My one week old has her days and nights reversed. For th past few days, she has slept all day, except for feedings, and been awake from about 11pm - 3am. What do I do?
You do nothing. That's how they are, I'm sorry to say. At this age she NEEDS to eat and sleep whenever her body needs to. She is far too young, to try implementing a schedule on her.
Yep! They tend to sleep inside you when you are up walking/moving around during the day and then when you sleep, then they party hearty a good part of the night. I didn't notice my son moving much during the day but at night he kicked Dad out of bed before he was born (and I slept through it up till Dad hit the floor). Eventually their waking/sleeping gets straightened out, but it took months for my son to do it. Just try napping during the day as much as you can while the baby sleeps.
Normal, unfortunately for you. As another mom said, babies sleep in the daytime before birth, because you're rocking and jiggling them into relaxation while you're awake and moving around. They tend to wake up and start kicking when you're trying to sleep. So that's the cycle she's been used to.
To help her make a transition to getting most of her sleep at night, expose her to full daylight during the day. This helps reset the release of melatonin in her brain, which is produced in the dark and helps us sleep. The light will help, even if it filters through her eyelids during sleep. And use as little light as possible during the night hours. The transition will still take a few weeks. (Later, when you want her to be napping on more of a schedule, you can have her nap in a darkened room.)
And use the tricks taught by Dr. Harvey Karp, author of The Happiest Baby on the Block, who explains why he calls the first 3 months the Fourth Trimester, and explains why babies run pretty much according to their own needs for the first 3-4 months. These videos give you the basics:
How-to's: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6KnVPUdEgQ&feature=re...
Enhanced sleep: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk5MUOMecHI&NR=1
Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu0TtxO-ocY&feature=re...
Wendy,
This must be your first child. Obviously no one told you that ALL newborns have their days and nights reversed. This is completely normal and typical. You will be exhausted for the next few months, get used to it. Welcome to motherhood - isn't it lovely?
When my first baby was about that age someone suggested to us a trick that really worked. During the day when you baby naps gently stir her. Move her just a bit, don't wake her up just break that deep sleep. You want her to move or stretch just a bit. Do this every 20 minutes while she is sleeping during the day. This will keep her from getting deep sleep during the day. Then hopefully at night she will begin to sleep more deeply and longer since her body will need the sleep. We did this with my daughter and it worked wonders. We called it stirring the baby. She began to sleep 4-5 hour stretches by 3 weeks. It may take some time. Good luck.
Wendy,
This is an easy thing to fix but it will take lots of effort on your part and a little bit of time. probably a good 3-7 days of being very consistent. But will save you in months for lack of sleep:)
I start this cycle from day one and have never had a baby get days and nights reversed. The sooner you start the better sleeping habits they will have. By 3 months they are sleeping at least 6-8 hrs at night, and it is so wonderful!
So to start this process....
In the day hrs wake your baby every 2 1/2-3 hrs for feeding and try to keep her awake for 5-10 min after. Keep her awake while you feed her. if she is not really eating, stop, wake her back up until she is fully awake and try feeding her again. Once you have kept her awake and fed her totaling about 20-30 min. Let her sleep until it has been 2 1/2 hrs since you started to feed her the time before.
*(a good way to wake her is to let her be a little on the cool side. Take her socks off play with her feet, undress her if necessary. use a cool wet wash cloth on her neck. Anything that is gentle but that will encourage her to stay awake, the first 2 weeks are the hardest to get them to stay awake while eating, but so important to establish good eating habits, not snacking every 1 or 2 hrs)
So if you fed her at 6 am and talked to her and held her and loved her for a few min after then let her sleep and she doesn't wake by 8:30 by herself, then Wake Her Up, and feed her again.
