My 7 week old does not sleep during the day...

[Mothigail]

...should I ignore it and just count my blessings that he more or less sleeps well at night? During the last two 24 hour periods he's slept for no more than 9 hours in total, and only about an hour of those during the day. He seems to be sleeping during feeds - should I count that as daytime sleep? Is it bad if he doesn't sleep during the day? (Apart from the fact that it means I don't leave the house or shower?)

I'd ignore it, he'll sleep when he's tired when he's so little.

Just out of interest - are you breastfeeding? And if you are, are you drinking things with caffeine in?

I remember one incident when my dd was about the same age as yours and I'd gone for a coffee at a friend's house and had two mugs of filter coffee. Well - she didn't sleep until about midnight that night, even when, in desperation I took her for an hour long drive in the car at about 10 p.m. - little beady eyes wide awake in her car seat! The only thing I could think it was was the strong filter coffee I'd drunk....

But I suppose if she seems to be sleeping while feeding, then yes, IMO that would count as daytime sleep.

Some might not agree with me but I honestly believe that a baby that naps well during the day sleeps better at night.

I think that teaching your little one to nap during the day is a very important step to keeping mummy sane and little one happy.

My DD is now 20 weeks and we have developed a good day time nap routine. We started when she was younger than your little one.

Whenever i saw her show a sign of tiredness -yawning, 7 mile stare etc (she would usually display such signs about 60-90 minutes after waking up at 7 weeks, now at 20 weeks she is up to 2.5h) i would gather her up and take her up to her cot. I completely destimulated the cot - no toys, no mobile etc, closed the curtains and cuddled her until she started to drift and then put her in her cot. I also used a swaddle pod until she grew out of it at about 12 weeks

It took quite a few goes but it did work and she did go to sleep and was/is much better for it.

HTH.

Swaddle pod : www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003FV8S7I/

My DD has always been like your DS in this respect. She didn't have long naps in the day at that age, just the odd 20 mins while walking around in the sling. However, she slept well at night and would usually feed in her sleep so we were both generally well-rested. 9-11 hours sleep in any 24 hour period has always been the norm for her.

Unless your son seems tired or ill I wouldn't worry about it. Some people just sleep more than others. The days might seem long but make the most of the nights.

My DS is 11 weeks now and doesn't sleep much during the day when we're in the house (although sleeps in the car and/or pram). I also assumed that as long as he was sleeping at night it was fine. Health visitor said it was OK as long as he seemed well, which he did - however now he's started getting really cranky and I think it's cos he's shattered and doesn't know how to get to sleep.

Worth bearing in mind if you're thinking of just leaving things. I'm now thinking of following SugarPlumFairy's advice, and trying to teach him to sleep. Prob would have been easier when he was younger tho.

Thank you, all! Much appreciated.

Yes, he's (more-or-less!) happy and seems very healthy but the advice I'd been given about daytime sleep aiding night sleep had made me wonder if there was some kind of developmental problem that could arise if he slept too little overall. Maybe for the time being he is just a night sleeper. No complaints there!

I do usually have a strong coffee in the morning and should perhaps cut this out anyway and see what happens. Although thinking about it he did have a nap the other day (the day I posted - typical!) and it was a strong coffee day, so...who knows!?

with all due respect TheSugarPlumFairy i don't agree with you. you probably have a little one who needs a daytime nap.

as long as they're happy i wouldn't worry - they're getting what they need.

dd2 didn't sleep much during the day at first and i realized that it went in cycles. sometimes she'd really catch up for a week or two and then a couple of weeks where she needed less.

I'm starting to spot these cycles, too, warthog. A friend told me the other day to stop looking at the experience of a couple of days in isolation and start seeing how things go over a course of days and in the context of a week, a month, etc...Not so much a daily routine/pattern as a cyclical one. It's helped me relax about changes instead of freaking if one day doesn't repeat the pattern of the previous one.

My DS used to be half asleep when he fed and never seemed to nap during the day, I found it very exhausting.

Obviously after that he wasn't going to be tired so I started to wait an hour before putting him down for a nap. Once I started that he moved very quickly to having 3 naps a day.

They don't have to be asleep for you to have a shower. DS used to be on his playmat just outside the bathroom door so he could see me and have a play while I showered. He was so indoctrinated that it took him about a month after he learned to crawl before he realised he could roll over and go off to play elsewhere.

I have NO IDEA why I didn't think of this before. I am now clean. Thank you, Flumpetty. Feel like a prize divvy for not doing this all along.

I could not agree with SugerPlumFairy more - excellent advice. I would also say that you have to structure sleep for a baby to fall into a pattern and help them to learn how to sleep. Sleep breeds sleep and is fundamental for all types of development.

FWIW, a 7 week old is meant to need something like 15 hours sleep in 24 hours.

My oldest wasnt sleeping in the day to start with. He soon became incredibly cranky and was stressing me out. My hv taught me to swaddle him, my mum taught me to rock him gently back and forth (while swaddled) while holding him close. He soon drifted off to sleep, and I would usually lie down with him for a snooze. Bliss.

My dd was like this and it drove me mad!

I put an extra blanket on her and she started sleeping for hours in the day! We also tried swaddling which helped as well.