How much sleep a 7 / 8 weeks baby need?

[hbmummy]

Think DD1 just manages about 10-12 hrs a day. The others are feeding and changing time (about 1.5 hours every 2-3hours).

All babies different. ds1 slept almost all day, dd1 rarely slept, only ever catnapped for 10 mins throughout the day (it was hard work with her), dd2 and ds2 probably as your dd is now. Mine all fed every 1.5 to 2 hours. Are you worried?

Worried and frazzled.

Thought DD1 having a growth spurt and have to sleep more.

Also, DH travels a lot. On my own will be tough.

She'll sleep when she needs to. dd1 rarely slept and was a very tough baby to cope with. She was always above average on her growth charts. Just go with the flow, feed her when hungry, let her sleep when tired.

If a baby wakes up in mid sleep, do you try to get the baby back to sleep or feed? Hard to tell if she is really hungry or just need comforting to get back to sleep.

How do you know she's not ready to wake up? my dd only ever had 10-20 mins through the day, she cried nearly all the time also. If she puts hands in mouth, prob hungry. Try getting her back to sleep, if doesnt work, try feeding. I felt i just bumbled through with dd1. the other 3 were ok really, you look back and wonder why you worried or beat yourself up over something you did. Just got to try and remember you're doing the best you can at the time.

My 7 week old seems to be sleeping more during the day at the moment (around 14-16 hours out of the 24) but I've been told this could be the sign of a growth spurt. Sometimes at night I can hear him half awake for ages but he doesn't seem to cry. He also sucks his fists like crazy which I had thought meant he wants food but I think he just likes sucking. There have been sometimes when I've fallen back to sleep myself and woken up an hour or two later and he is still there fidgeting in his moses basket so heck knows how long he has been awake for then? (Makes you feel quite guilty!!)

My problem is that my DS seems to not be happy when he is awake apart from when he is feeding so I'm usually quite grateful when he goes to sleep again. I would love him to enjoy being awake more.

Late - My dd1 never seemed to be happy either, i used to say she was a manic depressive at only a few weeks of age! Awful to say that but she just seemed to cry all the time. I loved 7 pm as she went to bed then from 6 weeks of age and slept right through. It was the only relief i got from the near constant unhappiness from her. She's 8 now and is happy, although she's demanding, headstrong, awkward, stubborn .....