PLEASE ADVISE... 6 week baby sleeping pattern

[user1490955528]

So... we decided to go WILD and let DD, who is 6 weeks old, lead the way on sleep as well as BF to see what happened (last three days)...instead of following advice on all the sleep websites etc...

(am always questioning if i am doing the RIGHT thing sleep wise... She doesn't go along with the recommended guidelines for a six week old baby...)

if left to schedule herself ... she will wake around
8am - 9.30 wake
9.30 - 10.30 sleep
10.30 - 12.30 wake
12.30 - 4 sleep
4 - 7 wake
7 - 3.30 sleep
3.30 - 5am wake
5am - 8am sleep

feeding is
8.30
10.30
12
4
6.45
3.30

(she may also wake at 11pm for a quick feed 1 night of 3 so far)

previously i have been following a three hour feeding schedule (with the cluster feeding ontop which seems to be subsiding) with a nap in between... which meant I was just waking my DD to feed then trying to make her go to sleep again with little time for play...

then following her cues from 10pm - waking once at 3 am or 5 am. all this waking and making her go her go back to sleep seemed a bit silly and making me feel stressed.

BUT Is it ok for her to be awake that long? 3 hours... she wasn't crying and seemed happy to engage with us - we were talking to each other with her watching and talking to her with her mesmerised by what we were saying, animated faces etc...

and then was very easy to put in her cot this evening (put into cot awake went to sleep on own accord in a couple of mins with me just stood by saying nightnight)

when i was doing the feed every three hours type routine ... feed (can take 45 mins) and then try and make her go to sleep i was very stressed and she was refusing to go to sleep sometimes, meaning i was swaddling her and swaying for 30 mins to make her tired, then to put her down in the cot, then she would cry after 5 mins and i would go back and think "she isn't tired but she has to be tired because that's what the internet says..."

I would say every other feed she would go to sleep on her own accord...

since following her cues / natural schedule we have all been a lot more relaxed and enjoyed play time together ... mainly just chatting with her in my arms / knees / play mat looking at toys / patterns / round the garden and house...

this seems much more easy going and FUN !

AM worried she may end up sleep deprived or something due to all the sleep baby info on the internet and her being able to stay awake a lot longer than the recommended time for a 6 week old...

is what i am doing OK?

Also will my milk supply reduce due to non regimented feeding schedule... my aunty said that it won't and all that stuff about your milk drying up is a load of rubbish - she BF her son evenings only from 10 weeks with no pumping in the day for two and a half years...

Pls advise....let me know your 6 week old baby sleep schedules ...

a worried first time mum! xx

thanks so much!

My DD is nearly 6 months old and I've pretty much let her lead the way. With my DS (now nearly 4) I got so hung up on EVERYTHING sleep-related that it became an obsession. From my experience it's far more pleasant to follow to lead of Baby and have confidence that they'll get there in the end. DS now sleeps 7-7 religiously, and DD does roughly the same with one or two feeds (sometimes sleeps through). I've found that worrying over sleep doesn't really help with anything; especially with a little one as young as yours!!!

Yes 3 hours is a long time, but if baby is ok what's the problem? Some days my baby wouldn't sleep at all! During growth spurts and things. All fine if everyone is happy xx

I've never had a schedule and at 6 months we have a happy baby and happy family. I don't really like routines in general though so it doesn't work for everyone x

My baby is 8 weeks and I just follow her cues but for the last week I have put her to bed in her crib when she wants to sleep after 6pm - she has a quick bath or wash and then change into sleepsuit, feed and put down where she goes off to sleep independently. I know I'm very lucky but she's a second baby! In the daytime she just sleeps around what we are doing and I can tell the difference between her tired cry and hungry cry and settle/feed her accordingly.

Scheduling a breastfed baby is daft, and sleep websites are crackers - just follow cues. She is going to change SO MUCH that as soon as you think she's in a 'routine' everything will change again, so for the sake of your sanity, stop noting times of feeding and sleeping and just let her tell you what she needs. Also, for the sake of your sanity, don't expect sleep to 'improve'/lengthen on a steady trajectory. It will most likely be a rollercoaster for the first 18 months to 2 years. Not because you're doing anything right or wrong - it just is. Sleep is a developmental process. The baby who falls asleep in her crib now may become the toddler who needs to be driven around the block thrice to get sleepy, with Justin Fletcher singing the Macarena on repeat to an accompaniment of a Frozen projection on the roof.

