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Any tips on keeping baby awake during the day?

Think this is my first official post in Baby image

My Baby Boy is 18 days old today and i'm shattered from him wanting to feed every 2 hours at night (so only 1 hr sleep at a time). Been trying to get him into some sort of routine and he's been quite good at only waking once between 11pm and 6/7am for the last 2 nights.

Unfortunately yesterday he slept for AGES during the day (he would fall asleep straight after a feed and i just couldnt get him to stay awake) and so was awake for 2 hours at 3.30am! he just wouldn't go back to sleep

so does anyone have any tips for the following:

1) Keeping baby awake during the day (outside of nap times) - particularly just after feeding

2) Getting baby back to sleep when he wakes up in the middle of the night


thx

Replies

  • Hey holly i dont know if it will help but if i want caleb to be awake after a feed a leave changing his nappy until after he has eaten. It usually wakes him up. Hope you get some good answers....and some sleep xxx
  • I'm not sure of the best way to put this but its normal for them to sleep during the day like that, personally i don't think you should be trying to keep him awake, if he sleeps its because he is tired. A baby that young won't respond to a routine and should be sleeping about 18 hours or more a day? I find if they sleep well in the day they normally sleep well at night?

    I don't want to be negative because I know how hard it is at first so its not a criticism ;\) As regards night times, sometimes its a developmental thing and at such a young age i think they have yet to settle in to a routine of sleeping at night and waking during the day, you have to give them time to work it out? Have you got the room completely dark? Do you pick him up when he wakes up (maybe try leaving him?), is he feeding at that time of the morning so is he hungry? maybe try a dummy?
  • hey sweets. Isobel sleeps loads during the day and also feeds every two hours. I, like you, wanted to keep her awake more during the day and spent two days doing lots of activity after feeds and consequently had the worse week we've experienced. Poor Izzy got far too overstimulated and overtired and didnt get enough sleep. she'd scream and fight feeds because she was shattered and still woke every 2 hours throughout the night image Once i realised this i went back to encouraging naps after every feed and she is so happy and content now. She has also started in the last 2 weeks to settle more at night (sleeps from 7pm-2am). hang in there chick, it gets easier xx
  • hi there, congratulations on your new baby!
    We had a similar situation develop when my LO would sleep a lot during the day and want to party at night, it didnt take much tweaking to get him to change this....these are the things that worked for us...

    Always started the day at the same time..(this was 8am for us)
    After his breakfast feed i would top and tail him which would keep him awake for a while
    In the afternoon after lunch feed i would do an olive oil massage he used to love this and he was always wide awake but very relaxed, he would then have a nice nap, and in the evening we would give him a small feed, then bath him and then finish his feed upstairs in dim light, he was then swaddled and put to bed around 7.30ish.

    We saw results in a few days, he wasnt over stimulated but he started to know the difference between night and day by having a little 'activity' after each feed during the day, he was still getting plenty of sleep but his awake periods were always in the day and not at night!! (at night we would feed with minimal light and not much noise)

    I hope you find some things from my rambling that will also work for you

  • You have to let a baby this young sleep whenever they want, it's as simple as that. There is no way you'll get a routine going at this point, the only routine you can hope for is that you adapt to him not that he adapts to you, in other words sleep in the daytime if that's when he sleeps.
  • I personally think a baby should sleep when they want/need to sleep. If you try and keep the baby awake when they are tired you will make him overtired and then he will struggle to sleep. It isn't physically possible for a newborn baby to stay awake for long periods as they need their sleep time to aid growth and development.
    Most newborn babies only go 2-3 hours at night. This is perfectly normal. They only have tiny tummies so can only take small amounts at a time. Plus if you are breastfeeding they digest the milk quicker than a formula fed baby so need feeding more often.
    It does get easier in time. My little man will be 7 weeks tomorrow and is going 3 hours at a time through the night, but he is fed, changed and put back down within 10-15 minutes.
    I would let your baby lead the way and in time he will find his own routine and settle into it.
    At the end of the day nobody gets a decent nights sleep in the first few weeks its just part and parcel of becoming a parent. xx
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