Newborn 4 weeks old on Monday won’t sleep from 12.30am until 4.30am

[Anonymousm]

Hi everyone, I want to ask is this normal at this age to not sleep for hours on end? He doesn’t hysterically cry, I’ll feed him when he wakes, burp him a couple of times through feeding, change his nappy if needed, then cuddle/rock him to sleep. I put him down in his Moses basket (swapped this from the next 2 me cot as he just wouldn’t settle in it).

I’ve tried swaddling, he just gets annoyed and won’t settle, tried different blankets/sleeping bags. He’s on anti colic formula and bottles, tried infacol but made him sick. (He was suffering with bad wind pain so swapped him to comfort formula) I’ve tried a white noise machine too. I feel like I’ve tried most things, I keep him upright for abit after feeding incase his milk comes up too.

He sleeps roughly 2 hours through the day at a time sometimes 3 hours, so he’s fine through the day it just seems to be from midnight onwards. Someone please tell me this stops because I’m struggling now tiredness. Decided tonight I’m sleeping from 8 until midnight and then partner can go to bed just after that!

It could be he’s just turning his night into day as he tries to settle into a routine. You need to try and get him to realise day and night. What I did at night feeds was minimal lighting for night feeds , I just had a dimmer lamp on lowest setting and no stimulating noise. When he wakes do his nappy change first and then feed so he eats and is sleepy rather than being fed then woken with nappy change / getting cold with clothes coming off. It won’t change immediately but hopefully this will help long term.

Hope it gets better for you. That doesn’t sound like much daytime sleep for his age. Our DC was asleep a lot at that age

@Star81 I try and feed him abit normally first then I do the nappy and do the end of the feed after he’s been changed to settle him down again, it’s not working for me though I’ll try that way haha! We keep the lights off too I just have a small night light clipped onto his moses basket on the dimmest setting for feeding. Hopefully it stops soon and it’s just a phase and him sorting himself out!

@ActuallyChristmas I mean he sleeps for 2 hour intervals and wakes 30mins - 45 mins at a time normally!

Completely normal, they can't distinguish day from night at that age

Aw that sounds hard, normal though! Get out for a good walk in the middle of the day so he gets lots of sunlight to help him distinguish between night and day. Low lighting for night feeds too. It will pass soon!

Completely normal op, my dd was exactly the same at that age. It takes them a while to get into the circadian rhythm of night vs day so you have to help them, which is sounds like you’re doing.

my DD would also sleep for up to 3 hours at a time in the day but I was so wound up I could never sleep at the same time. DH and I ended up doing a split shift for a while (I’d go to bed at 7 and he’d do the evening slot so I could wake up midnight/1am having had a chunk of sleep).

Keep going, you’re doing great!

Normal and will pass- hell for you but does pass- sleep when you can!

@bravotango its frustrating more than anything, the more sleep deprived you are the harder it is to cope with 😕. I’m just hoping it won’t carry on for much longer and we will see some normality soon with day/night!! Hard work going out because it seems to be pissing it down where we are basically everyday! We do when we can though!

Completely normal. Get Dh to sit up cuddling baby til midnight while you get some sleep and then you take over. It does get better

@MindatWork
thanks!

You sound like me, he sleeps but it’s like my body just won’t shut down to allow me to sleep in the day, I have napped when partner has been with me on the sofa though after tea time, we have agreed that I’ll sleep 8-12 and then I’ll do the nights partner will be up at 6am for work again after Christmas!

You sleeping til 12 is a good idea, that's what we did. In the day aim for plenty of light, fresh air, etc.

@DGPP that’s the plan tonight as our last resort now!

oh I see

It's so rubbish when the weather isn't helping isnt it 😭 your plan to split shifts is a good one. IIRC my ds had a growth spurt around 6 weeks and things improved a fair bit then so fingers crossed not too much longer for you before you see some improvement!

@bravotango It really is naff! Feel like I’m wishing time away for sleep 😭. I know he will only be this small once though! I hope so, in my head he’s basically nearly 6 weeks old he was over due two weeks near enough!! 😆