sleepy newborn - is he sleeping too much?

[pattymc]

I know I should make the most of it and think myself lucky but I am a little worried about my 2 week old DS who sleeps pretty much the whole time although not longer that 2-3 hour stretches at a time. Has anyone else had a sleepy baby and is there any cause to worry? He is putting on weight and breast feeding really well so I'm sure people will tell me not to worry but is it normal? my DS1 seemed alert and busy from about 4 or 5 days old so I guess I am comparing DS2 to this but can't help being a little concerned. when he is awake to feed he often doesn't open his eyes and is really floppy but there is about hour or 2 during 24 hours when he is fully awake with eyes open and just taking things in - any advice please

Hey pattymc, you sound like me! My DS2 is now 9 weeks old and just starting to wake up but still sleep like a trouper! First night home and DS2 slept from 11pm-5am without a feed! I was worried to begin with as DS1 was a very discontented baby and cried a lot from day 1. I can't believe how calm and chilled out DS2 is compared to him. In the first few weeks, we often 'forget' DS2 is even here for hours as he is so quiet sleeping in the corner. Doesn't matter how loud DS1 is, he just sleeps through it all. I keep thinking he is going to 'wake up' and there will be hell to pay. But so far, so good. I think you are just very lucky and hope it continues for you...

thanks angel, DS1 was and still is very busy and non stop so I am very happy if DS2 is a little more chilled! just hoping nothing is wrong but as usual there is always something that you can worry about and I certainly don't want to sound as if I am complaining!

Yes, you can still tell DS1 is a right little grump bag some days and extremely active and curious... Don't think he liked being a baby. I swore DS1 didn't smile till he was about 7 months old! DS2, right on textbook cue, started smiling at 7 weeks old. Oh yes, and he coos! In the sweetest way... DS1 just screamed through the first 6 months of his life... Everyone kept telling me the second one will be easier and I believed no one till now! Enjoy...

I'm in exactly the same position. An alert, if fractious, dd (now 22 months and luckily not fractious anymore) and now a ridiculously chilled-out ds (10 weeks) who still sleeps most of the time if he can get away with it! I'm loving every minute of it.
Angel we find we 'ignore' ds too - it's so easy to forget we have two children sometimes! Ds is so happy just to sit in his bouncer and watch us for ages. Dd would never have done that! In fact, we wondered why people bothered buying bouncers for their babies because we couldn't keep dd in it for longer than 10 mins max before she got really grizzly.
And the other major difference is that dd would never take a bottle no matter how hard we tried. Ds, on the other hand, doesn't care how his food comes, as long as it comes!

hi well 2 and half weeks in and dd2 is still sleeping almost all day with period of eyes actually open only about 1 hour - I'm bit worried about him do you think anything could be wrong? he isn't sleeping brilliantly during the night, grunts and groans and generally wants to be on one of us although even then seems fractious and only time really ok is when he feeds but now I'm finding breast feeding hard as he seems to suckle and nipples are killing me - but back to the sleepy baby - is it ok that he hardly opens his eyes, I'm worried something could be wrong. doesn't like being on his back either... sorry I know all these things are probably normal but it still feels so hard!

One of the best bits of advice I was given in the first two weeks was to keep night-time quiet and dark, even when baby is up feeding or whatever... and daytime light and lively. Even when baby is sleeping in cot.

But you're worried about grunts and groans. Okay, babies of your one's age are a succession of weird, scary, is-it-isn't-it breathing noises. It is very unsettling!

As for sleep pattern - I assume you have spoken to the health visitor about this? If you have, and she's seen the baby and is happy, then you don't have anything to worry about.

Seriously, they are pretty tough. Much more than they look! Just get lots of sleep yourself.

I guarantee you, in your future there is a hollow-eyed, grey-haired, exhausted version of yourself, jiggling a screaming baby at 2am, and looking back on these days with yearning.

My twins were like that and I remember the midwives in hospital recording the following in my notes: 'Parents concerned about overly contented babies' . And that was it - they were just really happy to sleep, eat, cuddle, have a new nappy and then go back to sleep. I eventually took out a 3 month subscription to Lovefilm so I could watch DVDs while they were asleep after a feed. But it didn't last long! So count yourself lucky and enjoy your sleepy baby time off while you can.

thanks for the messages I will mention sleep patterns to my midwife on next visit and try to make the most of the sleepy days on me (it's crazy to not just sit back and enjoy I know!. I've just put him in moses basket upstairs and he is bawling away but going to see if a few minutes of crying might be what he needs. it doesn't get any easier does it! keep reminding myself how young he is

I was always a bit worried by how sleepy ds 1 was. People used to comment how he was always asleep which made me worry more. There was nothing wrong with him at all I was just lucky (dd taught me that!) As long as he's eating regularly I'm sure he's fine.