6 Weeks Old - Sleep/Awake Cycles

E is just over 6 weeks old, and is obviously getting past the newborn sleep/eat/poo cycle and needs some more up/awake/play time.

What sort of sleep/up times have your babies had?

On the whole he is a very laid back baby and not causing us any grief, at the moment he is sleeping on average 6hours at night (from about 10pm), with a quick feed then down for another 3-4hours which is great - its during the day i am worried i am not doing the right thing!
This week he has been a little unsettled during the day so I want to make sure he is getting enough stimulation etc.

i know all babies are different - just wondering what sort of cycles (i dont want to say routine!) you had with your babies at this age?

Any help/advice/experiences would be appreciated.

When babies are over stimulated they can get very unsettled but my only thought or advice is to follow your babies cues.. sorry probably not a great deal of help.

Just a quickie as I am typing one handed :)

My first was only up for an hour inc feed time at six weeks. I think I have babies that need alot of sleep tho as he is just growing out of his day sleep now at three and a half! This little one is awake for half hour at most or he starts getting over tired and unsettled. Watch for tired signs such as frowning or yawning as he might actually be tired still. Even at 6 weeks they still need alot of day sleep but some bubs cope better with less sleep than what mine do :)

thanks girls for replying!

I dont think over stimulation is the problem - we arent keeping him long at all most of the time - besides a change and feed - which is why i thought maybe he wasnt tired at all and needed more awake time!

will keep watching his signs and see how it goes.

with dd2 she was still sleeping quite alot at 6 wks, but i do a little game, not really a massage but similar, rubbing her head, then arms, tummy etc etc all over her body while making eye contact and chatting to her, i found that would use that last little bit of energy up. or a little outside time, she loves looking at the sun/shadows etc. i think at that age the simplest things can be exhausting for them. if shes really unsettled a shower finishes her off and she sleeps for hours after. shes 11wks now and has a little bit more awake time, but not that much more. im sure your doing great!!

6 week old babies can tire really quickly - I wouldn't worry too much about "keeping" DS awake - focus more on the tired cues (you need to figure out what they are as all babies have different signs) and making sure you put him down when he needs it. My DS is 5.5 months and still sleeps a lot - so much so that I have posted twice on bellybelly worrying about how much he sleeps and also called the MCHN once about it. No one but me was worried - some babies need a lot of sleep and I've been told to enjoy it while it lasts.

When he was little and awake we tried to really engage with him - like the suggestions above - I'd also hold him and bring him outside and describe what he was seeing - also, tummy time - and just sitting with him and cuddling and talking to him, making silly faces, twinkling my fingers around his head so he'd eye track, kiss him and tell him where I was kissing him, and dance for him so he can watch (kind of how I get my cardio and he loves it), read really short books, look at family photos and talk about who everyone is, etc (and no way did I fit all these things in during any single awake period - 1 or 2 activities per awake period was enough). Often he would start showing tired signs after 30 minutes and this was even more true right after his "longer" night sleep.

just another quick note about tummy time - it doesn't all have to be on the mat. you can do it on your body (or on your husband's/partner's body). Lay on the floor (or couch) and put DS on his tummy on your chest - he will try to lift his head to look at you - it's so cute and close up...if he tires, he'll put his head down on you...they don't do tummy time for that long at that age. We also used to (and still do) tummy time on bent knees (meaning I'm sitting in a chair and DS is lying across my lap)...I think this used to help his tummy as well, also, if he was tired and couldn't settle, I'd do this and he'd fall asleep that way if I rubbed his back or patted his bottom. We continue to use laps and bodies for tummy time because DS has started to roll from tummy to back and the body-to-body tummy time is the only way he'll stay on his tummy for any length of time...and everyone loves it!

Also, people use a fit ball for tummy time as well - I hear babies love this - they also love being held while you sit on a fit ball and bounce gently up and down (so I've been told)

thanks heaps buliej - everything you have said makes complete sense, and im going to give some of the different types of tummy time a try!

also have realised now i need to be happy in what we are doing and not to worry too much about what other babies are doing, or what the books say etc etc

thanks again :)