Aa
What does your day look like? How does it play out?
I know every child is different... but, Leighton is 5 weeks old now and I feel like I should be beginning to see a feed/sleep/awake pattern and I just don't. She is IMPOSSIBLE to wake up. It is super frustrating and is really putting a damper on my enjoyment of her during the day because I am soooo focused on waking her up so that she will sleep at night! Anyone else having issues?
I don't know if Leighton's day is "normal" or if maybe I should be starting her on a schedule or what I should be doing! I feel like I have no routine what so ever and it is driving me nuts. I am just curious to see how every else's day plays out. Also, how are your nights? Are you up multiple times throughout the night for feedings? At this point, I am desperate.
We are still on the every 2 hour thing and every "expert" book that I read says that I should be seeing a pattern, she should be sleeping for longer bouts at night, and she should be eating no more than every 3 hours at this point. Well... she's not. HELP!!!
I don't know if Leighton's day is "normal" or if maybe I should be starting her on a schedule or what I should be doing! I feel like I have no routine what so ever and it is driving me nuts. I am just curious to see how every else's day plays out. Also, how are your nights? Are you up multiple times throughout the night for feedings? At this point, I am desperate.
We are still on the every 2 hour thing and every "expert" book that I read says that I should be seeing a pattern, she should be sleeping for longer bouts at night, and she should be eating no more than every 3 hours at this point. Well... she's not. HELP!!!
Buy the book The baby whisper ! it saved my life , I have him on a strict 3 hour feed and he is only 2 1/2 weeks old . The book has a really good schedule to help you .the only problem i have right now is that he has to much gas .
I have been MIA - sorry ladies ...anyway - I am back and ready to chime in.
I started to log Hayden's "schedule" -- I feel like she wants to EAT ALL THE TIME. There are times when she eats every hour for 10 mins!! We also give her formula or a pumped bottle when I just need a break - and she KILLS IT! Like down's 3-4 oz - I seriously wonder if my breast milk is keeping up! Here is what I am starting to see...
7-8 am -- feeding
9-11 - sleep
11-12 pm feeding
1/2ish pm sleep
3-7 pm - combo of feeding / sleepi9ng/ playing
8ish - sleep
10 pm - feeding
11 pm - sleep
12am/1 am - feeding
3 am feeding
5/6 am feeding
I am dying to get her to sleep in her crib - hope to try it tonight. She is resisting the basinette lately - so she either sleeps with us or in her bouncy chair...both are not great habits. Would love to have her in her crib! She grunts all the time in her sleep!
I started to log Hayden's "schedule" -- I feel like she wants to EAT ALL THE TIME. There are times when she eats every hour for 10 mins!! We also give her formula or a pumped bottle when I just need a break - and she KILLS IT! Like down's 3-4 oz - I seriously wonder if my breast milk is keeping up! Here is what I am starting to see...
7-8 am -- feeding
9-11 - sleep
11-12 pm feeding
1/2ish pm sleep
3-7 pm - combo of feeding / sleepi9ng/ playing
8ish - sleep
10 pm - feeding
11 pm - sleep
12am/1 am - feeding
3 am feeding
5/6 am feeding
I am dying to get her to sleep in her crib - hope to try it tonight. She is resisting the basinette lately - so she either sleeps with us or in her bouncy chair...both are not great habits. Would love to have her in her crib! She grunts all the time in her sleep!
Ok... thanks girls! I just wanted to make sure my days weren't out of the norm I guess :)
Most of you sound like your days are very similar to mine. I just was worried because the sleep books I have say that around 6 weeks there will be a definite pattern and at that time your baby should be getting up once maybe twice during the night. I am thinking "Really? We are still at 3 times a night!" (yes, I need to stop comparing my individual child to "THE BOOKS", but its hard not to!)
Amy...
I don't force her to eat every 2 hours, she just wants to be fed. We have been working on the whole 3 hour deal, and it has been working... although it is sometimes reallllllly hard for her to wait the 3 hours. But, she does eat more at one time which is good, instead of snacking! Hopefully this will get her into more of a pattern :)
Irish...
