Newborn Sleeping Schedule

Dr. Sears baby books, any one. I think he has a good sleeping one too. Or his The Baby Book is invaluable. Sleeping with a newborn is alway key as well.

Hi A.,

I agree with the suggestion of On Becoming Babywise! This book is awesome, and it really works. It does require a bit of work in the beginning, but you can either do it now for a little while, or continue to have sleep issues for a long time.

K.

3 weeks is too young for a schedule or for sleeping longer stretches. He should be fed on demand and sleep when he's tired. don't know how you feed him, but breastfeed babies shouldn't sleep more than 3-4 hours unless it's TOTALLY on their own, they should never be forced to wait to eat because you think they aren't hungry. 5 hours is considered sleeping through the night until 12 months old! Anything longer is a blessing but shouldn't be expected or forced.
Don't worry about setting up a sleep schedule yet. Just watch your baby for cues. My sons both fell into their own schedules between 3&4 months old or so. Until then, I stayed close to home for the most part, ran errands when they were awake and let them sleep in the car whenever they fell asleep. Pop him in a sling and get things done when you need to.
Good Luck! :)

ADDED COMMENT:
I see several moms recommend Babywise, but PLEASE research this carefully before you try it. I have known of two babies who suffered from Failure To Thrive because of the rigid scheduling in this book, which was discredited and dropped by the original publisher. There are a bazillion links on the internet outlining the problems created by this approach. Here are a number of frightening reviews by parents who have tried it: http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Baby-Wise-Nighttime-Becomi...

Original Reply:

The Happiest Baby on the Block is a great resource to help you understand your baby's needs, and gives lots of expert tips on creating the best possible experience for both of you. The author, Dr. Harvey Karp, calls the first 3 months the Fourth Trimester, and explains why babies that young don't take to schedules. (Hint: they simply can't.)

A baby is run pretty much by its own needs for the first 3-4 months, and then very gradually adapts more and more to outside influences. For some babies, that transition isn't complete for the first three years or so – schedules that seem firm for a few weeks are suddenly out the window, because of growth spurts, teething, illnesses, travel, changes in season, any number of reasons. So don't be surprised if your little guy keeps surprising you every time you think you've got things "settled." Kids who become reliable sleepers by a few months old do happen, but they're pretty rare.

I hope you'll just relax and enjoy your experience with your baby for what it is, a unique journey unlike anything else you've experienced. It will go so fast, and your memories can be so precious. Congratulations!

3 weeks is waaaay too early to be thinking about a sleep schedule. You will find that your baby will kind of make up his own schedule. Feeding your baby formula at night does not gaurentee he will sleep longer, and if he does it is only because it takes longer to digest in his tiny tummy.
Breastmilk is the perfect food for your new baby.
Someone below said their doctor told them babies don't need to be fed at night after 10 days, that is absolutely untrue information.
Sleep deprivation is one of the hardest parts of being a new mama, but it is only a season, and it will pass and get easier (and harder hehe) hang in there!

Boobie-fed babies slowly start developing their OWN schedules usually around 3 months. But trying to create a "Schedule" for a breastfed baby can be very detrimental to your milk supply. Breastfed babies MUST be nursed on demand because we simply do not know what they take in at a given feeding.

Well, unless you have see-through boobs :)

Best of luck! I found wearing my children really freed me up to go about my daily routine. They were warm and snuggles right next to the "bar" !

You won't have a schedule for a while, unfortunate, I know! ;) The best advice we got was from our pediatrician...at about 3 months, you start feeding them at every 3 hours. If they're asleep, wake them up. Feed them every three hours and then they will sleep through the night. This worked for both our kids. Our first was 2.5 months and our second was about 4 months. We didn't really start our kids on a nap schedule until about 5-6 months...until then they just sort of slept when they wanted and where ever they were. Hang in there...those nights are really long right now! In a few months it will all be better!!

Hi, A.!

Boy, I know how fried you must feel at this point. I remember how little sleep and how fried I was when my little daughter was waking frequently (through age 10 months) AND I had to pump. I would have loved some sleep!

Honestly, at this age, it would be detrimental (and rather pointless) to try to establish a sleep schedule for your 3 week old. They don't get on a schedule yet - no matter what you do. It is better to let him sleep and eat whenever he wants and watch how the pattern develops - because a patter WILL develop. Biology and physical development drive his waking so that he can eat. He is fresh out of the womb and NEEDS to feed every two-three hours. It is actually not healthy for a child under 4 months to sleep more than 3-4 hours straight a night.

To help your child to get to sleep, try Dr. Harvey Karp. This stuff works. I didn't know about him back when Ellie was a baby, but we did all of this stuff and it worked like a charm.

When my daughter was around 4-6 weeks, she started sleeping SIX HOURS a night. I was in HEAVEN. But when I took her for one of her checkups, she was losing weight, and not growing well :( My doctor told me immediately to wake her up for feedings (she typically ate every 3 hours during the day) and to make sure she didn't go more than 3 hours without eating.

