Newborn day/night sleep patterns

[justlookatthatbooty]

Do you just let your newborn sleep whenever she needs to during the day? And if not, at what age do you encourage her to stay awake?

I'm not into sleep training methods and have found ease in letting the babies do their thing but this one is rather more restless at night and sleepy during day. She sleeps with me, so it's not a big deal but I"m starting to wonder if and how I should encourage her to wake up and stay awake during daytimes. I wear her in a sling much of the day which makes for an easyily sleeping baby but with a very busy 18 month old I can't imagine not using the sling. Any tips/exeriences to share?

I would just let her sleep whenever she is tired and eat whenever she's hungry for now. I did this with my DD and found she got herself into a routine by the time she was about 3 months. She goes through phases when she sleeps more, like when she is putting on a growth spurt, so I don't get hung up on strict nap times. HTH

thanks that sounds like really good advice Sweetnitan....

I agree. How old is she? I don't think newborns start to grasp difference between day and night until about 6-8 weeks so it might improve then. I certainly wouldn't try and restrict daytime sleep in the hope she will sleep more in the night. That could backfire badly and make her very overtired or at least that was my experience when I tried it! My DD started sleeping more at night at around 8 weeks and then naturally fell into a kind of routine at around 3-4 months of two long naps and one short nap during the day and a longish stretch of sleep at night although this is still a bit hit and miss at 5 months.

It's handy if the baby can get used to sleeping in its cot, if you have another needy child, because although it is ok to carry a tiny baby about now, when they get a few months older and used to the sling and will not be put down, you might find you have to carry both your child lumps about....

..ooops which is not what you asked!

I don't think it matters in the early days, especially before you are putting them down in the evening. Evenings often seem to be a wakeful time for newborns, which is great if they are your second or more as you can spend time with them (or just spend time feeding them!) when your other ones are in bed! I seem to remember that after going with the flow for a number of weeks (maybe 8?) I tried to put DD2 down in the evenings and then I used to try and keep her awake from 5pm until bedtime.

I think taking my son out in his pram during day light hours to see the sun helped set his day/night clock.