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5 week old sleep 'routine'

4 replies

BeyonceKnows · 01/11/2019 12:28

Hi all..
I'm becoming a fairly frequent poster on here. I'm a FTM. My baby is 5 weeks old and she does not like to sleep at night.
I realise they're all mixed up at this stage and don't know the day from the night but she literally wont fall asleep until the morning sometimes!
I figured out yesterday that I think she's overtired (realised she does not sleep anywhere near the 16-18 hours she's supposed to. Took me 5 weeks to realise clearly not a natural mother ) so I've decided to try enforcing naps today.

Today so far:
6am - woke up, nappy change, feed.
7am - 10am slept in her crib.
10am - woke up, nappy change, feed, tummy time.
11.30 - rocked to sleep in Moses basket.
She's still asleep now at 12.30.

Does it seem like I'm making her sleep too much now?
Should I try for another nap this afternoon/evening?
It's starting to become apparent that I have no idea what I'm doing!
Felt like the worst mum ever yesterday which is why I'm here today, trying to get us on track!

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Pashazade · 01/11/2019 12:56

Well it sounds like the naps are working if she is sleeping happily during the day, don't panic about routine at this stage she is still tiny. I would expect another day time nap in all likelihood and then if your lucky maybe a little longer overnight, but it will still be a broken sleep for you. This might be useful info, I'm afraid you have to go with the flow, they can't do long unbroken stretches at that age as they get hungry Smile

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/getting-baby-to-sleep/

Nonnymum · 01/11/2019 13:08

At this age you just have to be led by your baby, Newborns have very tiny tummys so cant go for long without waking up. NIght and day you should expect her to wake up and feed at least every 3 hours and probably even more often than that, sometimes they wake hourly, Also they usually cant stay awake for more than about an hour

BendingSpoons · 01/11/2019 13:18

When she wakes up I would take her out for a walk as daylight is meant to help them sort out day and night. Then keep aiming for naps when she has been awake 90mins or so. I wouldn't worry she is having too much daytime sleep, hopefully it will help combat the overtiredness.

Are you breastfeeding? Night time feeds are key for milk production. This doesn't make it any easier but I found it helpful to know.

If she really isn't sleeping at night can you try other methods e.g. sling, buggy that you might use in the day? It might not work if you can't transfer her as you obviously need to sleep too, but I used to be able to get DD asleep in the sling and then put in the cot.

BeyonceKnows · 01/11/2019 14:39

Thank you all for your responses. Just to clarify, I didn't actually mean routine. I shouldn't have used that word. I don't expect (or even hope) for her to sleep through the night at this stage. Yesterday was just very distressing because she was so stressed and I just didn't know what I should be doing with sleep in the day as until now really, she rarely sleeps in the day which I now realise is not good for her!
The nap after 90 minutes advice is exactly the practical advice I was after so thank you very much, I'll aim for that and see how we go.
I already have a much happier, more calm baby today Smile
Thank you all for the advice and support!

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