So about that pattern:

At this age, your little one should be sleeping/napping about every 2-3 hours. Unless they go through a growth spurt, which can cause them to eat and sleep in a much different, and more frequent, pattern. It becomes like clockwork. If you just allow them to sleep and eat whenever they want to, the schedule develops on its own. I noticed with my daughter that it was about every 3 hours that she would fall asleep. When she finally started sleeping through the night (6-8 hours) at around 3-4 months, she would wake, eat, and then go back to sleep immediately for another 3 hours in the morning. Then she'd sleep about every 3-4 hours.

Then around 6-7 months, she needed only two naps a day, two hours each, three hours apart. This is about when a "schedule" became possible. It was at this age that I started implementing a night-time routine. But in all honesty, unless you let your little one cry himself to sleep (which I don't personally recommend), he won't sleep through the night on his own until at least 10-12 months.

Some people may give you the advice of feeding your child cereal with his milk/formula or things like that, but feeding a child solids before 6 months can increase their likelihood of Type 1 Diabetes and they're Gastro-intestinal tract is not fully developed before that time, so they literally cannot digest the food fully/correctly before then.

Good luck, I hope this helped... my advice would be: NAP WHEN HE NAPS. Seriously. And when hubby gets home, ask him to watch the little one for 1 hour while you nap, or something like that. It'll save your bacon :)

Another thing you could do is sleep-feed. Breastfeed little one in bed. This allows little one to fall asleep and you to nap while they're feeding, before putting them back in the crib.

I'm sorry this is so long-winded, but I sure hope it helps!

My son started sleeping for longer stretches at night starting at 2 months. Until then we fed him on demand and changed him often too. Newborns are still adjusting to life outside the womb. Their digestive systems aren't that strong, so they don't process milk as well as older babies do. That, and breast milk is lighter on the stomach than formula so they get hungry often (as in, VERY often). What we did was, we'd take turns caring for our baby during the first 2 months. Also, I breastfed him as much as possible during the day, and then formula-fed him at night. He sleeps longer after a good formula feeding, topped off by comfort suckling.

Don't worry. It will get better before you know it. I'm already wondering where the early days went! My son is now 4 months old and he sleeps for hours and hours, not just at night but during the day too (in between, he loves to play by himself or with us).

I heard of "The Baby Sleep Book" and wanted to get it from the library. Haven't had the chance yet. It's part of the "Parenting Series" like "The Vaccine Book."

The only sleep book I read was the "healthy sleep habits, happy child" book. This book contains a lot of the science of sleep in easy to understand language, so the schedules babies keep at different stages really makes sense. Up until about 6 weeks, I was breastfeeding every 2-3 hours, on demand, and he slowly started going longer. Even though I wasn't up for letting my baby cry-it-out, his sleep schedule developed exactly as described by Dr. Weisbluth. I think that helping my baby learn from early on that nighttime is not social time, the crib is for sleeping not playing, and creating a consistent sleep routine/environment really helped him learn to be a self soother without the trauma of cry-it-out. Swaddling works wonders too - at six months, I still swaddle one arm in because it's a strong physical cue that it's time to sleep (he usually works it out within the first 5 minutes of sleep). Now he can sleep for 12hrs at night, but I think that's too long to go without eating, so I still get up and "sleep nurse" him at some point in the night. Ultimately your baby's stomach will determine his sleep schedule initially. Good luck! You'll make it through!

Give up for now the schedule comes at around four to five months of age. If you are having sleep deprivation sleep when he naps in the morning. The housework can be done by some else or it can be done later.
Bonding with your baby and loving him is the top priority. If you can afford it get a mother's helper.

I agree with Sara D. You will be exhausted and sleep deprived the first couple or three months, but it will start to slow down a bit. I can't remember when my son started sleeping through the night, but I know it wasn't to terribly long. I think that with breast fed babies they seem to eat more often than formula fed babies because I believe there is a filler in the formula. When we started feeding our son formula he slept longer nights. But then again I only fed him for the first month and a half until I had to go back to work. All in all - hang in there Mama - you'll get through this. It may seem hard, but then you'll look back on it and realize it really wasn't when you're cleaning poop drawings off the walls. Hugs.

yes! A schedule works wonders. My son slept through the night (7hr) at 6wks old and was sleeping 10-12hr by 8wks old. My schedule was feed, play, sleep, repeat. I fed him every 3 hours during the day even if I had to wake him from his nap. I layed him down awake which helped him learn that self soothing was normal. At night, I let him sleep and only fed him if he woke up. I did this from day 1 and now he is 3 and has great sleep habits. Now when it is bedtime, we have no fussing or complaining - he just get right into bed and falls asleep very quickly. He also continues to sleep 10-12 hrs at night and still takes a good nap during the day.

Read the book "Healthy sleep habits happy child" it really helped me a lot...at that age they really just wake, eat and then sleep again, at least mine did.

