On a different note I'm wondering how much is too little sleep for an 8 week old. DS does sleep pretty well at night. He tends to sleep 10:30pm to 4:30am ish then 5:30am to 8:30/9ish am(before the last 2 nights) but at 8;30/9 does not want a feed...if offerred he will take a few sips and then pull away. He has a little cuddle in bed with me and plays. He wants a feed around 10 and will not go down for a sleep until 11:30/12 ish and his sleep is unsettled with frequent waking. I know this is way too long for him to be awake at 1 stretch but he will not do it any other way...he will not go to sleep before the feed or straight after the feed or even after just a very short playtime. He then has unsettled sleep till about 2pm prob has max 1.5, maybe 2 hours sleep. He has another feed, has a play and goes to sleep about 3 - 4. Again often unsettled sleep with frequent waking. Wakes about 5:30ish. He will then not sleep at all or at the most maybe 45mins between 6ish feed and 9:30/10ish feed. I do wait for his tired signs and all that before starting to get him to sleep during the day.
This doesn't seem like enough to me and he seems to get himself overtired all the time but even if put down to sleep earlier he will not sleep well during the day or in the evening. I feel he's not getting enough quality sleep and that in itself is affecting his sleeping in general. Is there a point where an 8 week old is not getting enough sleep?
Thats a tough question, I remember back then we were all the over place with sleep. I think Ash was having roughly 3 naps day but only for 40mins at each.
I think its hard for them at that age to resettle themselves thats why he may wake frequently. When you first put him down how does he go to sleep? I used to feed Ash to sleep at that age so therefore whenever she woke she needed the breast to resettle.
Just try to go with the flow, I know it can be stressful, I used to always worry Ash wasn't having enough sleep and it didn't help when I had MIL telling me my daughter had bags under her eyes cause i wasn't letting her sleep enough.
Does he seem really unsettled in between as though he needs more? When he wakes from his naps what mood is he in? Although Ash had only 40min sleeps she would wake happy and there was no way I could settle her for longer.
In the babylove book, it says that generally newborn babies (0-3months) will sleep somewhere between 9 and 18 hours every 24. Having said that, I'd agree with Shell and ask if you think your baby is getting enough sleep.
Natalie was never a good daytime sleeper, which didn't bother me much at first because she'd sleep well at night. She's only just starting to sort out her daytime sleeps now. I realise now though, that she was generally really cranky because she was overtired. If I were to have that time again, I'd do all I could to resettle her, maybe get a sling to wear her.
Its a hard thing for a first time mum to assess, particularly when you're so tired, but I'd say go with what you feel is best. You are the one who's going to know your baby best.
i had the exact same worries as you, and at the moment, i have come to the conclusion that it is timing.... i think that they reach a certain age (for me it has been very recently so i may be speaking too soon) where things just click, and they start sleeping better, and start realising going down for a nap isn't the end of the world. when i put hollie down now she actually TRIES to fall asleep, where as before she would fight it with all her might.
hollie was a shocker for sleeping during the day, absolutely hopeless, and yesterday she had 3 naps of 2 hours each, i couldn't believe it.
hang in there, you might find that you will reach a point soon(for hollie it was 13-14 weeks) where things settle down and become more routine and predictable. it has to happen eventually, just hang in there and try not to worry too much. so much easier said than done as i am the biggest worrier ever.
aaaaaaaagh i soooo jinxed myself... last night was one of the worsts.... from 1.30am until 5am waking up every 10 minutes for the dummy.... at 5am i took her into bed with me and patted her back.... i had no sleep... have decided the dummy has to go.... i feel it is only going to get worse so am going to try going cold turkey today. its going to be a bad day
How much is too little sleep?
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