'Restrict day sleep' - should I? If so, how??

[WooLulu]

My baby is nearly 4 weeks old. He's difficult to settle at night (often we try for hours) but a very determined day sleeper. He's currently flat out on my bed, lights are on and blinds open. Yesterday he slept around the garden centre (lights twinkling, carols blaring) and then around Sainsburys (ditto, plus I was carrying him in my arms, not a pram or carrier).

People have told me to restrict the day sleep, not to let him sleep past 3pm or 5pm or whatever. Is this possible when he's tired? It doesn't seem like a good idea to me... plus how would I get through toddler tea time and bed time?? Yesterday baby was awake from about 6pm, I bathed him at about 7 and took him to bed with me at 9.30 (and fed him to sleep in bed). Does he really need to be awake from 3?

No, do not restrict day sleep. He is 4 weeks old, let him sleep.

The last thing you need is him not sleeping at night, and trying to restrict his sleep during the day, that was madness lies. He will, imo, be even harder to settle as he will be exhausted.

He will soon adjust, he is still so tiny. Don't punish yourself trying to keep him awake!

that way madness lies

Absolutely agree with different My DD slept better at night when she achieved daytime napping.

At 4 weeks you can't. (Or atleast I have tried but not found it to be possible).

I thought this thread was going to be about a 2 year old.

No, you can't restrict the sleep of a newborn. It's just not possible to keep them awake if they want to sleep! Nor should you try. He will want to sleep most of the day, on and off.

This is normal and will naturally sort itself out as he gets bigger.

He's 4 weeks old. Leave him alone.

I wouldn't restrict sleep, but I'd encourage wakeful periods during the day. Mine would have some periods of about 45 minutes awake at that age.

At night is he difficult to settle, or is he just unhappy about being put to sleep alone?

4 weeks old really? leave him alone! Babies need as much sleep as possible my 3month has naps of a day still.

I wasn't advised to restrict sleep but I was advised to wake to feed during the day. My DD at one point would sleep for hours during the day and we obviously wanted that sleep at night!

He's still tiny and not likely to know the difference between day and night for a while - he just needs lots of sleep. You could gently help him learn the difference by making awake time in the day noisier and more active, but keeping it quiet and light low at night. You could start a bedtime routine in a couple of months (have him there while you do your toddler's) and he'll gradually get used to the idea of going to sleep at the same time. Mine were probably 6 months when they would fairly reliably go to sleep in the evening, after it moved slowly from around 11pm to 8pm.

My 4 week old was awake a lot yesterday (a accidentally as we were visiting family and she was overstimulated I think!) and she was still up every 1-2 hours at night so I don't think it makes much difference at this stage!

I think I underestimated how much sleep babies actually need until I had my dd. I definitely wouldn't restrict sleep in the daytime, and in my experience it made things worse if my dd slept less during the day. It's great that he sleeps well during the day through all the lights and noise. I'm sure you will be grateful for that in a couple of months!

I do agree not to try to restrict sleep until a baby is much older. My DS was a sleepy baby and didn't wake to feed until frantically hungry. Things got a lot easier when a friend suggested I wake him to feed him every 3 to 3 and a half hours throughout the day time, but let him sleep til he woke at night. It worked well, and I realised he could only be awake for about 2 hours before needing to settle for a nap. And it had the advantage of meaning he started to feed more in the day and less at night, gradually.