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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

If your four-week old is sleeping/waking/sleeping/waking an hour at a time

11 replies

Pruni · 06/05/2006 14:15

all day and all night - is there anything you can do to keep sane?
I was chatting to a friend today who has a newborn who is doing this, bf going ok, but obviously isn't getting much sleep and I couldn't remember if there was even anything you could do to get them into a pattern of sleeping longer or whatever.
She says it seems like the baby is not always needing to be fed but that she feeds anyway out of desperation.
Can someone jog my memory?

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expatcat · 06/05/2006 14:22

my DS loved feeding when he was 4 weeks and he was in a fairly similar pattern to your friend. I was exhausted! At about 8 weeks my mum came to stay and we got him into a pattern of feeding every 3 hours or so by gradually going longer between feeds. he hated it and would scream for food, but the problem I had was not just exhaustion from never sleeping but it was also upsetting his tummy as he was just eating small amounts so often. It was worth the crying to get him to eat more less often.
Then during the day I would like him on his play mat if he wasn't due feeding. He never slept much during the day at all and no long stretches of sleep at night either until I weaned him from night feeds at 9 months (after I had gone back to work). Not sure if this is any help???

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Pruni · 06/05/2006 15:29

V helpful thanks!

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Pruni · 06/05/2006 18:28

Bumping up to see if anyone has any alternative suggestions...

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suzi2 · 06/05/2006 20:12

I think that's 4 wk olds for you. The only thing we did was to try and stretch the feeding out a bit by offering a dummy when I knew he was just suckly and not hungry, and by taking him for walks or drives to get him to sleep. It seemed like hell forever but I guess that by about 8 wks he was sleeping a few hours at a time, during which time DH and I slept or slept in shifts!

PrettyCandles · 06/05/2006 20:15

It sounds absolutely (if teeth-grittingly) normal. You could try co-sleeping, so that the night feeds aren't as tiring for you, or you could try giving a dummy to stretch the feeds out a bit - just a little at a time at first, say delay the next feed by 10mins peaceful sucking, then 20min and so on, until you find a happy medium. You may have to hold the dummy in at this age (a lot of people think that their baby 'rejects' the dummy, but it's just that he doesn't know how to hold on to it - a cherry dummy is supposed to be easier for the baby to keep in his mouth) so you may want to try the dummy during the day and co-sleeping at night.

SenoraPostrophe · 06/05/2006 20:16

has he been doing that since day one or is it a recent thing? if recent, it could be the constant feeding itself that is the problem. this is a gina suggestion actually, but it did help with dd (she admitedly went more than an hour at a time, but it did help).

or - and your friend may not like this - a dummy?

SenoraPostrophe · 06/05/2006 20:17

only one hour at a time ever isn't what most babies do though - that is extreme. they do wake up lots though obviously.

Hoopoe · 06/05/2006 21:01

I agree - I managed to stretch my dd's feeds from constantly (once I fed her for 5 hours!!) to about 3 hourly by offering her the dummy, distracting her (e.g. changing her nappy, showing her things), or getting her to sleep. It took a couple of days but was really worth it. She slept better and fed better.

The dummy was a godsend! I used the orthopaedic one and it took her a little time to get used to it but she loves it now.

Good luck!

Thomcat · 06/05/2006 21:09

My dd did this, not every hour of the day but in the evening certainly. It was a comfort thing mainly as as soon as i put her on the breast she'd go off to sleep again. I ddin't want to go down the dummy route but desperate for a break and to eat my meal with a knife and fork at the same time (!) I tried a dummy. Great move, for us.

fattiemumma · 06/05/2006 21:18

does your freind breast feed?
without starting a huge row its hard to see whether they have taken a good amount of food in each time so he may still be hungry.

alternativly he may just want the cuddles he gets whilst feeding. get your freind to put some muslin squares inside her top so that it takes on her "smell" (though im sure she is very clean im sure ykwim)
then put that muslin over a teddy indside his cot with him...wrap it around tightly so that it cant come loose.

other than that i dont really know, i just hope he settles into a routine soon. i remember the newborn days all too well

Squarer · 06/05/2006 21:24

My DS used to do this with bottles FM. I could see exactly how much he wasn't drinking. I think it is pretty much par for the course with tiny babies. I hung on to sanity by the tiniest of threads btw.
Debatable as that is.
Hope your friend feels better about it soon Pruni.

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