Does My 7 Week Old Sleep to Much??

Hi L.,
I haven't read other responses (I only have a minute), but have to chime in. Sorry if it is redundant. She will wake when she is hungry. Please don't worry. It's hard not to, I know, but you'll look back on this infant stage and think "all I did was worry and not enjoy." As long as you daughter is not losing weight, let her sleep.

enjoy it while it lasts! babies rock through phases, and this one is bound too pass all too soon.
:) khairete
S.

probbly just a growth spurt. enjoy i while it lasts.

Hi, L.,
Is he gaining weight? Is the doctor concerned? When I had my youngest, who was born by c-section, I was given drugs in the hospital for the pain. They told me the drugs wouldn't get into my breast milk. WRONG! Poor little thing was losing weight and muscle tone. I was a wreck. Once all the drugs were out of my system, and he was waking more, and thus eating more, he was fine. But I would talk to the doctor. As long as he's gaining weight, your fine, and he's fine.

L.:

Hello! You've got it good! Be thankful! :)

The way I am reading your request is your daughter is 7 weeks old and is awake from 11AM to 8:30PM - with no naps during the day and all other times is sleeping, correct?

Here's the best way to ensure your child is healthy:

1. wet diapers - she should have a wet diaper at EVERY feeding. They should not smell bad or be bright yellow, they should be pale yellow to clear.
2. color of bowel movements - if she is breastfed, they are usually mustard yellow. Formula - can't help you there.
3. When she's awake - is she focusing on things? Smiling? Can she hold her head up on her own (ooooh, it's been sooo long (7 years!) I need to think about this one!) As long as she's not acting lethargic - you know, slow as molasses - she is fine. She should have reflexes to sound and light and be able to move her limbs - okay, she's not in control of them but her brain is putting the pieces together for her! :)
4. The whites of her eyes are WHITE, not yellow.

Personally, I wouldn't let her sleep to 11AM - I would wake her up after about 2 hours (8AM) for a feeding or interactive play so she will nap from 11AM to 1PM. But that's me - what's important is how this works with your schedule and life.

I NEVER stopped my life for my kids - I didn't turn the phone off and didn't NOT vacuum. My SIL did this and her kids are VERY light sleepers, even the 21 year old wakes at the slightest noise. No kidding or exaggeration.

I would plan my day(s) around my kids napping times, but there were times when that couldn't be helped (Dr's appointments, etc.) but instead of being crank-monsters, they handled it well.

I hope this information helps you!

Take care!

You are lucky. No need to worry. My daughter slept through the night starting around this time and she was exclusively breast fed. My dr told me no need to wake her up in the middle of the night because if she is hungry she WILL wake up. He just to make sure she didnt go more than 4 hours during the day. He told me that waking them to feed at night can make them get confused with night and day. At 7 1/2 months old she now sleeps from about 930 to 630-7 in the morning uninterrupted. As long as your daughter is thriving and gaining weight there is no need to worry. I feel your worries since I was there. Good luck and congrats!

I don't want to make you worry, but my son also slept more than most newborns and would sleep through feedings. I was told not to wake him up, but because of that he missed enough feedings (and didn't eat well when he did feed) that he was losing weight. I don't think you should gauge if your daughter is healthy by what others say, but by her weight, number of wet diapers, and what color her dirty diapers are (if she is breastfed). As long as she gaining enough weight, not lethargic, and her diapers are as they should be then let her sleep. If she's not having all of those things then you should talk to your doctor about how often she should eat during the day.We fed him on a very strict 4 hour schedule during the day and woke him if he was sleeping at the 4 hour limit. For our son, it was the healthy way to feed him since he often got tired instead of cranky when hungry. Anyway, all this is to say judge if it's okay for her to sleep on her diapers, wakefulness when awake, and weight. She is most likely very healthy, but knowing that info will set your mind at ease.

I believe in the saying "never wake a sleeping baby"! I found with my little ones that they would make up for the feedings they missed some other time during the day. My Pediatrician said that as long as the baby is gaining weight it is fine for them to sleep. Enjoy the rest....it might end anyday!

B.

Sounds perfect to me! Over time, she will want to be up a little more in the morning and start an afternoon nap. I suppose you could start to encourage that, as I imagine she may be fussy in the afternoon with new nap. But all kids are a little different. My girls (5 years and 16 months) are both good sleepers. At that age, they were starting to get into the 2-up 2-down schedule -sleeping all night and up for two hours, sleep for two more, throughout the day. Three naps at first, and then two, and eventually (around 18-24 months) one nap.

She sounds fine - ask your nurse how many ounces she should have in a day and try to meet that requirement, don't focus on the number of feedings, just the number of ounces.

