Newborn Has Days and Nights Mixed Up

Hi,
My daughter is 2 months old now and we had the same issue. My pediatrician told us to wake her up every hour during the day. You want to make sure she doesn't go into REM sleep during the day. I would just rustle her or slightly pick her up just enough to make sure her eyes opened. Then you can leave her alone. It worked for us. By day 3 she slept at night!
Hope it helps!
LOL
R.

1 mom found this helpful

This happened with my son too. I tried all the advice people gave me (not letting him nap so much during the day...ok no way to wake him up from a nap - VERY good sleeper when he was asleep). What I noticed is just getting a routine down and following it (feed him his last bottle at X time, then give him a bath, then put him down)...he eventually figured it out (after about a week) and started sleeping at night and was more active during the day. Hope this helps.

1 mom found this helpful

Tell her to get and read Secrets of the Baby Whisperer... it will change her life! Among the tons of other great advice and techniques to help the baby become a great sleeper, it explains that you should feed the baby as soon as he wakes up rather than nursing him to sleep

1 mom found this helpful

This happened with my 1st.

What i did was made sure it was always bright and loud in the house during the day time. When he ate during the day I would talk to him and play with him. Then at night quite and dark. When he would wake up to eat @ night I had one light on (the bathroom in the bedroom) just so i can see what i was doing and then I would not talk or look @ my son. This took maybe a week before he flipped his internal clock.

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They need to keep him awake in the day time as long as possible. Play with him and don't let him sleep much in the daytime. Wake him up after a short nap.
These things will help.
T.
mom of 4

1 mom found this helpful

This is actually pretty common for babes to have their days and nights confused. Here is what I did with both my boys. During the day I did not put them in a nice dark quiet room to sleep. I kept them out with us, laid in a moses basket or pack and play. Our first son came home from the NICU after 4 weeks and he was really bad because there is no day and night inside a buidling. I made sure that he slept in his bassinet at night, but never during the day. We had a nighttime routine of bath, bottle, bed. I never gave him a bath during the day. Always keep the room dark or softly lit at night. I do mostly the same thing with our son Mason, who is 3 months now. One other thing is when he wakes to eat at night I feed him in the room, in the dark and after he relaxes and burps he goes back to bed.

HTH
T.

1 mom found this helpful

put him on a three hour routine!!!! and at nights feed and right back to bed... it will take a couple of days but that is how i got my baby to do it!!!!
read the baby whisperer solve all your problems... she has a detailed guide by age on how to put your baby in a routine without too many tears!!!! it saved our lives... by 4 weeks they sleep from 11 pm to 4 am... it is a wonderful thing!!!!!

1 mom found this helpful

I didn't have that problem but have a sister who had it with hers. My mom said to make sure to put them in an area where there is noise during the day. This will make them realized the difference between daily routines noises and night time when is quiet and peacefull. If they have a pack-n-play, they can use it during the day out in the common area and then at night time move the newborn into the bedroom.

Also, if he/she is the only child is always good to have some backgroundnoise during the day. ie., radio with soft music, TV, CD player on a low tone to have that day sound.

1 mom found this helpful

It won't last forever. Just remember that and you'll keep hope. Gradually, but certainly, your baby will start to recognize that there is more interesting stuff happening in the day time. Just do your best and before you know it, it'll be like there never was problem. My first did this to us and my husband was a great help taking her and rocking her back to sleep. Pretty soon she stayed awake in the day so much that she slept at night. It didn't take long, a week, I think. it just happens. Congratulations! Enjoy