3.5 week old awake for 4 hours through night

[Djdupton]

Hi ladies,

I’m new to this site but have seen some good advice when reading up on things.

My daughter is 3.5 weeks old and in a routine of every 3, however some nights she’ll be awake for three hours and won’t settle back down. This usually happens after a nappy change, I can’t not change her nappy to keep her asleep surely? I let her cry but she doesn’t much like being in her Moses basket which doesn’t help matters. It’s not like she does it every night but I need her to stop. Any tips on keeping her awake in the day more would be welcomed.

Many thanks

Firstly it’s perfectly normal for her to be awake in the night and sleep during the day at this age, it will change, but perhaps not yet. Please don’t keep her awake in the day, it’s very unlikely to work and you’ll just end up with a very, very tired and grumpy baby.

Are you changing her nappy because she’s pooed? If it’s just wet, you can leave her in it overnight.

Please don’t leave her to cry either, she needs you and she won’t undrrstand why you’re not there for her.

If she doesn’t settle in her basket, what happens if you feed her again or cuddle her? Have you tried white noise or putting a t-shirt that DH (if you have one) has worn in the basket so that it smells of him? Some people use a tshirt as the sheet over the mattress.

Around that time my Dd started being awake from about midnight until 6/7 am. This lasted about a month, and now (10 weeks old) she wakes at roughly midnight, 3 & 6.

What your daughter is doing is completely normal and there's likely nothing you can do to make her sleep overnight. Focus on ways to cope because this stage is brutal.

But, it will pass.