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Not sure how much sleep babies should have in the day? Some people say the more sleep babies have the more they want but that does not always seem the case with us.

William can sleep anywhere from 2 - 6 hours in the day. When he has only 2 hours sleep his is very grizzly but sleeps great at night, when he has 5-6 hours he wakes more at night for feeds and is more restless.

Yesterday he only had about 2 hours all day with no sleep in the afternoon. He was very upset and cried lots though. He fell asleep at 5pm and slept until 12:45am. (7hrs 45 mins)

Today he fell asleep at 8:45am and is still asleep... that is just over 2.5 hours sleep. He will probably do the same this afternoon as we are in all day today.

Some people say not to wake a sleeping baby BUT some people have routines so must have to wake their baby?! I don't really know what to do as obviously I don't want him upset but he won't sleep tonight?! I have made so much noise to try and disturb him but he is flat out so obviously needs the sleep.....

Please can I have your opinions?!

x



Replies

  • Hi, I think that if you find he gets his best sleep when awake a bit moe during the day then wake him if you want. You know him best and do what you think is right.

    I find with charlotte that the better she naps during the day the better she sleeps at night, but I also find that if she can have half hour kip in the hour before her 6pm bedtime then she falls asleep better and sleeps better.

    How old is he ? Do you have a bedtime routine for him yet, if not that could help with the night sleeping to help him differentiate (sp) day and night.
  • Thank you.

    He is 10 weeks today.

    We do have a bedtime routine but I find that I rush to do it as I am worried he is going to fall asleep. So I start it anywhere between 5:45pm & 6:30pm. We do bath, bottle then bed. Usually he is asleep by 7:30pm but tonight he was really tired and was asleep at 6:40pm.

    If he does fall asleep about 4:30pm I decided to let him have an hour then wake him. He is then really upset and the bath and bedtime routine is really stressful. It is hard to know what to do for the best as I don't want to upset him but want him to get used to having a bedtime routine.

    Thank you for your advice.

    x

  • How long have you been doing the routine ? It may be that it'll take a while for him to get used to it. To be honest its all just trial and error.
  • We have been doing the routine for 2 - 3 weeks. Some nights when I get him into his growbag he starts crying like he knows he has to go to sleep! Sometimes I think it would be eaisier for him to fall asleep on me downstairs when he is ready then put him to bed but then I know it is better in the long run if he does have a routine.

    Thank you for your advice anyway, I have found it is trial and error.

  • It was a good few weeks before my lo was used to the routine. We used to leave her to cry a little bit coz sometimes she would still drop off but if not a little cuddle and pop her back down seemed to work.

    One thing we found that lo loved was a musical star thing that shone a moving picture on the ceiling ! She loves it and from the time we began using it she would always fall asleep to it, and we still use it now at 22 weeks old. Maybe you could try something like that ? Divert his attention from knowing he has to go to sleep, did that sentence even make sense ?
  • Yes that did make sense, thank you very much. He is in his moses basket still at the moment but hopefully will be going in to his cot in the next couple of weeks. So all will probably change then anyway but we will definitely look to get something like a musical projector!

    Sometimes I put him down and he falls straight off to sleep. Other times he moves about so much and gets upset, so I try to shh/pat him and if that does not work I pick him up and cuddle him until he calms down then put him back down. I keep doing this until he falls asleep..... Sometimes can take 45 mins, I feel bad as he gets upset. I never leave him though I am always there by his side as I lye on the bed waiting to see if he wakes up once asleep so I can nip the crying in the bud by shh/patting him before it gets too bad. If he gets too upset I pick him up.

    Just want to know I am doing the right thing really.

  • Well there is no right or wrong so dont worry there. Maybe try leaving the room, you could stand outside the door if you feel better. It could be as he knows you're in the room he is crying to get your attention and a cuddle ?

    Also dont forget he's a little person and like us i'm sure just sometimes cant get to sleep. I know I get frustrated when i'm tired and cant sleep so i'm sure babies get the same way.

    From the sounds of things you are doing fine hunni, just perservere and i'm sure it will work itself out !
  • Thank you for the reassurance!

  • He is still quite a little person and I can honestly say we had no routine at that point (and still only have a vague one!) so don't worry too much.

    I found my attempts at routines were often disrupted by growth spurts, feeding changes, teething etc. So lots of other things could potentially change it.

    Keep your chin up and keep trying, you know your baby best!
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