Nocturnal 5 week old

[freerangetriker]

Hi all. My daughter is 5 weeks old and pretty much since birth she's been nocturnal. She'll sleep soundly in the day in her moses basket (in the bedroom in the dark and quiet) fairly undisturbed apart from feeds and bum changes. In the night she will sleep a little but not in the moses basket. As soon as she's moved she'll be wide awake. She can also be quite colocky at night but we know what works to sort it. She has access to a dummy but doesn't always want/need it.
We've also tried using my pillowcase or t-shirt to add my smell, a hot water bottle to warm the mattress up a little before putting her in and swaddling to encourage her to sleep at night but with no avail.
Any advice on a game plan to switch her round. If she slept at night like she does in the day we'd be sorted. I am trying keeping her more awake today but we'll see how it goes.
Thanks all. It'll be interesting to get opinions.

What are her feeds like? Is she taking more at night or in the day? My DD started waking for feeds every 2 hours in night but only 3 hours in the day so I started giving her more feeds in the day including waking her up for them. Also are you keeping lights dim/off at night and giving minimal interaction then in the day giving lots of interaction when she’s awake?

Why are you keeping her in the dark in the daytime? For us at that age it was downstairs, curtains opened. When nighttime came, low lights and low noise.

Have daytime naps downstairs, in Moses basket or bouncy chair.

In the daytime, during awake time give baby a full feed, nappy check and a bit of floor time to kick around. I'd say 20-30 minutes max at this age. Then back to sleep.

At night the same but without the floor time and in the dark. So wake, feed, back to sleep.

She feeds every 2 hours in the night and more like every 4 hours in the day. Would introducing a bedtime routine help or is she too young?

Try feeding more frequently in the daytime. Are you breast or bottle? How much is she having if bottle?

I would put her downstairs during the day. You need to make day and night different for her. So, during the day, she’s downstairs where it’s light and normal household noises are going on. Plus, I think sunlight helps too. During the night keep things dark and quiet.

You need to help her learn day and night by keeping the house bright during the day, including when she sleeps. This will help her body learn the difference between daytime naps and nighttime sleep.

My dd always napped in a light filled room until she started to take proper scheduled naps at around 6 months.

She is being bottle fed and had between 70-90ml per feed )approx 3 to oz)

It’s very common for newborns to have days and nights mixed up. Sometime by 8 weekish this should be better . As mentioned already lots of light and interaction in the day time and keeping things dark and boring at night will help. As with everything it’s just a phase and will pass

Thanks all. We're gonna try a slightly more structured routine when it comes to feeding and getting up at going to bed starting properly tomorrow. I'll let you know how we get on.

It doesn’t really need to be a strict routine @freerangetriker, just once you’re all awake for the day, curtains open and light in the house. Once nighttime comes round, darker rooms, dim lights and low sound. 5 weeks is a bit young for a routine but that’s up to you :)

Give her time. Most newborns are largely nocturnal and it will sort itself out by 12 weeks usually if you distinguish between day and night.

She's used to sleeping as your movement during the day lulled her and then being awake at night when you were lying still.