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worry about my 9 week-old not getting enough sleep...

10 replies

plumcake · 14/11/2008 16:37

Hi there - I'm really trying and get my baby to sleep in the day (and night!). This afternoon I rocked him to sleep, then breastfed him to sleep, then bobbed him in the sling to sleep... and each time he woke after 5 or 10 minutes. A few weeks ago he seemed to be doing really well and was waking only 2 or 3 times a night, but recently it's been more like 5 times, every 2hrs or even every hr. All this would be OK if I could tell myself it was normal-ish and will pass but I keep reading threads about babies and sleep deprivation and worrying he's just not getting enough sleep. He doesn't get especially cross or upset - just yawny. Any advice or reassurance would be great.

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pinkmunkee · 14/11/2008 18:57

How many hours a day is sleeping in total? I don't think you need to worry about sleep deprivation (except yours!) but obviously it would be better if you could fix it! Do you think he might be windy? If he's waking after 5 minutes could it be because he's uncomfortable?

hopefully · 14/11/2008 20:45

I assume you've tried keeping him awake for a reasonable period after a feed before attempting feed/rock/cuddle him to sleep?

After so many weeks as a newborn, it did come as something of a shock to me that DS suddenly needed entertaining after feeds. He's only a shade over 8 weeks and will happily stay up for 1.5-2 hours at a time (so around 45-60 mins after feeding).
He takes two 45 min naps and one longer nap (in my head 2 hours, but actually about 90 mins) during the day. He doesn't always go straight down at 7pm (rarely does), but increasingly when he doesn't he's just staring around him, rather than crying, and is usually asleep by 9pm at the latest.

Does he feed well during the day? If he's just taking a little feed, it's likely that he'll want to just catnap straight afterwards and then feed again soon afterwards, and continue this trend into the night. Not that there's any problem with that if it suits you, but if it bothers you, it might be worth encouraging him to take bigger feeds if you possibly can? My DS is big and greedy, so takes both sides and feeds for an hour each time, and feeds at roughly 7:30am, 10:30am, 2pm, 5pm (split feed with bath), 10:30pm and 4:30am. I think that's less frequently than many manage though - I put it down to him being piggy enough to take a monstrous feed when he does feed!

Saying all that, if he's happy, and it's not driving you mad, there's no reason to change anything! You only need to change things if they're not working for you or your DS.

plumcake · 15/11/2008 09:52

Thanks so much for your replies.. I'm trying to keep him awake no longer than 2 hours after the last sleep, and we're getting into playing - looking at his mobile together, having lots of 'chats' and making him smile. I think the thing is I've been trying to watch for sleep cues too - yesterday I was trying to get him down after two yawns, but maybe it was too soon? I'm pretty sure it's not wind but will try more burping. When he feeds it only tends to be on one side, so that might be it - splitting a feed around a bath is a really good idea. Actually last night was better: bath then bed at 6pm, woke at 8.30pm (although I was devastated because a few days ago he'd been doing 4 hours after going down), 12pm, 2am then 5am. Not great but better! I managed to get him to do another 45 min nap after that but by 9am he had bags under his eyes, massive yawns... so DH has taken him out for a long walk in the sling. I always take him out for a walk in the day as that's the most reliable way to get him to sleep, and try and make sure it's at least 1hr 30 mins. It's the other sleeps that are more difficult! Sorry for the long post - basically I was really worried he was suffering from not enough sleep (the bags under the eyes tug at my heart!), but your posts have made me feel better. Will just keep trying. X

OP posts:
plumcake · 15/11/2008 09:56

Sorry pinkmunkee: he gets about 12-13 hours I would say, which now I've written it down I spose doesn't look too bad. It was the 16 hour average thing that was freaking me out, as well as my baby looking so tired...

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Becky77 · 15/11/2008 21:14

Have you tried put him down in a darkened room? He may be a little young for it yet (I started doing it at 12 weeks) but some babies do prefer to not have the visual stimulation.

plumcake · 16/11/2008 09:29

I'm planning to try this Becky as I'm sure it would help - in the night, though he's waking lots', he does settle pretty quickly. I can't get it properly dark in our current flat, but crazily we're moving in 2 weeks and then we'll have shutters... Though who knows what effect moving house will have!

OP posts:
littleboyblue · 16/11/2008 09:38

Hi. My ds didn't sleep much at first, he seemed to be awake all day. I spoke to h/v and was told if he tired, he'll just go to sleep but found I needed to rock him.
I was very big on the whole routine thing and spent a few days watching him and noted when he seemed tired, bored, hungry etc and then managed to find a routine that suited both of us.
Becky has a good idea there, some babies prefer to be left on their own to sleep.
I got ds to sleep straight after a feed when his belly was full, put a blanket over him and found he couold sleep for hours. This was in living room and when he started opening his eyes, I'd shut mine to try to show him it was still sleep time, sounds stupid but I'm convinced it worked. Good luck

littleboyblue · 16/11/2008 09:38

Hi. My ds didn't sleep much at first, he seemed to be awake all day. I spoke to h/v and was told if he tired, he'll just go to sleep but found I needed to rock him.
I was very big on the whole routine thing and spent a few days watching him and noted when he seemed tired, bored, hungry etc and then managed to find a routine that suited both of us.
Becky has a good idea there, some babies prefer to be left on their own to sleep.
I got ds to sleep straight after a feed when his belly was full, put a blanket over him and found he couold sleep for hours. This was in living room and when he started opening his eyes, I'd shut mine to try to show him it was still sleep time, sounds stupid but I'm convinced it worked. Good luck

littleboyblue · 16/11/2008 09:38

Whoops, sorry!

Becky77 · 16/11/2008 12:43

Good luck with the move! I reckon you'll find the shutters help loads

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