8 week old sleeping patterns

[tinkerbell10001]

Morning,

I just wanted some advice on my 8 week old daughters sleeping patern or lack of sleeping...
Shes pretty good through the night, going to bed at 10pm, waking at about 3am for a feed then back to sleep till around 7.

However she just doesnt seem to sleep in the day! After her morning feed she will go back to sleep for about 30 minutes then up till lunch time. Have another 30 minute nap then that seems to be it till bedtime!

I was just wondering how much sleep an 8 week old should be getting?

Thanks x

That doesn't sound like much to me, is she grumpy during the day? Think mine was probably sleeping about 14-16 hours a day at that point and couldn't stay awake for more than 2 hours at a time.

Does she go to bed at 10pm or wake up at 10pm for a feed having actually gone to bed at 7pm (or something like that).

How is she coping with this much/little sleep?

By about 4pm + she starts to get grumpy. She will make like a whiney cry with her eyes closed but instead of just having a nap she will stay awake. As soon as it hits 10pm shes asleep but its almost as if shes waiting until then.
I have tried the bath, bottle, bed routine to try and settle her earlier. But she wont have it.

10pm is REALLY late for a baby to go to sleep, especially with that little sleep during the day.

Essentially you have to 'teach' a baby when to sleep etc. Persevere about her bedtime becoming earlier otherwise you will never have a life! Babies should be getting (in theory!) about 15 hours sleep in 24 hours (roughly I think). It sounds like yours is overtired. So, even if she's telling you 'I don't want to sleep' you need to 'tell' her that this is the time you expect her to be falling asleep. In other words stick with a bath, bottle, bed routine, keep the room dark, no stimulation, read her a story in a soft and gentle voice but don't give up before she does (i.e. don't take her downstairs with bright lights etc.).

What do you do to get her to sleep? Feed, rock, dummy, take her out in the pram/sling etc? If babies get overtired it is harder for them to switch off - I'd start trying to get her to sleep 1.5-2 hours after she has woken up.

I don't think it really matters what time her bedtime is at 8 weeks so long as she is getting enough sleep over all. If 10pm works for you it is fine - that seemed to be my ds's natural bedtime at that age too, but he napped in the evening.

If she's downstairs with you in the evenings that's pretty standard for the early weeks, but you could definitely be thinking about moving her upstairs at a 'normal' bedtime (ie about 6) now. Most babies that age can cope with about two hours of awake-time before needing another nap. At that age DS was on four naps a day of about 45 minutes each - he's still on three of about an hour each and goes to bed for good at 6.30.

from about 6pm I start the cool down period before bed. I bath her, feed her then walk around in a darkened room gently making "shhing" noises. She may doze off but then 5 minutes later she will be back up. This will then continue until 10pm

Will she sleep in your arms?

I would start ensuring she has proper sleep in the day by whatever means necessary, and then worry about getting her in a cot when she's not so overtired. Though I didn't really bother putting ds in his cot for naps til he was 5 months.

She will sleep in my arms...aslong as im walking around but theres only so much walking you can do. As soon as i go to put her in her moses basket...shes awake! So when she is snoozing, it must only be a very light sleep.

Will she sleep in a sling? My 8 wk old will sleep happily in the sling but if I try to put her anywhere else she wakes after about 5 mins. So at least once a day I put her in the sling for one good long sleep (2 hours ish). I have to be moving for the first 30 mins or so but after that I can sit down.

Then at night we co-sleep. We go to bed betwwen 8 and 9pm together. She will wake up if I'm not there so I take the opportunity to get an early night. She will wake up a few times during the night and then get up early after her 6ish feed.