Bedtime...

[Zay04]

Hello

Can anyone please, please help? My son, who is just over 3 weeks old, in the past two nights has not gone to sleep till 3am. Before this, he did go to sleep at a decent time. He was born at 1am, would this affect it. I have tried to put him into a routine. Is this normal, do all newborns have a 'blip'?

Any help and advice would be really appreciated, as you can imagine that bedtime is not something I want to make a habit of.

Thanks in advance

Hello Zay, firstly congratulations on the birth of your son

IME the first 6 weeks with a newborn are completely all over the place, they don't know that nighttime is for sleeping or have any concept of bedtime yet.

Imagine, he's been able to sleep whenever he wanted inside you and it's going to take time for him to adjust to his new surroundings. You say you are trying to establish a routine for him, can I ask what it consists of? I used to have ds in the bath with me and bf him in there (not sure if that's recommended but it worked for us and he's always loved the water) before turning the lights down low and having skin to skin each evening for half an hour or so before putting him in his crib. He did eventually (not sure how many weeks) understand that nighttime was when we went to sleep but didn't sleep through until about 12 weeks.

Hang on in there, it's tough but it does get easier.

Does he lie there awake if, for example, you put him down next to you? Or is he crying unless you're up doing things with him? DS never used to sleep at any kind of predictable time, but would happily lie next to me in bed (we co-slept by choice but also had a normal cot converted into 3-sided one, this makes a good compromise I think)

Very soon I noticed that when he noticed (or thought!) that me and his dad were asleep, he would copy us and close his eyes. I could tell he was doing it consciously because he'd open them briefly to check we were still there, several times before he fell asleep!

Thanks ladies, sounds like I have hope!! For his routine, he wakes about 8ish in the evening for a feed, then after about an hour or so has a bath, has a cuddle for a bit and then we try and put him to sleep. When he has been awake for the past 2 nights he cries if you put him down in the moses basket and wants company, someone to talk to and keep him entertained, which at that hour is not the best. When DS does fall asleep sometimes during the day he does have quick peeks, as though he checks there is someone watching him. Thank you again for the advice, its hard sometimes when you think you fighting a losing battle....