6 week old hardly ever awake

[doingitalllagain]

My 6 week old is basically permanently asleep, he will wake up to feed and during nappy changes and will cry a lot during these but quickly goes back to sleep. We don't really have any time where's he awake and alert and happy, if he's awake he's fussing/crying. My eldest was totally different and had smiled by now but my baby hasn't been awake long enough to get a smile out of him! 😂 is this unusual? He was 3 weeks early but still full term 37 weeks.

That does sound unusual - but am not any kind of medical professional! How is his weight?

Worth asking your GP or HV.

I don’t know if it’s normal or not but both of mine were unbelievably sleepy until they were 8-10 weeks. If you’re worried just contact HV :)

I took my youngest to the GP because she slept constantly until over 8 weeks old. All was fine, she was just a sleepy baby!

I've not have experience of sleepy babies
I have 2 children

Mine was like this, became a joke because of how much he slept 😅. He slowly outgrew it and the wake periods lengthened. Just keep encouraging him to stay awake for a bit longer at some points.

Mine were early and both were very sleepy to start with. Had to be woken for feeds.

The main thing is to be sure they are feeding enough as sleepy babies may not wake and demand to be fed like you’d expect babies to.

My eldest (born 34 weeks) had to be kept awake during feeds by feet tickling, stripping off, making noises in her ear etc. Second one (born 37 weeks) not as much effort required, but still very sleepy compared with FT babies for the first few weeks at least. It wore off pretty quickly though iirc!

37 weeks is now considered “early term” rather than “full term”, generally there are a few differences compared with 40 weekers, like sleepiness at first. Also can be a higher chance of digestive issues (reflux) as this is the last bodily system to develop fully in the womb. Generally all will even out in the next few months though.

I wouldn’t expect a smile till 6 weeks corrected, ie 9 weeks for your baby.

My second was like this. I was also concerned as my older child was completely different. I prayed for a good sleeper second time round and then spend the whole time stressing that he was sleeping too much! My HV was never worried and I spent a lot of time googling different variations on "my baby is always asleep" without uncovering anything too worrying. As with most things with a small baby, it seems like as long as they're feeding, pooing and weeing it's all good. Mine is now 4 months and completely fine. As always it's worth asking your HV for peace of mind though.

Quite normal at that age isn't it? So long as he's gaining weight well I wouldn't worry.

Was all ok with your little one? I’m currently experiencing this and can’t help but worry!

Have they had their jabs?

I remember one guy telling me once his son had his jabs, he slept a lot after turned out to lead to other difficulties. Non verbal etc

Not saying this is your child.

Go to your GP for a paediatrician referral.
You as a parent know when things aren't right

Don't ignore it

It's not uncommon but talk to GP or HV.