VERY early mornings

[MrsMooky]

I've got a five week old daughter whose sleep patterns seem to be getting more and more erratic. At the moment she'll have two naps through the day of about 1.5 - 2 hours each and then at night she goes to sleep at 9pm and wakes at 1am for a feed. The problem is that she then will not go back to sleep until about 4am.. sometimes later. She'll then sleep until 8am.

What can I do?! I leave her to nap for as long as she wants but over the last week she has been much more alert and only wants these two naps. But how can I get her back to sleep at night? I give her a very calm feed, as quick a nappy change as I can manage, no eye contact etc (not that she seems very into eye contact anyway).. how can I try to implement a day and night routine rather than this 24 hour cycle she seems to be on?

All suggestions gratefully received!

I think all you can do about the day/night thing is keep doing what you are doing: quiet and calm at night, playful during the day. I think it can take some babies 3 months to get it.

Do you turn the light on to feed? I have a soft bulb in my hallway so I can see for night feeds/nappy changes.

Can you feed after the nappy change?

Also a baby at that age can't really be awake very long so she might need more than 2 naps. Can you try getting her to nap after she has been awake for 1 hour/1 hour 15 using whatever method you can (sling, pram, cuddle, feed, bouncy chair)?

I had a very wakeful young baby so know how you feel. Can you catch up with sleep during the day?

I think it takes quite a while for babies to get the hang of this. Keep going with what you're doing. Once you LO is a bit older I'd suggest doing a more formal bedtime routine - eg feed, bathtime, special clothes, feed, bed.