Too much sleep..am i just worrying for no reason?!!

[Rose29]

I have a wonderful 7 week old (my first) and this probably sounds like a strange thing to be saying...is she sleeping too much?

we are going to bed about 9.30 and waking up at 6.30 without a break. i try to give her a dream feed at 11 ish but she is usually fast asleep even with a nappy change so she sometimes has a little bit. she will rustle around during the night but doesnt cry.

She was a bit slow to gain weight and i am breast feeding and topping up with formula, she does have extra formula in the evening as dad helps! so i am now watching her weight and fretting in case this long break every night is affecting her growth. she is just shy of 10lb now so not wasting away.

However as everyone else around me says, if she was hungry she would wake up and tell us? right????

She has naps during the day as well for about 3 hours total usually and she seems like a happy contented baby.

so should i just be pleased about getting so much beautiful sleep at the moment or do folk reckon she needs waking...i fear this is what the health visitor would say!

Hi Rose, it was a very long time ago for me that I had a similar worry. My DS slept through from 8wks: 7:30ish till 7am and then shortly afterwards upped it till 10am! I was terribly worried and it was awkward talking to the new mum/baby friends I'd made because they were so sleep deprived it just seemed so insensitive.

If she seems happy and is steadily growing, I would just enjoy being a new mum who's had enough sleep. My DS slept well for naps too and also had a big feed before bed in the eve (I had excess milk in the am due to his 'lay-ins' and so used to express before he woke and give it to him in the eve as a top up).

He is now a healthy, happy bright boy who sleeps well, but no more than any other child his age.

I'm no expert, but go with your gut feeling and congrats on your lovely bundle :)

Hi Rose,

Firstly congratulations on the birth of your daughter!

I too had a wonderful sleeper as a new born, we would put him down to sleep at 10pm when we went to bed and he slept through until 5am / 6am when he woke for a feed and then he went back down again until 12pm ish, sometimes as late as 1.30pm. There was just no waking him!!

I voiced my concerns with the health visitor and she advised me to just do what baby wants to do, and dont worry they will wake when hungry!!

He is now 10 months old and goes to bed between 7pm / 7.30pm but has now started waking early - about 5.30am / 6am most mornings!!! so make the most of it while is lasts

thanks, you are both making me feel better! i think my gut reaction is that she is absolutely fine but its so easy to worry about feeding...especially as a first time mum. there is so much advice out there its easy to get baffled, specially when your baby doesnt follow the 'norm'.

I know exactly how you feel Rose I was the same, (+ I still am sometimes!).

Honestly though just relax and enjoy her!!

Hi my ds1 was like this, slept loads, happy and a bit slow to gain weight. We saw health professionals about his wright but the advice re his sleeping was always the same, they all said no point waking him if he sleeps so well. I even considered waking him a few times to feed him but he was just too fast asleep so I left him!

He is now 3, still slight of figure and still sleeps like a dream. Totally fine, happy and healthy though!

Now ds2 that's another story, he will not sleep argh!

Congratulations. :) I wouldn't worry about the nights at all. But 3 hours' daytime sleep doesn't sound like much - I'd expect more like 5 or 6 hours daytime sleep at that age (although they do vary). The main thing is for her not to be awake for more than about 1.5-2 hours at once before having another sleep, even if the nap is relatively short.

HTH

Lucky you if she continues to do this but without wanting to be a downer she may well grown out of it. My DS went through a month of sleeping for 12 hrs at night when he was 12 weeks old, but then had a growth spurt and didn't sleep through the night again until he was 6 months old.

Yes, it does change - DS woke perhaps twice a night at that age, but at 6-7 months he woke 6 or 7 times a night, and from 8-13 months he woke 3-5 times a night. It's usually only once now though at 14 months.

I concur with everyone else, my son was breastfed and fed every 2 hours for months, I expected the same of my daughter, but she slept from 10ish to 7.30ish fro about 7 weeks. I asked the health visitor and she said providing she was gaining weight to let sleeping dogs lie ( excuse the pun ) So I would be chuffed and enjoy it while it lasts. My daughter has slept brilliantly ever since too so hope its the same for you!