Nope she's sleeping just great. She will wake when she's hungry. Be happy your nurse isn't telling you to wake her up every hour. A lot of them seem to think babies are stupid and don't know when they are hungry. She should be going to bed earlier than what you are putting her to bed though. 7 is more like it. The reason she's going back to bed at 6am is because she's still tired. Which is fine for you now but when she starts daycare or preschool or school won't be. If she went to bed at 7 or 7:30 she would wake up like she's supposed to at 6 or 6:30am and stay up a little while longer. (She may not but if she does its because she really is that tired.) But after a while she will. But she seems completely normal to me and I've watched children nearly all my life. I also have my sec. on the way in late July early Aug. Good luck

If she is gaining enough weight (at this age 0.5 - 1 oz a day) then you don't need to wake her up for feedings; otherwise, you and your pediatrician (rather than just the nurse) need to figure out what is going on. It is very rare, but some babies don't wake up when they are hungry and that could be bad if they are not gaining enough weight. Yes, you are lucky, but even still, you should make sure she is gaining enough weight and that everything else is ok. When she is awake is she responsive and has she started smiling back at you guys?

Yes, thank your lucky stars! That having been said it is typical and healthy for a baby to go back down for a nap after two to three hours of wake time. So, by 11, which is 5 hours......yes, a nap is much needed by then. So, just feed her as often as necessary when she is awake. It is not an issue unless she starts to lose weight.

Don't worry! She is doing what she needs to grow. As long as she is gaining weight, she is just fine. Her patterns will change from one week to the next. Relax and enjoy the quiet time- it won't last long.
Good luck!

Young babies sleep alot. As long as she's gaining weight, I wouldn't worry. Pretty soon she'll go through a growth spurt and he schedule will change.

One thing I tell new moms is to be sure to make some type of noise during the day while baby is sleeping. This will get them used to it early on and they will learn to sleep through most anything. Babies that learn to sleep only when the house is completely quiet grow up to be testy spouses!
M.

remeber this

babies Eat, Sleep, Poop, and Scream when they need to, believe me they will let you know.

my son was a sleeper and now at 3 he wakes up eairly and tries to stay up late not that i let him.

if you are breast feeding, this is important to know the more you feed and pump the more your supply will come in and for longer. so if she is "missing a feeding" then you just go ahead and pump that feed and store it in the fridge or freezer. make sure you date and put a name on it just incase you go out and the other adult needs to know what one to use first.

if it is formula well she just saved you a little bit more money.

relax and dont stress as that helps dry people up who are breast feeding.

Hi L.,

I don't think you should worry about it especially if the nurse saids not to wake her. I think my son slept from like 9:30 till 4am or something around that time frame. Sleeping is when they grow and develop, when her growth spurt slows down, she'll sleep less and you'll know it too :)

Enjoy motherhood!
A.

I wouldn't worry. This is probably just a phase. When my kids were little, every time I figured out their schedule, it would change. My oldest slept A LOT too! Enjoy it while it lasts. Good luck.

Hi

I know you have several responses so far but I just wanted to give mine aswell. As long as your baby is gaining weight and is healthy then I wouldn't wory about how long she sleeps at night , she is still very young and new babies do sleep alot. I know the nurse said not to wake her to feed her but if you are concerned that she is not having enough milk then you could try a dream feed , you can do this around 10pm , just gently lift her from the crib and feed , she won't wake up at all and you have peace of mind.

Congratulations on your new arrival!

K.

Wow!! Emma rocks. Good for you guys. When my daughter was that age she woke up every 2 hours to eat. Thank your lucky stars. Like several other mothers told you, as long as she is gaining weight don't worry about her sleeping through feedings. Good luck and enjoy that baby. They grow up so fast. My daughter is going to be a year at the end of July and it seems like just yesterday that I was having her.

My son has always been a great sleeper! He slept abt. 8 hrs through the night from the beginning. He would nurse around midnight (dream feed...only because he had issues with losing weight), then would sleep until 7 or 8, nurse and go back to sleep until 10 or so.

My son is 13 mos now and he still sleeps more than most kids his age. When he's awake, he's very active and just wears himself out. We were camping this past weekend and he was totally off schedule and didn't get enough sleep. In the past 36 hours he has slept roughly 28 hrs. He is just catching up.

There is no need to worry unless she isn't gaining weight.

Well, I've heard that advice but only when it comes to nighttime feedings. During the day I feed my babies every 3 hrs. on the dot. If that means waking them up, so be it. I will go as long as four if the nap needs to be a little longer but helping them get on a schedule of eatting frequently helps them to not have low blood sugar just like adults and kids. We all need food spaced out but in intervals of not much more than 3 hrs or super sleepiness sets in. Good luck!

I don't see a problem, but I do see a potential problem. If it was me, I'd let her sleep after the 6am feeding until about 8:30. Feed her again (8:30/9am) and then put her back down for a nap around 10:30. The sleeping through the night is fantastic. Try to keep her on a 3-hour cycle of eating/playing/sleeping and then starting all over again. I'm thinking you still have the opportunity to mold her in to a routine that makes sense before it's too late and she starts to dictate her own schedule (snack-feeding, cat-napping...) Best of luck!