Hammocks, boobies and awake time for newborns....

1/ We hired a hammock today and OMG - such a difference. I wouldn't say James has reflux, but he is a little chucky, swallows great amounts of air and every time we put him down he would wake up within a few minutes grunting and straining and we would go through the pacing settling routine and get him asleep again and put him back sometimes up to 4-5 times until he settled which would leave me with about an hour sleep between feeds. Since getting it this arvo he has slept for a 3 hour stint (record since being home) and has looked so peaceful in it. I really think the angle and movement is helping all that milk stay down and not hurt his tummy so hooray for hammocks!! :D

2/ I know never wake a sleeping baby but last night James fell asleep in his bouncer and slept for 7 hours and needless to say, after feeding 3 hourly, I woke in agony with rock hard boobies. SHould I just let him sleep at night if he does this now with the hammock? I am happy to get up and express a tiny bit for relief and he has put on 430grams in 9 days so Im not worried about him getting enough but I just can't remember this happening this early with Izzy. I am pretty much demand feeding and he is demanding 2-4 hourly (average 3 hourly more often than not).

3/ How much awake time do newborns need/want? We are watching for tired signs etc but sometimes he will fall asleep after a feed and I will try to wake him and he just won't stir - only to stir awake 10 minutes later in bed, so then Im not sure if I should keep him up a bit or just resettle. Am trying to keep him up a bit during the day when he stirs and not at night. Again I just can't remember! About 20 mins max seems to be how long he lasts - does that seem right???

Ok Im off to relax while my little guy snoozes in his hammock - SO glad he seems so much more settled and not struggling with his sore tum. :D

My thoughts are if he is sleeping longer during the night - let him! Unless he is underweight or jaundiced then I would let him be. That way he can establish his own sleep patterns. I know it kills the BBs but they settle down and get used the pattern after a few weeks.

From memory DD wouldn't be able to stay awake for longer than 30 min after a feed during the day and would be needing a sleep after that short amount of time.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that you should not let a newborn go any longer than 4 hours between feeds.

Newborns need min 9 hrs at night and 7hrs during the day. I remember DS only lasting abou 20mins or so when he was afew weeks old. DS would often feed then fall asleep. He now lasts about 1- 1.5 hrs before getting tired.

Tan, I'm jealous, you're a lucky chook to be getting 7hrs!! I would just leave him, if he's settled enough to sleep that long and putting on plenty of weight, there's no need to worry I wouldn't think. And as for the wake/sleep thing, some days Liam would just fall straight back to sleep after feeding, he still does occaisionally. But I would say that 20-40min would be about the average time for a bub so young.

Its funny how quickly you forget.....

i remember with DD#3 i could not believe how much she was sleeping in first few weeks. People would come over to visit and she was always asleep. A feed, 10-20 mins of wake time, and that was it. She was buggered by then !! I agree with the others, he is still so new, i say he is getting the sleep he needs......

Ooooh Tan, where do you hire hammocks from?
I used to let Natty go 5.5 hours max overnight (just cause I thought I should wake her - wasn't based on anything) but this time round I will just let bubs go for as long as they like overnight! Bring on the sleep, I say! Especially if he's feeding really regularly during the day. If you reckon he's getting enough feeds in before and after the big sleep then it sounds like you're onto a winner.
Can't remember the waking time for newborns. Honestly can't remember. Max 20 mins sounds very reasonable.

In the early days Brock would wake after 3 hours and we'd have time to change him and feed him then he'd often go back to sleep right after feeding (sometimes in the middle of it) - he didn't have much awake time at all. I never woke him for a feed but he always woke every 3 or 4 hours back then. I'm pretty sure bubs would wake if they needed a feed.

Thanks all! The 7 hours was definitely a once off but since having the hammock overnight he is going 4 hourly which is much nicer than 2-3! I think I will just play it by ear as far as the wake time goes because as you said Kellie he sometimes doesn't even last 20 mins so will see how we go!

Amy - google Hire for Baby, they have outlets all over Australia and we got ours for a week and have an option to buy after that but usually you can carry on and hire for another 3 mths. They are Amby hammocks and very reasonably priced. :)

Thanks Tan :) Will look into it.