Too much sleep in a sling ???

Hi,

My baby is 8 weeks old, and for the majority of that time has slept during the day in a HAB. He sleeps for two sleeps during the day of 2 hours and one of around an hour. He hates when i sit down, so for most of that time i am standing. He wakes if i take him out, and won't sleep anywhere else during the day.

At night he co sleeps with us from 8pm waking at 11-12 pm, 3-4am and then 6-7 am.

I know he's only little but i have two concerns,

a) i love the sling, but my back and legs are sore and all i do is stand ( really weird if people are over ), starting to be a bit over it.

b) is he having too much sleep in the day to sleep through ? ( I know it's early onbut with all the standing it would be lovely. I just kind of get the feeling that he cannot stay awake in the sling and therefore may be getting more sleep than he needs.

Any thoughts ?

I think if he's happy to go to sleep & stays asleep then he probably needs the sleep. If he is only 8w old then he'll still need quite a bit of sleep and a 2 & 1.5 hour sleep doesn't sound excessive to me. Waking 3 times a night at 8w old would be pretty normal too. My DS spent a lot of time sleeping in the HAB up until he was around 9-10 months I think. Sometimes it was the only way I could get him to have a day sleep and he would happily sleep for 2-3 hours in it.

As for only sleeping when you are standing - I'm thinking there could be a few reasons for this. Maybe he likes the slight rocking movement (after all bubs are rocked to sleep in the womb as mum walks around), in this case you could either stand until he's in a deep sleep, try sitting in chair and rocking/swaying, or try sitting on one of those gym/fit ball things and bounce gently on that. If you make sure he is in a deep sleep before you attempt to stay still then it may help, and if he starts to stir you can rock/bounce slightly to try to settle him. Also the position you are sitting in may make a difference. Kynan preferred it when I was sitting up straight, not leaning forward or slouched down in a chair.

HTH!

thanks Angel, great to get some reassurance, I think my family think I am mad. I will try sitting up straight, maybe a fit ball is a good idea.

Thanks heaps

I live on the fit ball atm with Jovie in the HAB during the day, or I wait for her to get to a deeper sleep & then sit down. I have been having a sore back lately too and its pretty hard having her in the HAB and chasing Matilda at the same time, but if I put her down for too long she gets pretty cranky, so I'm rather her feel secure. I sit on the fit ball & check out BB while bouncing away.

Olivia,

My daughter (also called Olivia!) spent the first 4 months asleep all day every day in a Bjorn.....it was the only way she would settle.

And like Angel and Christy have said, wait till your son is in a deep sleep to sit....I could always sit upright on a sesk chair and Olivia would stay asleep.

I also mastered the art of "the transfer".......wait till she was in a deep sleep & then trasnfer her into her hammock. (We did this to get her down at night every night!)

I wouldn't worry about "too much" sleep.......they take what they need and will soon let you know when they want wide awake time!

Good luck!

Thanks everyone ...good advice. I will have to try harder to get him out asleep. Sitting up straight is a good idea. When I lay back, like on a sofa, he trys to squirm out the top, even when he's asleep.