How long should my 2 week old be awake?

[wanabb]

Hi My little girl Sydney is almost 3 weeks old we are trying to find some consistency so she will sleep through the night (with exception of every 3 hr feeds).  If we try to keep her up for maybe 20-30 min between feedings throughout the day she sleeps well except when I wake her up to feed her, but then the next day or two days later she sleeps all day and we can't keep her awake but she cries all night.  We must be keeping her up too long but how long should we keep her up 10-15 min between feeds during the day??  Any suggestions would help she is our first and obviously we don't know what we are doing.  Maybe I just need to give her more time?  Maybe this is normal for a almost 3 week old?

[seattlemom2plus]

I don't know if this will help at all or not but with my first one I made the mistake of taking him in to a lighted area instead of keeping him in a room with say a night light on.  Because then he would think it's playtime and not sleep time.  Glad she is doing better, makes for more sleep for mom :D

[wanabb]

Yeah sleeping when she sleeps doesn't work for me, but we have somewhat of a routine now.  I put her to bed at 8 and she sleeps until midnight then she's up to eat, then back to sleep until 3am eats and then again at 7am then were up for the day (she sets feeding times during the night I don't wake her anymore).  I read that some people were using the "EASY" method so I do that during the day, every three hour feedings followed by 20-30 min of awake time then nap time until she feeds again.  Sometimes the 20min awake time turns into and hour or two because she doesn't like naps during the day now.  But she's much happier and she's only fussy for about and 30-40 min total throughout the day.  Before she would start at 6pm and fuss for at least 2 hours straight.  Thanks everyone for the  support :).  It really helps to know what works for other people even if it didn't for us.    

[seattlemom2plus]

I agree with wannabeamommy0124, there does come a time when nap time becomes your time to get everything you can done.  It also can be that little quiet sanity break too.  Let us know what works for you :)

[wannabeamommy0124]

BTW!! I know the "sleep when baby sleeps" thing didnt work for me... as i am in your same shoes... me and hubby are alone here and closest family is 8 hrs away... (military life ughh) anyways it is hard to sleep during the day when she does cause there is just so much to do.. so i actually take advantage of when she sleeps and do everything i need to do... it works for many.. just not for me...

[wannabeamommy0124]

i agree with above posters it is perfectly normal it is still too early for her to coordinatedays and nights, my baby girl is 12 weeks and she just started sleeping through the night this past weekend... when she was 3 weeks she pretty much slept all day, and all night she never really stayed awake during the night she would eat and fall asleep while eating... may i ask why you wake her up to feed her? have you tried letting her sleep? sleep is very beneficial for babies this young and she will not starve if you let her sleep... she started being more awake during the day at about 4 wks... but still only about 20-30 minute streches... I also always have background noise on during the day and after shes asleep everything is either very quiet or off, and i mean tv, radio, computer... not us... we always talk at regular tone so she gets used to it... i think this has helped her with realizing noise is day and quiet is night... i also like seattlemom take her everywhere with me whether she's napping or not so she realizes that when mommy is on the move she should be awake... i think daddy's schedule has also helped the fact since he leaves when she is still sleeping and when he comes home he plays with her a little, i bathe her feed her and then she sleeps on him for a little while before putting her down...  and this is an everyday routine for her so i guess she realizes when daddy gets home its almost time to sleep...

Amyways I hope this helps... try to keep a routine and maybe not wake her up to feed but let her sleep longer streches, until she's hungry and wakes up...

Good luck!

[seattlemom2plus]

I think the best advice someone gave me at first was to sleep when your baby sleeps.  That worked for me with my first one, but then I found my schedule and his was way off.  He had his nights and days mixed up.

With the second child, I would take him everywhere with me whether he was resting or not and it helped a lot with getting him to realize his nights and days.  Even though he napped a lot during the day, he also would wake up more periodically.  But yes within the first 3 weeks they sleep a ton.  Good luck and keep us posted.  Such a great reminder to me as I will be doing the same thing in about 6 months when our little one is born.

[wanabb]

thanks everyone I think the only reason it's so hard to adjust to is I haven't been napping during the day at all.  Definitely going to start though.    I figured it was normal it's just hard to know what to expect.  We don't have any family around so hubby and I are basically flying blind here, only one of our friends even have a baby and they are 8 hours away so I hate to call all the time.  It's nice to know I can count on you guys for support, thanks again.

[Spiket77]

The one thing I have learned is that I'm on the baby's schedule...not the other way around. When I gave in and just followed my son's lead, everything got a lot easier. That was around 6 weeks. I don't know that I would try and keep her awake during the day if she wants to sleep. She could become over-tired if she is kept awake. I remember my son sleeping the day away a lot around that age. He was also having a lot of growth spurts which require lots of sleep and lots of eating!  I would just make sure you are consistent with your evening rituals and follow your baby's lead.

It gets easier!!!

[Clysta]

I agree, it's very normal at this stage. Give it time and she will learn proper day/night patterns. It might take months before she learns to actually sleep through the night, and even after they start to sleep through the night that could change and they wake up frequently. Keep doing what you're doing. As she gets older she'll start to stay away more during the day and then you will be able to get her to sleep better.

[NicoleW09]

It's definitely normal. At that age they aren't actively "aware" of our normal sleep patterns. So basically they have to learn that night time is for sleeping. Try to keep her up a little bit longer after her feedings during the day and try swaddling her really well at night. But, she's only three weeks old and it's going to take some time for her to get used to a schedule. I know I took naps with Lexi whenever she did so that I could get some rest. I still do, and she'll be 5 months in 2 weeks. Lol. Anyways, it's normal for her to have her nights and days flip flopped. Eventually it'll get better, but until then there really isn't much else you can do. Hang in there, Mama!