sleep patterns with my newborn

[need_answers_from_someone]

New here and first time mom....not sure what the heck I am doing but I am truly doing my best.  My little one is a bit colicky and spends most of the time crying.  Eats regularly and still has a wet messy diaper after every meal.

My 6 week old is starting to sleep a little longer but currently he has his longest sleep from 6 pm - 11 pm.  I would like to change that to eventually be a little later at night but not quite sure how to do that.  He cluster feeds about 3 times from 3 - 6 pm then out like a light for 5 or more hours.  How do I start to change this to a later time each day.  I know I cant do it in one day but I would like to make it later and later each night until his long sleep is from 10 pm - 4 am.  

Any suggestions?  My pediatrician already said that the extended sleep is not harming him since he is gaining wait at a rapid rate.  He has gained about 4 lbs already which is much more than expected.

[pammy6]

I have 5 kids and one on the way all of them slept through the night I tried to let them take shorter naps in the daytime and at night a warm relaxing bath with a lotion massage and swaddling and they would sleep for 6 to 7 hrs before they woke for a bottle n change but all babies are different. Good luck
  

[need_answers_from_someone]

Thanks for the input.  What are some suggestions on how to keep him up in the evening.  Once he nurses at 6 pm he is out like a light and there is nothing I can do to wake him up.  He hates tummy time so sometimes I even lay him on his tummy and wouldn't you know it....he sleeps with his little bum in the air.  I striped him down and nothing.  He even slept through a bath and usually he screams during those too.

[Clysta]

Unfortunately if they don't want to sleep, they won't. It's more or less another joy of parenting. I follow baby-led cues and my daughter put herself on a schedule. Granted the first 3 months and a little into 4 months she was all over the place. Sometimes she stayed up till 9 in the morning before going to bed, and other times she was asleep by 8pm that night. Now she sleeps from 9-7:30 and nurses once or twice in-between.

Once thing I did was keep her active all day long. I'm a SAHM, so I teach her how to sit, roll over, and now we're working on crawling/tummy time. We play with toys, rings, and I try to keep her mind going. The end result is that by the end of the day, she's exhausted and sleeps well. Your babies are still a little young, but playing with them helps to stimulate the mind and might tire them out. I also didn't let her nap later in the day when bed time got closer. Good luck.

[Kathy421]

I'm in a similar situation as you.  My little one will be 6 weeks this Sunday - he sleeps well during the daytime, sometimes as much as 5 hours, but at night he wakes up every 3 hours to feed.  Would love to learn how to switch this around.

I will try a routine of feeding him, bathing him, then swaddling him and see if this works.

[VaniDavila]

Well my mother-n-law once told me that they would bathe the babies at night before it was time for them to sleep. I usually bathe my daughter at around 8 and then she's good for the night.