My opinion after four kids, do not bother with a schedule! As they get a little older they will develop a routine. I am not a person who will bend my life to the babies schedule. I do whatever I would normally, or want to do, and when baby is hungry he eats, when he is sleepy he sleeps. You will cause a lot of stress if you ever have to break the schedule, I have a basic routine, and my fourth baby is three months now, and he has been sleeping thrrough the night since six weeks. There is no magic answer for you. It will happen someday, I promise! Try feeding him closer together during the day, and more often if you breastfeed, and keep baby up a little later, then feed him good, and put him to bed. I try to keep baby up until around 8 or 9, and he ususally wakes around 5 or 6. Yes I know it is still early, but you should be sleeping when your baby does. It does get easier, but no matter what kids wake during the night.

I fed my daughter every two hours minimum during the day, more if she *asked.* When I started feeding her, I'd just look at the clock and note that I'd want to feed her again two hours from then. Then at night, I only fed her if she woke and *asked.* At first she slept just 3 hours at night, then stretched longer and longer, and at 3 months she slept 8 hours. I also had her in a hammock sleeper, the Cocoon by Arm's Reach. I think the combination of the two helped. I didn't get up with her at night unless she woke all the way up, e.g. if she made noises an hour after I fed her, I'd wait to see if she went back to sleep or woke up. Also, she had jaundice at first, so the nurse was very firm that I not let her fall asleep while nursing (even at night), and if she did, wake her up however to get her to do 10-15 minutes on each side. I think that helped her get a belly full each time, and last longer between feedings. Their stomachs are so tiny at first, they work their way up. These were all different techniques than I used with my son, who was a really light sleeper.

no one knows your child better than you so we cant really tell you what schedule to put him on but when you begin to see the way things are going then do the same thing everyday. when its time for my babies to go to bed, i brush my 3 yr olds teeth then we all (3 yr ols, 7 month old and me) go lay down and read a book to settle down and thats how i let them know its time for bed. once you get in a set routine your baby will see the signs of sleep time wether its rocking him in a particular room or putting on some soothing music only used with napping he will begin to recognize signs. congrats on your new adventure though! as far as sleeping through the night dont push that just yet babies need those little meals but when he reaches 13 lbs he is fine to start sleeping a 5 or 6 hour stretch without food and if he doesnt want to break that habbit of waking to feed try just giving him a binki or sipping on just water to retrain the brain and after about 4 nights it will change.

I loved the baby whisperer. http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Whisperer-Tracy-Hogg/dp/B000O7... Her routine is the EASY routine, eat, activity, sleep, you. I was very helpful for us, and I think about 3 weeks was when we started it for our daughter. We had her sleeping through the night by 3 months, which was awesome since that's when I had to go back to work. :-)

I used the On Becoming Babywise as well like the previos poster. I read the whole thing and decided it was a bit rigid in some ways but the whole idea of having them sleep, then eat, then play (awake time) then sleep again is brilliant and works fabulous. I definately suggest reading it and then manipulating the rules to fit what you believe and what you are comfortable with.

I used the basic schedule in it with both my kids. With my son, I didn't read it until he was 6 or so weeks old and he started to sleep through the night for 10 straight hours at 12 weeks. With my daughter, I started using the schedule from the time she was born and she slept through the night at 8 weeks old, 11 hours at night.

With my daughter I also read The Happiest Baby On The Block which is totally opposite but with her I needed to use some of those techniques because she was a bit colicky and I did have to swaddle her tightly until she was 6 months old. But, once I figured out she needed swaddling, she slept happily on her schedule through the night from 8 weeks old on.

My daughter who is now almost 16 months puts herself to sleep, has not had a feeding in the middle of the night since she was in her 7th week and sleeps like a champ 11 hours straight. The only time I have ever had to rock her back to sleep in the night was if she was sick.

Have fun and good luck with your new baby :)

My doctor told me that babies no longer need night feedings after the first 10 days of life, that they do it because we train them to. From about 3 weeks on I would put my boys to bed awake at the same time each night (8 pm for us). If they started to fuss I would put 5 minutes on a timer and wait until it was up to go in and comfort. I would not pick up or feed the baby, just rub his back or tummy and sing or talk softly. Once the baby was calm I would leave, and if he started to fuss again I would wait another 5 and repeat. Because I started young it came very natural to them and I never had to go in more than once, in fact I only had to go in once a hand full of times. And this works great at night too. When my boys would wake at night I would wait 5 minutes to go in to comfort, they always went back to sleep before that 5 was up. Using this method I had both my boys sleeping from 8 until 5 or 5:30 from just over a month old, and I was never that sleep deprived momma you see so often.

It's a controversial book but I read On Becoming Babywise and used it for both of my daughters and we're living proof that it works beautifully. My oldest (now 2) was sleeping thru the night consistently by 8 weeks and my youngest (8 weeks) was sleeping thru by 6 weeks. I know there are people who bash the book, author, etc. but if you follow it and use common sense it can save your sanity.

I highly recommend Babywise! It worked awesome for us!