Newborn vs six weeks old - what’s the difference?

[newmum234]

I’ve seen people on other threads saying that their babies started to get easier at six weeks.

My baby is five weeks and although I’m very happy to be a mum, I’ll admit I’m struggling with the constant change, feed, burp, nap cycle and the lack of sleep. I got three hours last night and am shattered!

In your experience do things really start to get any better at six weeks? I can’t see much difference between my baby at 0 weeks and 5 weeks tbh, apart from the fact that he’s got a lot bigger and is a bit more alert. He still feeds about seven times a day, wakes a couple of times during the night and cries quite a lot.

Any thoughts?

There's not a massive overnight difference tbh.

They're more alert and they start smiling which makes it a bit easier because you're actually getting something back from them. They should be more efficient at feeding and starting to extend the time between feeds slightly (but still every 3/4 hours). You might get into some sort of routine. But ultimately the feeding, sleeping, changing cycle is going to continue for a year or more (although hopefully the nights will settle down in the next few months).

It's incredibly hard work so don't feel bad about finding it hard. Everyone does. Try and carve out some time for yourself if you can. Lower your standards re. housekeeping/laundry/ etc. Do you have a DP?

It's all a gradual change on a sliding scale. Don't expect to get to 6 weeks and for it to be massively different to this week. But if you compare your 6 week old to when he was 1 day old, there will be big differences. Likewise big different between a 6 week old and 16 week old. No overnight changes but with hindsight you see the changes after they've passed.

At zero weeks neither dd or myself knew how to breastfeed so she'd suck my nipples sore then I'd have to hand-express in to her mouth. She was like a rag doll with loads of loose skin and no fat because I'm tiny and she seemed to run out of space to fatten up before she was born and I was worried I'd break her. But because I'd really looked after myself during the first few (baby free) weeks of maternity leave, I actually felt physically great when she was zero weeks. I'd started expressing while I was still pregnant too so she was getting loads more colostrum and then milk than most newborns and slept loads for the first few weeks so we were relaxed and well rested.

By 4 months she'd stopped sleeping through the night, I'd forgotten all about looking after myself and it all became much harder. Apart from breastfeeding, which we'd figured out by then!

Every baby and everyone's experience is different

12 weeks! 12 weeks is when it starts to get easier! 6 weeks is exactly the same as 5 weeks!

I found the newborn stage of interrupted sleep for 18 hours a day finally came to an end. From sixweeks, you’ll probably find he will be more alert and only sleep between 10-14 hours a day. This means your sleeping routine may finally start taking hold, and you can teach him the difference between night and day. Make sure his daytime naps are different from nighttime sleeping by keeping the noise level normal and house bright. If he wakes up in the night, don’t fuss or play with him and keep the house peaceful and dark. Once he understands these differences, your own sleeping pattern may return to some level of normality.
At about six weeks, babies also start smiling in response to things, which doesn’t make life technically easier, but makes everything so worthwhile!
It also gets better, becauseyouget better. Each phase of parenting feels overwhelming at first. You think "how am I going to do this?" on good days, and "why did I want kids?" on bad days. But then you find your groove or a trick that works. You learn how he likes to be soothed etc..

12 weeks! 12 weeks is when it starts to get easier! 6 weeks is exactly the same as 5 weeks!

In what way is 12 weeks different to 5 weeks?

They should be more efficient at feeding and starting to extend the time between feeds slightly (but still every 3/4 hours).

My baby’s already every 3-4 hrs so not sure I’ll see much difference there...

'My baby’s already every 3-4 hrs so not sure I’ll see much difference there...'

Yeah, if it's already every 4 hours and only waking twice overnight you might have to wait for more progress because despite how hard it is....you've got an easier one! Some of them are feeding every couple of hours at this point! Those are the ones who find 6 weeks a lot easier, when they start doing 4 hours between feeds.

I love the first 6 weeks, eat, sleep, cuddle, change repeat. From 6 weeks they need more interaction & stimulation but getting the balance right can be tricky, too much & they can become overwrought. Each stages has it lovely bits & less desirable bits though

The thing is that you get to know your child better with time and so you get the pleasure of a personal relationship rather than just being a carer.

It’s a mixture of things OP.. a lot of the getting easier part comes from you getting to know your baby more & reading their cues! But they do get easier in some ways as time goes on (and harder in others, I don’t think parenting is ever really easy)!

My second is now 11 weeks old & in my opinion a lot easier than newborn. She’s down to 5/6 feeds a day and goes to bed at 7pm! She also smiles all the time, naps in her cot (sometimes) & between feeds & sleeps just sits or lays & watches the world. She can cope with being awake longer without crying & goes longer between feeds. She’s alert & interested. But equally, I’ve got to know her. We’ve fallen into a happy routine. I keep track of her naps & feeds and it helps me spot when she’s hungry or tired etc! We have zero ‘routine’ in terms of when they’ll be but she now has a routine of 4-5 naps between 30-60 minutes.

We’ve been lucky with both our girls in getting them into a bedtime routine quite early on. We didn’t do anything specifically, just been very lucky both DD’s learnt
night & day correctly! Having a few hours in the evenings to ourselves has made all the difference, particularly in lockdown with a 3 year old & newborn! I need some time where I’m not holding a child!

