Almost three weeks old turning night into day! HELP!

[jonathansmom]

My baby boy is nearly three weeks old and he sleeps allllllll day and then is awake half the night....what can I do to keep him awake during the day....I've tried everything...including taking his clothes off....then he just gets mad and wants to nurse...even though he just finished a good feed only 1 hour before...if I feed him to settle him, he gets an umpset tummy from over eating and ends up spitting up a lot....I don't k now what to do! HELP!

Can only suggest simple things that you may well have tried - make the days interesting (bright objects, different sounds & music) and the nights boring (minimal light, little or no noise or talking - do only what needs done then put him back to where you want him to sleep).

At that age he will need feeding regularly both day and night so try and make your life as easy as possible for the night feeds (my ds was sleeping on my chest still at 3 weeks as I could not move easily and he slept longer there). He will start to realise that different things are expected in the day and the night but it will probably feel like a slow transition. HTH. Good Luck.

Oops - again this may be obvious - but sleep when he does, even if it's the middle of the day, the house is a state, the washing needs done and you're expecting guests - SLEEP - you need the rest.

Wake him 3-4 hourly during the day for feeds then send someone else out with him in the pram while you sleep. Unless his nappy is dirty try not to change him during the night and as Janeway says keep the lights low. You will not be able to keep a 3 week old baby awake during the day. Just don't let him sleep too long or he is going to have to feed a lot during the night to make up for lost time.

Can't add much to the already excellent advice, except to say that my dd did EXACTLY the same thing. I was exhausted beyond belief, so you have my every sympathy!

Can't remember how we solved it, but I know we had the same advice as you have got here so it must have worked! Quiet dim nights, minimal interaction, no talking etc. and waking her after a couple of hours in the daytime, feed straight away if she was upset, otherwise nappychange and stimulation/play, followed by a feed when absolutely necessary (as she was sure to fall asleep on the boob again!) HTH and good luck. It will get better, hang in there.

Soon enough he will be awake all day and you will be saying that you wished he would sleep As others have already said, wake for feeds, and try to make things interesting after them. Tickling toes, pressing the end of the nose, wiping face with a damp sponge were some of the things we tried, not sure which worked but after about 3 weeks it got easier all of a sudden.
I found that once I was up, I coldn't go back to sleep, so used to do the first feed in my bed, then when dd fell asleep I would leave her next to me and just snuggle back under my duvet. I'm sure that some mornings I fed her whilst still asleep!

Take him outside during the day and expose his face to the light for at least 5 minutes. This stimulates his pineal gland which helps with the day/night distinction. Even cloudy dim days are OK.

All sound advice, but he is very, very tiny and what you describe is completely normal for a three week old baby - how could he know the difference? He's been in a dark pool of water for all nine months of his existence so far. He may also seem more awake at night than during the day partly just because it's more painful for you at night! If you feed every three to four hours during the day and don't let the baby sleep for more than three hours, things should gradually change. But lack of sleep at night comes with the territory, so do leap onto the bed/sofa with a blanket the minute your ds falls asleep so you get some rest.

WHAT TIME OF DAY WAS HE BORN? -sorry didnt mean to shout, am feeding dd only saw caps on when i looked up. balancing bottle on my chin and typing one handed.

Agree with Alhoa he is very small and it's a hard thing to learn. Not many (any??) 3wkolds sleep through the night! Good advice here, make sure to feed regularly during the day and make a difference between day and night. I also believe it's worth doing proper bedtime routine as soon as poss ie bath, cuddle, feed, story/songs and off to bed - even if he's awake again a couple of hours later he'll gradually get the idea.

my 5 1/2 week old also can't differenciate between day and night! we have a night time routine -bath, bottle at same time every night but she sometimes goes to sleep at 10pm, sometimes sleeps all day and has to be woken at 9.30pm for bath then is awake till 1am! when do they sort out some kind of pattern and regular bed time? If we put her in her cot she cries and gets really upset