There seems to be some debate on the Nest baby message boards about sleep habits. So I'm asking your advice....
Some say you need to keep your baby awake more during the day so they will sleep through the night.
Others say if they nap more during the day then they won't be overtired, and will sleep better at night.
What do you think? What worked for you? Or is this a trial and error, kid-by-kid type thing that I will just have to figure out for myself?
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For me, both of mine have gone to daycare since they were 8 weeks old and there really isn't getting much sleep at daycare with other little ones crying so they slept really well for me at night. I only guessed that them being awake or taking 30 minute naps at a time aided in the sleeping at night at home, but don't know for sure. On the weekends, Lauren still would sleep a good bit during the day when she was Jackson's age and would wake up at least once during the night. I personally think it's a baby by baby basis - Lauren sleeps much better at night then Avery did (even though he was still a good sleeper). I think that you will see in another month that Jackson will start to sleep better for you thru the night. What is a typical night like right now??
There are no typical nights really, it seems to be different week by week. He went three weeks giving me absolute HELL. Up all night every night. Three days of that he would only sleep in 30 minute intervals. (I thought he might be sick, but he didn't have a fever or cough or anything). Then he slept through the night for 4 days in a row. But now he is back to being up all night. Last night he was up every hour on the hour from 10:00-6 (after I put him to bed at 8).
In my experience , the baby sleeps when they need to. You really can't "schedule" a baby like you can a toddler. So it's the luck of the draw whether you get a good night sleeper or not. :)
In my experience, there's really no trainin gthat can occur with a newborn...my kids didn't get a good stretches at night until they were over 3 months...Sorry!
Although it's often unpopular, I schedule my kids' feedings and naps. Of course, I always feed them when they're hungry, but getting the eating and napping on a schedule helps with night time sleep tremendously!
Both my kids were sleeping through the night at 8 weeks. Bootsie Baby would wake up for one feeding, but because her daytime was on a schedule, she always woke up at the same time each night, and went right back to sleep. It was awesome!
Ben slept constantly and Alex slept well, NEVER. Just how he is. But I scoured those boards too, looking for answers. Like the other commentors said, they'll sleep when they need to. And you don't have to enjoy it!
i've got 4 kiddos of my own...have fosteredd 11 more. i think the key to a baby and momma being happy is a schedule. don't go all postal and get minute to minute, but doing a 4 hours schedule keeps everyone on board. have you read 'baby wise'? it's amazing...and i have 4 completely different girls...not biologically related either...and they all flourished on baby wiase. every single time when i was having trouble with them sleeping, i remembered to go to look at the dumb book...and it was on target. in a way, i got angry...but it works!
I nursed both babies and I personally think that has a lot to do with it. Babies who are nursed eat more often b/c the milk is digested quicker. Not sure if that is what you are doing, but if you are, that may be part of the issue. Frick did not sleep through the night until he was nine months old (8pm-5am). Frack wasn't nursed as long and he started sleeping through the night when he was 9 weeks old. Frack has always been a better sleeper. Both boys have taken one nap a day since about a year old. That is the schedule the babysitter got them on. 12- 3. They both still nap during that time frame, although Frick's nap is starting to shorten.
I think this has a lot to do with each babies' temperament. HappyHourSue said it was luck of the draw and I agree. Some babies are good sleepers, some are not. Frick and Frack are perfect examples of that. If I kept my kids up without a nap, they would not sleep well that night. Sounds weird, but they would pass the point of no return and I was screwed.
Long way of saying....Schedule when he gets a little older, hang tight right now. I have been where you are. It will get better!
Honestly? I think all message boards/books/websites are crap. Well okay, not crap, but not worth much time. Each baby is different and each baby has different needs. I've learned that after three boys. I did something different with each of them. Books are good for giving you a basic of how much sleep a baby/kid needs at each stage but that is about it. The rest is up to baby and to you.
I always had my babies sleep about 2 hours after they woke up in the morning. So if they woke up at 7 they would nap at 9 until about 10. Then they would stay away for 2-3 hours and nap again at 1. I would let them sleep as long as they felt like but didn't really let it go over 4:30 (the wake up time got earlier as they got older). And then bedtime was around 7:30 or 8. I found that once I got my babies into a schedule like that (which is much easier said than done with some of them) the happier they were.
You have to watch your baby for sleepy signs. If baby starts staring or not engaging in eye contact or play he is probably getting tired. If he gets to the point of rubbing eyes or crying he might be headed to overtired.
I never believed in keeping them up more in the day to have them sleep better at night. NEVER worked for me. It made it worse. To me I think sleep begets sleep.
Hope it helps!
Good luck!
I changes with everybaby I hvae three and they were all different My first was bad with days and nights, or maybe is was b/c i was 23 with a baby and had NO clue what i was doing. But watch his habbits and see when he is sleeping Let him take several naps, don't let him sleep through feeding wake him up( i know they say don't wake a sleeping baby but somebabys just don't want to wake up) and find a bed time for him ( my was 7pm at that age ) and get a bed time routne bath story read a book and then but him in his bed and LEAVE the room. even if he is still in you room ( it helps trust me!)try to keep him awake 1 -2 hr before "bed time" stumulate him play with him and a wet wash rag on his head if need be. I know is sounds like a lot but when you are tired you will try anything. I understand I have been you. It is hard but stick with it, you will get in your goove soon. It is hard to be a new mom, but you are doing great! good luck
Well, for what it's worth here's what we did. I had tons of people (family, friends, etc.)go back and forth about exactly what you said - some said keep awake, some said sleep. I had to do what was good for ME. And I know that some moms think that's horrible but let me explain. I work well on a schedule. So I put Abby on one. It took about three days to take and then it worked. For the first three months of her life, she was eating/drinking every two hours and sleeping every three. I'd stick with that schedule every night too - even when it meant waking her up. Eventually I tapered the night wake-ups down to maybe just one. Within a day or two, there were none. But I'd make sure she had the opportunity to drink a big glass of milk before bed time. Soon, she'd go down for bed about 9 PM or so and sleep until 5 or 6 AM. At that time during the day, she'd sleep in the AM for a couple of hours, and in the afternoon for an hour or so, and around 6 PM for an hour or so. It was weird but worked. Then she got on a freaky schedule of waking at 6 AM, taking an hour nap from 7-8 AM and then an afternoon nap from 1 PM or so for about 2 to 3 hours. That was from about 8 months to about 16 months. Just this past summer I found out the school's fall class schedule and got her hooked on that one about two weeks before school starts so she was uised to it. Now she goes to sleep no later than 8:30 PM (some nights it's 7:30), she wakes up at about 7 AM, naps from 11:45 to about 2 PM. And that's it. There's b'fast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner. OMG. This is priceless. As I'm typing this, she's lying on the living room floor with her blanket saying "night night"....so I guess everything's not fool proof! Ha! My advice is to do what works for you. Up all night will NOT work. Up all day will NOT work. For Mommy or for baby. At least that's my advice. I've heard it's hard for some people to put their babies on a "schedule" but I swear by that. It made my life so much easier so I could do my work at home, plan activities, etc. This has turned into what I think is the longest comment I've ever written someone. Sorry!!!!! But, you're doing GREAT! The fact that you're even worried about it makes you a good mom!!!!!! You're awesome! We love you!
Each child is different. Try both and see what works best for YOU. For us, it was to keep awake during the day so he would sleep at night.
That illusive sleep!
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