days/nights mixed up?

[naunmom]

dd will be 4 weeks this sat.

she appears to have her days/nights reversed.  in the AM, she goes for longer stretches between feeds and naps for long stretches (can be up to 3.5 hrs)  ... in the wee PM and into the wee AM hours she wants to nurse more frequent (2 hrs ... sometimes even 1.5 hrs).

I've read that you should basically try not to let her sleep so much during the day - though it can be tough to wake her.

Sometimes I can't resist the appeal of her sleeping during the day because I can get so much done!  But then of course I pay for it at night when she won't settle and wants to be held or nurse all the time.

Suggestions?? Help!

[Jaime]

hi,

blasted site has been down forever it seems!!   

does sound like your babe has days & nights mixed up.  i understand the temptation to let her sleep - makes you feel more normal.  but you're right, gotta get her turned around. 

be warned - depending on her biorhythm, this could take a couple days, or a couple weeks to fully adjust her.  take what you can get when you can get it.

to get her turned around, you need to start to help clue her in to the difference between night & day.  Daytime mommy is cheerful, talkative, interactive, & makes eye contact.  there is lots of light & sunshine (even if you just hold her by the window).  Nighttime mommy is quiet, the light is dim if there is any light, and doesn't make eye contact.  everything is kept as low key as possible.

IMHO... during the day i always woke my kids when it was time to eat.  i wanted them to sleep at night ASAP!!  jaina was pretty easy to rouse... luke not so much.  things to try, talking to them, turning on lights, stripping them... and if all else failed i'd dampen a washcloth & stroke that on them.

anyhow, hope some of this helps!!   

[naunmom]

Yeah - what's up with the site??  Since we've been on this new site - it seems to be down often!

Thanks for the reply.  You're right - I need to be patient and persistent.  I think I will work on getting her feeding cycle established (i.e. wake her at 3 hrs if she sleeps thru) .. hopefully her naps/sleep will follow.  I've had a couple "perfect" days - 3 hr feed cycle, 2 hr nap, after about 30 min awake/activity time and 4 hr night-time sleep.  But it doesn't stay consistent.  I think it's because she's still very young (4 weeks today) ... sometime she acts like she wants to nurse after just an hour (rooting) ... and I don't want to not BF if she is indeed hungry .... but it seems like when I nurse her on shorter intervals (1.5 to 2 hrs) ... it throws off her napping/sleep.

[Jaime]

keep in mind too that if she just turned 4 weeks she probably just had a growth spurt - and probably did need to feed more often.  growth spurts typically happen at 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 9 weeks, 3 months, 6 months... and a couple more times after that depending on the baby.  and yes, the more feeding does throw off things a bit. 

i think that's the goal of a baby for the first year - to keep mom guessing about the routine!  once you think you've got it, it changes!!