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Sleep

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Original poster

Sleeping patterns, what does yours do?

7 replies

FirstTimeMum1 · 06/05/2011 21:06

Hi everyone,

Being a first time mummy to a 6 week old DD I have no idea what sleeping patterns are normal at this age and what is to come.

Please would you share your experiences?

At the moment DD is having a growth spurt (I think) as her sleeping/feeding is not in a set routine like it was and I'm wondering what it will turn into and when she will start sleeping more at night and napping less through the day.

Thanks for any comments :)

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IMissSleep · 07/05/2011 06:54

Hi firsttimemum1

At this age, there are no routines! Just go with what your DD is telling you. Nap during the day when she does! I didn't even try to set a routine till DS was 4 months (then we had 4 month sleep regression!!) He's now 8.5 months and has a good routine but still not sleeping through. Where does she sleep?

Original poster

FirstTimeMum1 · 07/05/2011 08:01

Hi imissleep :)

At night she sleeps in a cot and she's really good, sleeps from half 9 - 1, then to 4 then till about 7 or 8. ( well not at the moment!) and in the day she naps on a chair in the living room.

What's a 4 month sleep regression?

I wish I could nap during the day but I'm a student so as soon as she's asleep the books are opened and assignments are started! ...hence so curious about sleeping patterns so I can plan uni work for the summer and next academic year.

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IMissSleep · 07/05/2011 08:08

There's lots of milestones that happen happen in the first 6 months, sleep regression, growth spurts, teething...

All these will effect your DD routine. There's a few threads about sleep regression, basically means that any routine you may have will go out the window! My DS was wake up every hour! He wasn't hungry just unsettled. It only lasts a few days a week at most. Don't fret though, you're not alone!! Just take everyday as it comes. Hope you manage to get some rest :)

matana · 08/05/2011 21:24

My DS has never, ever had a consistent night time sleep pattern and he's 6 months. Although he's always been a pretty good sleeper, and a good self settler etc, he is utterly inconsistent. Some nights he'll wake 2 or 3 times, some nights just once. Some nights he'll sleep for an 8 hour stretch and some for just 3 or 4. And, unlike other babies, he's never woken at 10/11pm for a feed - he just went straight to sleeping from 7 until midnight or later, which is a bit inconvenient for me in terms of broken sleep, but he just never took to a dream feed, it unsettled him. The one thing that has been consistent since about 8 weeks is his bedtime - 9 times out of 10 he settles no problems at all around 7/8pm.

In my (limited) experience, i hear anecdotally that routines/ patterns are more prevalent in bottle fed babies because you can always be sure how much milk they're getting and up their milk intake immediately when they go through a growth spurt. I'm BFing and wouldn't change it for the world - but it has its down sides!

RitaMorgan · 08/05/2011 21:30

At about 4-5 months ds started sleeping more consistently during the day. He was having 2, sometimes 3 naps a day at that point but only slept 45 minutes at a time so some naps I would feed him back to sleep halfway through.

Started doing bedtime at about 8 weeks - he would sleep 7-3, feed at 5 and then up at 7. It all went wrong at 4 months though! At 5 months he was down to 2 nightfeeds, then down to 1 from about 6.5 months, then sleeping through at 9 months.

He started napping longer in the day at about 7 months, and now has two naps and is awake for 3 hours at a time (9 months).

matana · 08/05/2011 21:30

Oh, should also have said that daytime naps become a bit more reliable from around 4 months i think. The morning nap was the easiest for me to instigate from very early (like 6 weeks or something) but the rest of the day was always hit and miss. At around 4 months he started taking 3 naps a day lasting between 45 mins and 2 hours each. At 6 weeks i guess he was sleeping 8-10 hours at night and the same again during the day, but i've no idea what average is.

Original poster

FirstTimeMum1 · 08/05/2011 22:24

Thank you :)

It's very helpful to know other people's experiences and what sort of thing to expect, especially as I can be a worrier if i don't know why something is happening so I won't freak out with abnormal sleepig patterns in the future!!

I know what you mean about the BF matana..DD is in a growth spurt stage and is on all the time!! Tried to dream feed her last night but she was having none of it! must be easier for bottle fed babies maybe...

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