8 week old - daytime naps started going haywire

[Fufulina]

Hi - my DD is 8 weeks old tomorrow and from about 2 weeks to until about 7 weeks she was an angel baby. Sleeping well in the day - up at 7, 2 morning naps of about an hour each, and lunch nap of about 2 hours and then bed at 7 and sleeping until 7 with one or two wakes in the night. We also didn't have any trouble putting her down - she was happy to go awake into the moses basket and then settle herself off.

But, now she seems to have trouble napping in the day - the long lunchtime nap is gone and she snaps wide awake after 40 minutes.. This seems to be affecting her nightime sleep as well as she's now getting up at 6 and 2 wakes is now more normal than 1...

a) Should I worry - or is it just that she's so tiny I can't expect consistency...? (And should thank lucky stars for easy ride until now)
b) when should I start to think about a more structured daytime nap routine?
c) Should I post this in sleep as well..??
d) Should I just calm down (can you tell she's my first?)

She's exclusively BF by the way...

TIA

Babies change their timings constantly. She is becoming more wakeful in the daytime now. Some people will offer you advice on a routine. I can't.

my ds is 8 weeks tomorrow too! I'm impressed that you had established some sort of routine - I couldn't really tell you my ds's sleep patterns as they tend to change every day. Some days he'll have a mammoth nap in the morning, some days he'll cat nap, and despite my best intentions to get him to sleep at night in his lovely Amby Bed, he's not interested and snuggles in with me, waking a couple of times for a feed...

Anyway, he's my 3rd and I'm not in the least bit bothered about his sleeping - I'm just pleased when he does! So I wouldn't worry too much about it, or try to recognise any definite pattern as things change often in the first few months. Perhaps see how she's doing at about 6 months as by then you will probably know what's 'normal' for her.

Just go with her flow. I was the same with my first! If you relax about it you'll be happier, honestly. There's no need to make yourself anxious - she's still so wee and it sounds like you're doing great. Count yourself lucky that she's able to settle herself in her moses basket - that's excellent!

Thanks CA and Kitka - I knew I was being ridiculous - but good to have it confirmed.

Thanks again - will just go with her flow (which is what we have been doing, it just happens that her flow has been pretty consistent until now!).

Liz

She could also be going through a growth spurt so make sure that you are giving her complete feeds, maybe consider a bottle of expressed or formula feed once a day, probably the last feed at night. At this age they do start to be more awake. If a routine suits you, as it did me, then by all means try to stick with one but do not get stressed if the day goes out of kilter ie if baby wakes up after 40 mins then maybe take the next feed forward slightly but take longer doing it, then fit in a small nap in the afternoon so that baby makes it to usual bedtime on time. Prams and carseats nearly always make baby fall asleep. When she is awake, put her on the floor, let her have a play, do lots of singing and some playing with her to give her some "exercise" but not overdo it in case she gets overtired. I found that my babies were nearer 10/12 weeks before they settled into regular routines but even then, days changed.
Good luck and ENJOY her.

My best friend told me to try blocking out the light in my babies room and it has really helped. I got her into the routine from the contented baby book and thaqts been really good too. I even use the black out for my 2 year olds bedroom now and am getting an extra half hour in the morning!! Hoorah. dont know if its woRth you giving it a try? Anyway the ones I used were from a website called www.easyblindsonline.co.uk