That said, three hours is a very long awake time for a 6wo. Generally 45 minutes awake time is right for that age - I'd have been interested as to what she'd have done if you'd put her on the breast after 45-60 mins of being awake then. Conked out, I suspect.

Wow, she's 6 weeks. She's not going to be in sandy kind of predictable pattern yet.

Are you in the UK? Because breastfeeding every 3 hours is not recommended. You should be feeding on demand, however often that might occur. You can't overfeed a breastfed baby!

As for napping routine, it's far too early to be looking for a routine that follows a clock. She's only just come out of you! As the PP said, try to keep awake time to 45-6 mins and then it's time for another nap. All day, until you go to bed and take her up to you room with her.

Google 'the fourth trimester'. It should explain a lot about the behaviour of newborns.

Also, you don't mention feeding to sleep. It's perfectly normal for a BF baby to fall asleep whilst feeding. No need to move or wake them in order to put them down in a cot. Just feed and cuddle in these early days.

Things are going to be changing all of the time when so young, I'd just let the baby feed and sleep on demand. My second child is now nearly 5 months and his sleeping is still unpredictable and he feeds on demand, sometimes going 3-4 hours, sometimes wanting milk hourly which is fine.

Another one here who doesn't understand or agree with a bfing schedule - if you bf you should be demand feeding, especially at that age. Also, you shouldn't be putting the baby to sleep or for naps anywhere other than where you are. SIDS guidelines etc.

Wow indeed, teaandbiscuits... that's such a superior post! Give the op a break. She's asking for advice. Until you've had a baby you wouldn't know any of these things. Stop with the patronising remarks and maybe be a bit more supportive. It's posters like you who put me right off MN.

She slept for 3h30m at 12.30pm. Therefore 3h awake immediately afterwards, through the cluster feeding time, is reasonable. I woukd have expected the same. Limited awake time assumes shorter naps - yours are long naps.

16h sleep in 24h is fine. What websites are telling you this isn't?!

Your feeding appears to be 2h-2h30m aside from when baby is asleep. Again, this is normal. What makes you think it isn't?

You don't need to wake baby up for a feed. If baby is sleeping it is ok to have l9bger between feeds. If baby needed a feed earlier, she would wake from the feed earlier.

Your longer gaps between feeds come at times baby is having a long chunk of sleep. Long chunks of sleep are good. When not in a long chunk of sleep baby seems to want to feed more frequently. That's all good and normal.

We have never had a schedule, have let DD lead the way with her feeds and sleeps pretty much from birth (bar the first two weeks of jaundice where I had a 2 hour timer on my phone constantly to make sure she fed enough to clear it), she is a very happy healthy 11 month old now and has found her own pattern. Some people like routine and it helps them cope with the baby, but I have found it easier and less stressful to just go with what dd wants.

It sounds like what you are doing is working for you so don't change a thing! You will have to adjust as baby gets older and the sleep regressions hit but I think responsive parenting is best for little babies and will help you get through the inevitable tough patches.

sorry to cause confusion...

Bfing isn't to schedule at all. the "3 hrs" was advised by a lactation consultant / nhs infant feeding team as when she was 2 - 3 weeks old we had a lot of bfing issues. one was her sleeping too long between feeds and i was advised to wake her up to feed 3 hrs since the last feed, or on demand if she wants to be fed before the 3 hrs (never!).

We are now truly bfing on demand ... only following her cues and never waking to feed or feeding 3 hrs since the last feed.

am fully aware of fourth trimester... thanks. am v into this philosophy...

she is v alert and likes full conversation / sing song ...not just cuddles... although she gets plenty of those tho...

thanks everyone for your advice...am trying not to get obsessed with her sleep patterns! she is a good sleeper at night and takes good naps in the day and is feeding well, happy and alert and so shouldn't worry really.