6 week old nights

[Whiffle77]

Just wondering when I should be trying to formalise a night time routine for my six week old?

Generally at the minute he is cluster feeding 5pm on and off until 9. I then go to bed alone to get some sleep. he will then have two bottle feeds of expressed milk downstairs from DH (depending on when I last fed him), who then brings him upstairs to me between 1.30 and 2.30. He will (usually) then get a good stretch of sleep - sometimes until 4am but sometimes until 6am (i wake him at this point if he has gone this long). He will then sleep again for another decent stretch (again timings pretty variable).

So he is going between 3 and 6 hours on the first stretch (usually it is 4-5 hours), and can be similar after i put him down again.

We feel very lucky that he has longer stretches, but longer term we would want the first longer stretch to start a bit earlier so we can both go to sleep at a normal time. Would also be nice to have him awake a bit earlier after the early AM feed.

Should we be doing anything differently to enable this at the minute, or is he a bit too young still?

[Whiffle77]

"Formalise" is probably the wrong word

[lockdownpregnancy]

I'm only speaking from what happened with my DS. He's 3 months now and at 6 weeks slept similar to yours (though formula fed). By 9 weeks he was sleeping from 9pm until 4-5am. He would then have another bottle and then go back down until 8-9am.
By 12 weeks he started sleeping from 8.30-9pm until 7-8am.
We are very lucky indeed and we are praying he doesn't get sleep regression! 😝🤞🤞

[Whiffle77]

Thanks @lockdownpregnancy - did you "do" anything to encourage from here to 9 weeks, or did it just happen gradually?

I'm acutely aware that where we are already is mainly luck!!! Which is making me apprehensive about trying anything!

[lockdownpregnancy]

I didn't do anything tbf. My DS still fusses in the night, but I just pop his dummy in and he settles himself back down.
He's one of those babies that if he wants something (bottle, nappy change etc) he will let me know!
I just decided not to fuss over him too much and it seemed to help 👍🏻

[Whiffle77]

DS turned 8 weeks yesterday, and did a 10 hour stretch of sleep last night...! I think he wouldve done more than that but I woke him up.
He spends a good amount of time on the boob all evening so I dont know whether that fills him up.

Now of course I'm worried he sleeps too much! I've seen people comment on other sleep threads saying its good the baby wakes up so frequently as it protects against SIDs...does that mean my DS is at higher risk of SIDs if he sleeps so much?!

[lockdownpregnancy]

@Whiffle77 I can't speak from the science side but from a personal point of view if your baby wants to sleep through, let them sleep through. Cherish it whilst you can.
I'm one of these moms that don't believe in waking your baby, I personally think you're asking for it if you wake them. I always think that if they want something, they have their way of letting you know. I don't know about them being at higher risks of SIDS.
I don't sleep through though just because DS does, I wake several times a night just to check on him.
I think everyone has their way of parenting. Some moms will agree with what I've said and others won't and have their own methods.
I always say to moms on here, you do what works for you and your baby, you'd way 🥰

[Whiffle77]

Thanks @lockdownpregnancy, I would worry whatever he was doing to be honest! It just seemed a very long time for him to be asleep. I woke up with a jolt worrying about him but left him another two hours...he started to stir then so decided to get him up! We used to have to wake him to feed when he was first born due to poor weight gain, but he is a monster feeder now and gaining above average consistently. So I worry he still won't let me know if he needs something as he didn't then, but he is such a different baby now.
I suppose if long sleep was a risk factor they would tell you and get you to wake them up, but when I googled I found no backup for it.
He seems happy and healthy which is all that matters, and the sleep could all change tomorrow so like you say I should just be enjoying it...!