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?

[Letsallscreamatthesistene]

Last night he slept from 7.30pm until 3am. I actually got up at 2.30 to see if he was ok!

[PrincessBuggerPants]

My nocturnal newborn who fed every 90 mins, 24/7 for the first 6 weeks, started to go for 2-3 hour stretches at night from 6-8 weeks which felt pretty revolutionary at the time.

Then he had a 4 month long 4 month sleep regression, but no point in worrying about that yet!

[newmum234]

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!

Really? It doesn’t feel like it!

[newmum234]

Last night he slept from 7.30pm until 3am.

@Letsallscreamatthesistene that’s very encouraging! Is there anything specific you did to get there, or did it just happen?

Also, when you say 2/3 feeds per night, what does that involve? Roughly speaking my LO will tend to feed at around 7pm, 10pm, 2am and 5am at the moment...

[UnicornRainbow83]

Dd started sleeping a good 8 hours through the night at 6 weeks old.

[newmum234]

My nocturnal newborn who fed every 90 mins, 24/7 for the first 6 weeks

Hats off to you. I don’t think I could survive that tbh!

[newmum234]

Dd started sleeping a good 8 hours through the night at 6 weeks old.

@UnicornRainbow83

[Letsallscreamatthesistene]

@newmum234 he started taking more per feed at night. We try and give him a big feed just before bed, then again in the early hours and it seems to get through. I also stopped automatically feeding him when he wakes in the daytime because I got the impression he was beginning to associate waking up with being fed. Id delay by 10-15 mins, although I was only able to do this because he's now happily awake after a nap. I couldnt have done this when he was very little.

[Letsallscreamatthesistene]

I just saw the second half of your message. So he was on the same feeding schedule as your LO. We now feed him at 7ish, then he'll ask for another feed at 2/3, then again at 5/6. Feeds are also shorter. Now they're about 15mins each. Before they'd be a good hour long.

[newmum234]

Id delay by 10-15 mins, although I was only able to do this because he's now happily awake after a nap.

@Letsallscreamatthesistene I don’t think I’m at that stage yet - he would scream the house down if I delayed 15 mins! How come the feeds got shorter - is it just because he drinks it down quicker? Or needs less burping? Mine are still a good hour with feeding, burping then soothing to sleep.

[GrumpyHoonMain]

6 weeks is when you start healing from the birth which is why it should, hopefully, get easier. Your milk supply will also start to regulate to the level your baby will need for the whole time they breastfeed which gives you energy.

8-12 weeks is when it should really start to get easier as the baby starts to realise they are no longer in the womb. They start waking for longer, they will play, even velcro babies can be left on a play mat for a few minutes while you grab a coffee etc. Most importantly when they start crying this is the age when you can (sometimes) distract them.

If you are breastfeeding 16 weeks to 6 months can be a really nice sweet spot. In that you literally have everything figured out until weaning / teething ruins things again lol.

[Bol87]

@newmum234 - my little one falls asleep around 7pm (after probably 20 minutes of rocking 🙈) & sleeps until anytime between midnight - 2am. No rhyme nor reason as to when she first wakes up. After her first wake up, she wakes up every 3 hours pretty much on the dot. So if it’s a midnight wake up, it’s 3am & then 6am. If it’s 1am, it’s then 4am & then up for the day around 6am but won’t feed until 7am (annoying!) & if it’s 2am then 5am & that’s a struggle to get her back to sleep which isn’t my fav!

[BarbiesWorld]

Forgive me if I've missed it but have you said how you feed?

Ds is 16 weeks now and is EBF, he goes down for the night somewhere between 8 and 9 and tends to wake for a one feed somewhere between 1 and 5 (it's super hit and miss tbh but I'll take the stretches of sleep).

He's a really easy baby now mainly due to being a super efficient feeder. So night feeds are good in the sense that I do it lying down in bed and he's finished within 5-10 minutes. The first 8 ish weeks weren't the best because he was still feeding every 2-3 hours overnight and taking much much longer to feed.

Like a Pp said, it wasn't overnight but if I compare him now to how he was at 5 weeks its a huge difference.

[AvoidingTheWineAisle]

I don’t think there is any rhyme or reason to it, unfortunately.

DS slept in 3-4 hour chunks from birth. This didn’t change at 6 weeks, but he did start having a ‘witching hour’ (hours!) 6-8pm ish where he just whinged and cried and wouldn’t feed, sleep or settle at all. That was fun! . That lasted until he was about 16 weeks, then he calmed down a bit of an evening, although was still waking once or twice a night into his second year.

DD, the little weirdo, started sleeping 10-12 hours a night at 6 weeks and that was it. She’s nearly 12 yrs old now and still loves her kip.