If she wakes up before it has been 2 1/2 hrs, try to pacify her until it has been 2 1/2 hrs since your started the last feeding. Just hold her and let her use a paci. you will notice she will eat much better and stay fuller longer the next time. Repeat this cycle all day. She needs about 8-9 feedings in 24 hrs to get all her calories needs and sleep a longer stretch at night. I know the common saying is "never wake a sleeping baby" but I add "unless you want them to be awake all night"
So you would be waking her and feeding her like this, 6am, 8:30am, 11am, 1:30pm, 4pm, 6:30pm 9pm, (and a shorter stretch for bed time, whatever time you usually go to bed) 10:30-11:00pm. Then during the night time hrs that YOU would be sleeping DON'T wake her. let her wake on her own, and make sure she is really awake and crying so that she will eat well. then feed her, change her and immediately put her back in bed. You don't want her thinking that night time is a wake time:) If in the night she is awake, but not crying, DO NOT get her, she will tell you when she is hungry, If she is not sad, let her see if she can fall back to sleep. This is encouraging good habits for the future. It is a skill to be able to wake in the night and know that you can and know how, to go back to sleep.
She most likely will sleep from about 10:30 - 1-2am. and then wake again at 5-6 am. These stretches will gradually get longer and longer. She needs 16-20hrs of sleep in 24 hrs.
So most important try your best to keep her awake while she eats and for a little bit after. She will take good naps eat better and sleep better at night.
After about a month, she will wake on her own in these increments and will be able to go about 3 hrs in between feedings. around 6 months it will be about every 4 hrs if you start solids then.
Good luck,
Any questions, just send me a message
E.
This is completely normal. It may go on (sorry!) for a few weeks or more but I promise it will end. All babies get days and nights confused after being in the womb for so long - they are truly unaware of what day and night is. It will change naturally or you can also help it along by making sure its bright in the house during the day and still doing your normal activities that create noise: washer/dryer, dishwasher, vacuum etc and then at night create a more peaceful environment that promotes sleep and relaxation. I think it took my daughter about 2 months or so to get it right. Don't worry - this will NOT last forever! Good luck - I feel your pain.
Get Ur baby in the sun. It helps regulate their system.
They all have their times mixed up. It takes a bit but they will adjust. Give it a couple of weeks. When my second daughter came, i remembered not to speak when feeding at nite or she thought it was playtime. Keep the lights to a only what is needed. snuggle and rock. My first i sang too or i would go crazy and it a bit later i could have her asleep in 5mins with the made up lullaby.
During the day, let the light in and talk with her. Also, have someone give u abreak and catch some zzzz. Forget about housework. U will feel better and recover faster.
Message me anytime u have questions or concerns. I've been there.
this is very common. over the next few days, go in about 20m before she has been normally waking up, say around 10:30p and wake her up by rubbing her back or some such. So then she'll be about from about 10:30p to 2:30a. Each day go in 30m earlier. After a few days, her wake time will be @ 8:00p - midnight. Just keep at it.
M.
This is why new parents don't get any sleep! The majority of newborns are like this, its normal, mine started sleeping longer stretches about 4 hrs at 2 months. Hang in there and enjoy her cause you'll miss this stage. You could try keeping her awake more during the day but that's hard to do, maybe try putting her in a vibrating chair and see if she'll sleep longer stretches.
AT night be very quiet dont talk to her, keep the lights as dim as possible, you can rock her or hold her or feed her but dont talk or turn up the lights. If needed wake her every few hours during the day
Sorry, like all the other moms said - it is completely normal and could last for several more weeks, possibly months. You can try keeping her awake more during the day, but my rule is generally that a newborn needs their sleep whenever/however they can get it.
Good luck. Before long you will be looking back missing these days because you were too sleep-deprived to remember them. ;)
For the most part you just need to hang in there :) She'll get it eventually. Keep stimulation at night down to a minimum and during the day don't keep it dark and quiet when she falls asleep. It's really impossible to keep them up when they are that little. So when she does fall asleep take advantage of grabbing a nap yourself. Otherwise just don't be afraid of making noise and occasionally go over and see if she is ready to still rather than leave her to sleep too peacefully.
And congrats on your baby girl!!
