11 week old’s sleeping habits?
Dot asked:
I have a newborn to 11 weeks old who slept really well almost from the day one, sleeping at least a block of five hours each night until a few weeks ago. Now wake up every 2-3 hours during the night. Initially I thought it was a development project but now is going on for about 2-3 weeks and my sleep and health? mind is starting to suffer. She doesn 't sleep too much during the day so that can' t? edition. Just wondering if you have a child and the same? – How long they sleep at night? Or any suggestions to help a little more? his long sleep (please do not suggest the grain of rice because I do not believe in giving young children solids) BTW,? to breast feed.
April 30th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
she might not be getting enough to eat when she wakes at night. if she is falling asleep on your breast, nudge her and try to get her to take a little more and see if this works. i had a preemie who had to eat every 2 hours, he had reflux so i had to feed him with an eye dropper. things will get better, hang in there, thats all there is to do. good luck
May 3rd, 2008 at 1:16 pm
11 week olds don’t have sleeping habits. You need to understand that first Babies sleep cycles are different then adults and are bound to change several times in the next year. You can’t force a baby to sleep and they need to eat whenever they are hungry. Just keep a routine but don’t expect your baby to do what you think she should. She will pretty much sleep (or not sleep) as she pleases. Thats just what babies do.
Oh, just saw that you breastfeed. In that case this is all to be expected. Breastfed babies eat much more often then formula babies. Thats totally normal.
May 6th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Hi! Your baby should be waking every 2 to 3 hours to eat. That is normal and the best for her growing body! Breast milk is digested in 2 hours, so your baby will start to feel hungry in this time frame. That she is waking up more frequently just means that she’s growing up!
It’s normal, also, that she slept more in the beginning. That is because little lambs like her are very, very sleepy. Because they are so sleepy, many mommies have to wake their babies up at least every 4 hours to eat (a newborn should never go more than 4 hours without eating).
As far as your sleepiness goes, it is absolutely critical that you nap with the baby. Forget the housework and the dishwasher and fancy meals (okay, any meals at all!) – just nap with your little angel, because it’s going to be quite a while to you get to sleep through the night again!
Sweet dreams (at least for 2 hours at a time anyhow!), and if it’s any consolation, my little guy is now 5 1/2 months, and I get to sleep 3 hours at a time! (:
(I added a link that reviews normal, healthy feeding timelines for newbies)
May 7th, 2008 at 10:43 am
I agree, no solids until you and your doctor are comfortable with giving them and the baby is ready!!!!!
My son is now 7 months, but I have a friend with a son your son’s age, and I totally remember my sons sleeping habits!
My personal little “trick” with sleeping longer is making sure that he would finish his whole feeding and NOT to let him fall asleep on the boob (this is really hard, because breastfeeding makes you sleepy, and him too!) and after each feeding to make sure he stays up for 10-15 minutes. This is also hard, because they usually want to just conk out, I would blow softly on his face and tickle his feet and chin, carry him around in the facing out position, anything and everything for just 10-15 minutes. And sometimes, you think they want to wake up, because they cry and what not for a bit, sometimes if i would shush for a bit and put the dumby back in (that is if you use one!) he would sleep for an hour or so longer.
And sometimes nothing would work!
At this age they are getting used to a schedule and trying to establish a sleeping pattern. I found for myself, that keeping him on a night time schedule would get him to sleep a bit longer. I personally would (and still do!) play for a while, tell him we are going to start bath time, give a bath, then read a book or two (depending on how tired he is) and then give him his final feeding and send him off to bed, every night we start bed time at 7pm, he usually goes to sleep between 7:30 and 8. I found that keeping with the same night routine really worked well for my son. My friend with the 11 week old just asked me how I get him to sleep so well (I have been watching him the last 2 days while she was on interviews) and I told her what I just told you. She said last night he only woke up one time to feed, went to sleep at 8 and didn’t wake until 3am! So, I hope it works for you as well!
I wish you and your baby happy sleep!