I completely agree about the formula thing at night. We have chosen to give her 3-4oz at night before bed. She passes out immediately after that last drop and its bliss for about 3 hours until she wakes up again :)
Good to know I have a "normal" day... hahaha!
Most of you sound like your days are very similar to mine. I just was worried because the sleep books I have say that around 6 weeks there will be a definite pattern and at that time your baby should be getting up once maybe twice during the night. I am thinking "Really? We are still at 3 times a night!" (yes, I need to stop comparing my individual child to "THE BOOKS", but its hard not to!)
Amy...
I don't force her to eat every 2 hours, she just wants to be fed. We have been working on the whole 3 hour deal, and it has been working... although it is sometimes reallllllly hard for her to wait the 3 hours. But, she does eat more at one time which is good, instead of snacking! Hopefully this will get her into more of a pattern :)
Irish...
I completely agree about the formula thing at night. We have chosen to give her 3-4oz at night before bed. She passes out immediately after that last drop and its bliss for about 3 hours until she wakes up again :)
Good to know I have a "normal" day... hahaha!
Noah will be 5 weeks tomorrow and I just starting to notice a "bit" of a pattern.... It does still vary though!
7pm - 7:30pm - I try and give him a bath or do tummy time... hang out with mom or dad.... He will then eat about 2oz and doze on and off until about 9pm
9:30 - 11ish - I swaddle Noah and get him ready for bed! baby will eat about 4 or 5oz and usually sleep until about 1am
1am - I normally let him start fussing before I pick him up and feed and change him... He is a noisy sleeper too! He grunts and makes all kinds of noises! He will normally go right back to sleep and sleep until 3 or 4
3am or 4am - same routine.... feed and change (normally 3oz)Noah will go right back to sleep and up again around 6 or 7....
6 or 7am - Noah will eat about 4oz and sleep until about 10 maybe sometimes 11am....
11am - I get up and try and start our day... I will try and take him outside... I do notice that he is awake more and more during the day, but does still sleep quite a bit during the day... I have a hard time trying to keep him awake....
The schedule is not every night but enough to where I have noticed a tiny little pattern... sometimes he just throws me off LOL Last night he laid down at 12am and slept until 5am YAYYYY!! I think its just important to remember this too shall pass.... the older they get the better there sleeping will get... at 5 weeks I definitely wouldnt be concerned that there is no set pattern.... sounds like your doing a great job and doing all the right things....
7pm - 7:30pm - I try and give him a bath or do tummy time... hang out with mom or dad.... He will then eat about 2oz and doze on and off until about 9pm
9:30 - 11ish - I swaddle Noah and get him ready for bed! baby will eat about 4 or 5oz and usually sleep until about 1am
1am - I normally let him start fussing before I pick him up and feed and change him... He is a noisy sleeper too! He grunts and makes all kinds of noises! He will normally go right back to sleep and sleep until 3 or 4
3am or 4am - same routine.... feed and change (normally 3oz)Noah will go right back to sleep and up again around 6 or 7....
6 or 7am - Noah will eat about 4oz and sleep until about 10 maybe sometimes 11am....
11am - I get up and try and start our day... I will try and take him outside... I do notice that he is awake more and more during the day, but does still sleep quite a bit during the day... I have a hard time trying to keep him awake....
The schedule is not every night but enough to where I have noticed a tiny little pattern... sometimes he just throws me off LOL Last night he laid down at 12am and slept until 5am YAYYYY!! I think its just important to remember this too shall pass.... the older they get the better there sleeping will get... at 5 weeks I definitely wouldnt be concerned that there is no set pattern.... sounds like your doing a great job and doing all the right things....
I think just this week I am starting to see some slight pattern to my day. Jack is 4 weeks. Here is what my day looks like for the most part.
3:00am-ish - I wait for him to start crying a bit before I pick him up to feed. He tends to stir for a little while making grunting noises and such but I let him get through all that before I intervene. Once he wakes/starts crying, I change him and feed for about 20-25minutes. I try to get at least 10 minutes on each side.
