sleep/routines

[jojoisamum]

Morning,

Wonder if I can have some advice. My little boy is 6 weeks old. In my research when pregnant, everything led to demand feeding and demand sleeping which we have done. I also read that he's likely to find his own routine between 6-8 weeks. Now I am not expecting him to fall into whatever routine immediately but things still seem to be all over the place with eating and sleeping. The only thing that is almost certain is that he will fall asleep at 10.30 pm but will wake several times during the night.

Is there anything I should be doing to help him or do we just keep going with him and hope that things get better soon (can you tell we're knackered!)

He doesn't sleep much during the day. I call them little power naps plus he likes to be held most of the time which is lovely but does get very tiring. He's ok in the sling but I don't like keeping him in there for hours on end either.

Will he ever fall asleep earlier than 10.30? Will this come with his own routine?

I thought I was all prepared but feel so out of my depth it is quite overwhelming.

my main question should have been do we just keep going the way we are?

My dd didn't really fall into a bedtime routine until she was about 3 months old. Her routine then was sleep at 8pm, wake at about midnight for milk, sleep till about 6am then wake for more milk.

At about 4 months she dropped the midnight milk and slept through.

I remember feeling quite anxious about the 'routine' thing because up until 3 months, she seemed to change her routine all the time.

My advice is to just carry on with what you're doing and I'm sure things will just fall into place.

FWIW, I only know one person whose baby had a settled bedtime routine by 6-8 weeks. For most people, it took a lot longer.

Yeah I would just go with the flow for now. The bedtime will just natuarally get earlier and earlier. You could watch DS for signs of sleepiness during the day and make a note of these. If there seems to be a pattern to it then you could base a routine on this, though of course these will change too. I think once they are 3 months that things settle down a bit for them, you'll have more confidence too and things will start to fall into place. My DD had all her naps in our arms or in the sling and it is lovely. Eventually you'll be able to put him down for naps, but he's still pretty small at the moment. Sounds like you are doing great!!!

Even trying to establish a routine doesn't always work.

We have ds2 in a routine of sorts but you have to be prepared to be flexible.
If it really starts to get to you try the baby whisperer routine, I've heard it's very effective.

Personally I started with the Gina Ford routine but found it way too strict. We've relaxed her sleep routine considerably, although stick to rough feeding times. 7am, 10.30am, 2.30pm, 6pm and 10/10.30pm

Best of luck.

Hi,

He's probably having a bit of a growth spurt right now, so thing will be a bit hectic for a few days yet. They generally have growth spurts at 10 days, 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 12 weeks and around 18-20 weeks.

Theres nothing to stop him being in the sling all the time (as long as it's a proper sling, not a "carrier" as they are not good for your back or the babys.), if he likes it and you are comfortable (not getting back ache).

His "routine" is actually that you will start to get to know his behaviour and a pattern will emerge, it doesn't happen over night, but it will evolve over the next few weeks.

To answer your basic question, yes, just carry on as you are!

Monkies

I could have written that post myself 11 weeks ago! I felt like a total failure and was sick of people telling how their babies ate every four hours, napped on demand and slept for 12 hours at night (yeah right!). I can promise you that he will find his own routine in about 2 weeks time, there is light at the end of the tunnel, even though it doesn't seem like it just now! My little one wouldn't sleep without being held, ate 2 oz at a time and woke every 2/3 hours through the night, then one night she slept from 9pm till 3am and she hasn't looked back. I tried everything and it seemed like nothing would work, a few suggestions though, we give her a dummy when she wakes up instead of a bottle and usually that's all she needs, you'll know if it's food he wants. We also put a wee hat on her after her bath so she knew it was nighttime and not a nap, it seemed to work, but I can't be sure! Worth trying! She's now 17 weeks and a great we sleeper and eater, she still gets up sometimes in the night, but so does everyone they have different days just like the rest of us. Just remember that your doing brilliantly, they DON'T come with a manual cause they're all different and routines are great as a guide, but don't let them rule or life or make you feel like a failure. Hope this helps, good luck

Hi,
in my experience the most helpful thing you should keep telling yourself is "THEY ARE ALL DIFFERENT!"
My DS1 seemingly never slept until in dispair and having returned to work we did controlled crying for 2 night: brilliant sleeper since.
DS2 great sleeper from the start inspite of delivery at 31 weeks, 3lb 10oz, fed on demand, slept through the night (and I mean 7 to 7) aged 16 weeks when his corrected age was 7 weeks.
DS3, now 20 weeks, somewhere in the middle, too nosey to have meaningful daytime naps (IMO 10 min on my lap do not count), but sleeps 4-7 hrs at beginning of night, thereafter 2 feeds on average.

It WILL get better. Maybe try keeping a sleep diary ie write down when baby sleeps for @ 1 weeks. Sometimes that helps to recongnize an emerging pattern which you can then reenforce by putting him down/go for walk in pram/drive in car close to that time every day.
Well, that sounds like a sound theory anyway that makes sense to me, however in practice ...

Good luck! Good to know I am not the only one with children with sleep ishoos!!