Do you let a newborn sleep for as long as they like in the daytime???

[sjcmum]

Have a 3 week old dd, and if left, she seems to like having a really long sleep in the afternoon. The midwife advised not letting her go more than 4 hours without a feed, but another relative suggested to ignore this and "never to wake a sleeping baby......"

I kind of sit somewhere between the two - I don't want to get sucked into strict routines and I don't like to wake her, but on the other hand I also worry that if I don't wake her she might be awake all night, as she'll be catching up on feeds.

Any tips?? How long would you let a new baby sleep - as long as they like or after how long??? Does it make any difference to the night sleeps???

Thanks

At 3 weeks she should be asleep virtually 24/7 anyway.
I went for the never-wake option with dd.
Put your feet up and watch daytime tv while she sleeps! x

DS always slept forever during the day and was up all night. I always left him and got some sleep myself.

I think newborns are supposed to be asleep about 20 hours a day. My DS was and it did him no harm. It will change in a couple of weeks no matter what you do so relax, let her sleep and havea nap yourself

I did make sure both mine were fed every 3 hrs during the day, but I didn't really have to wake them to do so. They would stir and have a feed and then promptly fall fast asleep again. Certainly don't think it's cruel to wake them. It's impossible to keep them awake if they are tired anyway. It certainly helped with my 2 going through the night, but that might have been luck.

Make the most of it. I'm going to

What did you do when your lo was in the womb, let them sleep or wake them?

Oh, but make sure they get between 8-12 decent feeds in a 24 hour period, with a few close together in the evening

i woke mine if it'd been 3-4 hours since the last feed which i think helped him distinguish btwn night and day so now his longer sleeps are at night and he's slept through a few times (11wksold)

there isn't day or night in the womb so i'd disagree with babystarlightsmum on that one...

Thanks for the suggestions... I know they will change soon. This is DD2 - and I am more relaxed than first time around. I think whether I wake her or not will partly depend on what else I'm trying to do!! DD1 didn't sleep through until after she was 1, so kind of prepared for another year of sleepless nights anyway.

She seems to cluster feed in the evening and in the morning - so I guess a long sleep in the afternoon is linked to that too. I think some of the time she is just tired, yet it is easier to have a feed. Just tried not feeding her, as she'd only finished a feed half an hour earlier and put her in the sling instead, and she promptly fell asleep.... trouble is sometimes if she is crying DH will just tell me she's hungry, and I'll end up feeding her cos he doesn't always have the patience to soothe her to sleep!

Let her sleep, and enjoy some sleep yourself. This phase really doesn't last long and you'll kick yourself later if you don't make the most of it now