6am-7am-ish - Same pattern as before.
9am-10am-ish - Same pattern as before only this time he generally stay awake. I try to get him calmed down enough to wheel him in his stroller to our on-site gym so I can do some light walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes. Sometimes that works sometimes it doesn't. If he gets fussy I leave and get back home to settle him down. He may sleep a bit but not for long...maybe 30 minutes or so.
12pm-1pm-ish - Same feeding pattern as above. This part is where he generally falls into a routine. After this feeding he generally will fall asleep till about 4 or 5pm.
4pm-5pm-ish - Same feeding pattern as above. After feeding I try to entertain him as he is no longer tired. After a while we try some tummy time, I might read a book or sing songs...anything to keep him from crying. Jack is not good at being alert/awake and quiet. He tends to be quite needy as he will cry until we pick him up. I am a sucker so it is hard to let him cry. We'll have to start breaking that pattern in a month or so.
8pm-9pm-ish - I have DH give Jack a bottle of breast milk so I can put and build up our store for later. I have also found that bottle feeding causes less gass and fussiness for some reason.
11pm-12am-ish - Depending on our sleep situation at this time we either do another bottle of breast milk or a bottle of formula. We are finding that the formula coats his stomach better resulting in less gas and longer sleep time at night. If for some reason we are already in bed when he needs to feed at this time, I will go ahead and breast feed as per the pattern above.
Eventhough he feeds every 3 hours sometimes he comes out of nowhere and wants food after only an hour and a half. Right now, eventhough I have read that every 3 hours is a good time frame we are still feeding on demand. By doing that we are finding that he is falling into his own pattern. At first we tried to do the every 3 hour schedule no matter what but that turned into hours of him crying and us going insane. I think if you feed her when she wants and for as long as she wants she will find her own schedule. I would think not to wake her to feed even though she may be at her 3 hour mark. I did that once and paid dearly for it for the next hour or two after the feeding.
I hope it gets better soon. I completely understand your unhappiness with the daytime. I use to think that it would be better if I went back to work early because all I do during the day is cry and listen to him cry. I was exhausted. It is now getting a bit better.
3:00am-ish - I wait for him to start crying a bit before I pick him up to feed. He tends to stir for a little while making grunting noises and such but I let him get through all that before I intervene. Once he wakes/starts crying, I change him and feed for about 20-25minutes. I try to get at least 10 minutes on each side.
6am-7am-ish - Same pattern as before.
9am-10am-ish - Same pattern as before only this time he generally stay awake. I try to get him calmed down enough to wheel him in his stroller to our on-site gym so I can do some light walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes. Sometimes that works sometimes it doesn't. If he gets fussy I leave and get back home to settle him down. He may sleep a bit but not for long...maybe 30 minutes or so.
12pm-1pm-ish - Same feeding pattern as above. This part is where he generally falls into a routine. After this feeding he generally will fall asleep till about 4 or 5pm.
4pm-5pm-ish - Same feeding pattern as above. After feeding I try to entertain him as he is no longer tired. After a while we try some tummy time, I might read a book or sing songs...anything to keep him from crying. Jack is not good at being alert/awake and quiet. He tends to be quite needy as he will cry until we pick him up. I am a sucker so it is hard to let him cry. We'll have to start breaking that pattern in a month or so.
8pm-9pm-ish - I have DH give Jack a bottle of breast milk so I can put and build up our store for later. I have also found that bottle feeding causes less gass and fussiness for some reason.
11pm-12am-ish - Depending on our sleep situation at this time we either do another bottle of breast milk or a bottle of formula. We are finding that the formula coats his stomach better resulting in less gas and longer sleep time at night. If for some reason we are already in bed when he needs to feed at this time, I will go ahead and breast feed as per the pattern above.