[Letsallscreamatthesistene]

@newmum234 he seems more efficient at taking the milk and requires very little burping. The real game changer though was that we dont have to sooth him to sleep anymore. We get him to a drowsy state, swaddle him and pop a dummy in his mouth and he self soothes.

[UnderTheBus]

With my first baby she would wake at 10, 1 and 4 when she was 8 weeks old. I obsessed over getting her to sleep better. Writing down the length of every feed, what times she went to bed and what times she woke. Drove myself crazy looking for a pattern or a way to get her to sleep more... for over a year. What I learnt was there is no pattern and not much you can do to get them to sleep longer. She eventually slept through the night at about 20 months old!

Baby number 2 is 10 weeks old now and has started sleeping through or only waking occasionally. Last night she slept from 8.30pm to 6am, which is honestly unbelievable! I think it's just luck of the draw and although it's hard to do at the time, it's easier to just go with the flow and know that they will get there eventually.

[yikesanotherbooboo]

UnderTheBus has it. Babies vary and you gradually get to know them. Try to go along with things , fit in with DC and gradually you will feel more confident and by comparing what things were like a few weeks ago to now you will see that your baby is feeding more efficiently, sleeping in a more regular pattern and that you are feeling more in tune with her , understanding of her needs etc. It is a gradual process that you have very little control over apart from the obvious keep baby clean and dry/ make bedroom dark etc.

[Letsallscreamatthesistene]

Totally agree with PP. You cant impose a routine on them, some babies kind of fall into their own routine and some dont. You have to work with the baby you have!

[LiveFatsDieYoGnu]

I wish I had one of these magical sleeping babies - DS is nearly 15 weeks and still feeds every 2-3 hours day and night!

[LiveFatsDieYoGnu]

I will add that he's utterly delightful despite the lack of sleep he imposes on me, and far more fun now than as a newborn

[newmum234]

Last night she slept from 8.30pm to 6am, which is honestly unbelievable!

@UnderTheBus am so jealous! Is that with no feeds?! Can you stop feeding every 3-4 hours by 10 weeks then and start to space the feeds out more? That will make a big difference I think!

[Hermano]

All these weirdos telling you it'll get easier after 12 weeks have clearly forgotten or not experienced the 4 month sleep regression.
For me it was easy enough for the first 6 weeks, then the tiredness begun to become a grind and the novelty wore off, then sleep went to shit from ~14-24 weeks, yes over 2 months!

Then from 6 months it became easier because finally she'd sleep longer at nighttime

I think in all honesty they all vary so much. From talking to friends I'd say my experience was as average as anyone's, certainly it wasn't stand out worse.

I'd buckle up and prepare for things to be tricky for a while yet. It will. Improve at times them get worse again.

Advice: go to bed at 9.15 every night so you're a little topped up with sleep for when shit gets bad. We didn't do this with #1 and really suffered. We did for #2 and it made a huge difference, the harder bits were so much easier when they came with an extra hour of sleep every night under the belt.

[Harrysmummy246]

They still need feeding on demand and have very small stomachs even at 10 weeks.

I'm going to very gently suggest that you as are struggling a lot (i think there was a similar thread last week), you maybe ask GP or HV to check whether you have PND

Yes sleep deprivation is a b*h and yes I was blinking delerious from it and BF pretty much 2 hours on the dot 24/7 for a lot longer than 5-6 weeks but what helped was going to bed straight after dinner and DH had DS. This uninterrupted sleep where I wasn't listening out was, to me, far more use than time with my husband at that point.

I really struggled with the first 3-4 months of DS life. Life for me got easier when we started weaning so the pressure wasn't all on me to provide all sustenance.

FWIW, DS took night feeds regularly till night weaned at 21 mo and didn't sleep through til about then, ever. It's still hit or miss now and it's his 3rd birthday this month! But we usually get 4+ hours after bedtime

[newmum234]

Thanks for your concern but I don’t have PND. Just miss my sleep and looking forward to getting a bit of time back in the evenings with DH!

[UnderTheBus]

Yeah she didnt have any milk between 8.30 and 6 last night. But shes never been a big night time eater anyway, only waking up 2 or 3 times a night even as a tiny baby. Shes growing like crazy though so must be getting enough- I think I'm just lucky (this time).

There's no need to wake up an older baby (6 weeks +) every 3 to 4 hours but if they're waking up hungry you should still feed them. I think it is recommended to feed on demand, particularly when breastfeeding (I dont know if its different for formula as you can see how much they've had) so just feed when they ask for it.
If I try to feed mine when shes not hungry she screams the place down but she probably feeds about every 2 to 3 hours during the day.