*ps. My 11 week old still feeds in the night, I’m not that lucky 😂 once or twice depending but I get a decent 3 hour snooze between feeds usually! If I get 2x 3 hour chunks, I’m not exhausted!

I hated the newborn stage completely and really didn't enjoy my baby until DD was 11 months and finally started sleeping in longer blocks. At the 6 week stage there's growth spurts and again at 8 weeks I think. I'd definitely got a handle on feeding by 8 weeks though so that helped. At 16 weeks my DD had a big sleep regression which didn't improve until 11 months. But as they get older the start learning new things which makes your heart melt, like when they discover their hands and feet, start crawling and babbling etc.

@Bol87 that sounds perfect! At what age did you get to that point - was it 11 weeks or a bit earlier? When you say she goes to bed at 7pm, how many feeds does she wake up for after that during the evening and overnight?

Having a few hours in the evenings to ourselves has made all the difference, particularly in lockdown with a 3 year old & newborn! I need some time where I’m not holding a child!

This! As much as I love my LO, I’m really looking forward to getting a few hours back with DH. What hours do you tend to have to yourselves in the evenings?

I remember my baby sleeping for one long stretch at night from 6 weeks. I think he slept for around 5 or 6 hours and then up every 4 hours after that. Myself and my husband hugged each other when we looked at the clock and realized how long he had slept for.

They also begin to become more alert and smile at you which is lovely.

Baby started sleeping within own cot at six weeks rather than on me, they can hold heads up better, you're more used to them, they start to smile. 6-12 weeks does get a bit easier depending on the baby. I was also n a better state of recovery.

I remember my baby sleeping for one long stretch at night from 6 weeks. I think he slept for around 5 or 6 hours and then up every 4 hours after that.

@Temple29 6 hours at 6 weeks - I’d take that! Did he do 5-6 hour sleeps regularly from 6 weeks or was it more of an occasional thing?

Hahaha, I really wish 6 weeks had been a turning point for us. Took DS a year to go more than an hour between wakings at night and we EBF so also kept up 2 hourly daytime feeds for almost a year as he was slow to take to solids. I hear that other babies are easier, but we won't be risking having another one to find out. He's great now though

DS was just out of special care at 6 weeks (he was prem) but I’d say after a month or so at home we could actually put him down! At 4 months we gave him a 6.30pm bedtime and he would sleep until about 11.30pm for a feed. So we got our evenings back at about 4 months.

And actually I will add that he didn’t get ‘easier’ generally during the day until he was about 7 months and started napping for more than 30 mins at a time!

It was every night from then. As far as I remember (DS now 13 months) it was from 8pm or so until 1 or 2am so he basically dropped one feed in between. It was so helpful at the time because my DH had surgery when DS was born and I had to care for both of them.

I remember saying to DH that I felt I would never sleep again up until that point so that’s why 6 weeks was significant for me. DS slept through until 6am from 11 weeks.

Currently pregnant with DS2 and nervous about the newborn stage again but I know now it is actually quite short lived. Hope things improve for you soon x

6 weeks was not a turning point for us. She still screamed all the time and didn't do anything really, she did learn to smile but only did it very rarely in the first few weeks. She would sleep a bigger stretch overnight I think tbf, probably about 5-6 hrs maybe, I can't remember exactly. But she hardly slept in the day compared to most babies, just screamed all the time. I introduced some formula from 6 weeks as I was still in agony breastfeeding, just the odd bottle to start with though.

12 weeks was much better for us because in the daytime she wasn't that different tbh ie still screamed all the time, she was sleeping pretty reliably roughly say 7-9pm, so we had a couple of hours to tidy up and watch something on telly, then 11pm-6am or 10-6 even sometimes so we got a bigger chunk of uninterrupted sleep. And I had stopped breastfeeding now so felt much better in myself, not being in permanent agony and dressing her waking up for feeds etc, bottle feeding was much easier for me and far less stressful.

They do start to go a bit longer like others say 5 or 6 hours, I agree with others that by 3 months you really notice the difference. DS (DC1) slept 7 hours consistently at 10 weeks. Dd was similar.

I agree with others that by 3 months you really notice the difference. DS (DC1) slept 7 hours consistently at 10 weeks. Dd was similar.

Really hope my LO does the same! Am so hoping it gets a little easier soon.

12 weeks was much better for us because in the daytime she wasn't that different tbh ie still screamed all the time, she was sleeping pretty reliably roughly say 7-9pm, so we had a couple of hours to tidy up and watch something on telly, then 11pm-6am or 10-6 even sometimes so we got a bigger chunk of uninterrupted sleep.

@MeadowHay I cannot wait for this! But 12 weeks is a long way away

I think for me it was very gradual until one day I realised that it wasnt as bad as it was before. The big game changer for me was that feeds were shorter and my son started to happily have awake times and will lie under the play gym and grin at himself in the mirror. Hes now nearly 10 weeks and has gone from 4 feeds a night to 2/3 feeds per night. Things are very gradually getting a bit better all the time.