keeping a record of his sleeps to see how much he slept in a 24 hour period and it always seemed to averages out to about 13 hours a day. I asked our paed about it and he said not to worry, it was a bit below the average, but he was doing well so it wasn't anything to get too concerned about.
You'll probably find that over the next month or so he may start to feed a lot, lot faster too. My DS used to take at least 45 minutes, but now at 4 months both sides are pretty much over and done with within 15 mins.
I think you're just one of the blessed mums who has a happy, healthy little one who has naturally fallen into his own routine! My first was just the same. He fed every 3-4 hrs and would be more than happy to lie awake in his cot for a good 15-30mins just taking in his surroundings. I remember catching him, at 12weeks, staring intently at his hands, holding them up in the air, so cute!
It's also fantastic that Sam falls asleep by himself. Try to let him do that as often as possible, as it will save your sanity when he's older, trust me. He's teaching himself how to fall asleep, so letting him do this for most naps reinforces his learning... although definately make exceptions, as there's nothing more treasured than a snuggle with your bub as they drift off to the land of nod.
Keep doing what you're doing. sounds like its working a treat!
No worries Meadsie! when ds2 was around the 2months mark he was diagnosed with silent reflux, it was keeping him awake for up to 12hrs during the day, he would be happy and sooooo alert but a baby that age can't be ok to stay awake that long. I'm not at all suggesting that ur ds has silent reflux just meaning overtired can be a happy highly alert baby doesnt have to mean screaming etc.
I can see what you mean with the length of your feeds etc and try to fit it all in. Miss excited is right feeds are likely to speed up a lot soon and I agree I wouldnt stress about the table either, I have just found it to be a good guide. Just let ur ds be the guide you really are doing great and it is amazing how quickly things change and problems fix themselves and babies go into their own natural routine
How long does your baby sleep for?
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