Eventhough he feeds every 3 hours sometimes he comes out of nowhere and wants food after only an hour and a half. Right now, eventhough I have read that every 3 hours is a good time frame we are still feeding on demand. By doing that we are finding that he is falling into his own pattern. At first we tried to do the every 3 hour schedule no matter what but that turned into hours of him crying and us going insane. I think if you feed her when she wants and for as long as she wants she will find her own schedule. I would think not to wake her to feed even though she may be at her 3 hour mark. I did that once and paid dearly for it for the next hour or two after the feeding.
I hope it gets better soon. I completely understand your unhappiness with the daytime. I use to think that it would be better if I went back to work early because all I do during the day is cry and listen to him cry. I was exhausted. It is now getting a bit better.
I will start our routine from midnight for you.
Midnight: one last feeding until sleep
5:30 am: wake up/change diaper/feed
6:30: sleep
9:00: wake up/change diaper/feed
10:00: sleep
12:30-6:30: no set routine...she will wake up and look around, eat when she tells us she wants to, play with her toys or hang out with mommy and daddy. Usually I try to involve an outing and some daylight. The books say daylight helps establish a "day and night" pattern for them. Yesterday we went to the zoo...she slept thru most of it but we went!
7:00-11:00pm: These are her most alert hours. She will hardn't shut her eyes. This is when we get some serious play time out of her and talking time etc. I also try to give her her bath during this time frame. Then she zonks out for the majority of the night!
Do you force her to eat every two hours? We use to have to do that back when the dr was worried about her not gaining weight but now we don't. We just wait for her to tell us she is hungry. During the 7-11 time frame she eats about every 1 1/2 to 2 hours! I think she is making up for her sleeping time. She will eat about 3 oz sometimes as much as 5! She just lets us know...we wait for her to actually start rooting around and fussing though.
Good luck! I know it can be frustrating!! I saw just start taking her outside a lot. I did read that you shouldn't keep them from sleeping during the day if they really want to because it will make them fussy later when you want them to sleep..
Midnight: one last feeding until sleep
5:30 am: wake up/change diaper/feed
6:30: sleep
9:00: wake up/change diaper/feed
10:00: sleep
12:30-6:30: no set routine...she will wake up and look around, eat when she tells us she wants to, play with her toys or hang out with mommy and daddy. Usually I try to involve an outing and some daylight. The books say daylight helps establish a "day and night" pattern for them. Yesterday we went to the zoo...she slept thru most of it but we went!
7:00-11:00pm: These are her most alert hours. She will hardn't shut her eyes. This is when we get some serious play time out of her and talking time etc. I also try to give her her bath during this time frame. Then she zonks out for the majority of the night!
Do you force her to eat every two hours? We use to have to do that back when the dr was worried about her not gaining weight but now we don't. We just wait for her to tell us she is hungry. During the 7-11 time frame she eats about every 1 1/2 to 2 hours! I think she is making up for her sleeping time. She will eat about 3 oz sometimes as much as 5! She just lets us know...we wait for her to actually start rooting around and fussing though.
Good luck! I know it can be frustrating!! I saw just start taking her outside a lot. I did read that you shouldn't keep them from sleeping during the day if they really want to because it will make them fussy later when you want them to sleep..
Brock is up between 7 and 8 am. He eats, diaper change, plays, and up for about an hour and a half then back to sleep for 2 hours. Up again and repeat all the above for the same amount of time and then back for a 2 hour nap. But then he eats and sleeps again. He sleeps more in the evening before bedtime which ***** cuz we want him to sleep longer at night. He does okay at night. Bath nights are definitely the best because it wears him out. He sleeps for about 3 hours at night and then up and then 3 more. Still lots of sleeping but he does seem to have more awake time every day. I've read that the schedule really isn't adequate for babies this age. Brock is also 5 weeks old. Tonight's bath night so I love it. We just try to keep him up as late as possible. Hope this helps! It will get better as she gets older!
Mady is only a week and a half old, but she eats all the time the 1 and a half to 2 hour thing doesnt work for us. She is only up once at night maybe twice to feed she loves to sleep, and is very hard to wake up also.
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