Baby wont sleep at night!

[Pixxie]

Hi, my little girl is 5 days old today. She is a textbook baby (I think, possibly a little early to tell) and during the day she follows the E.A.S.Y routine so well I don't even have to think about it. She will wake up, feed for 20-30 minutes, burp, have her nappy changed, sit in her bouncer until she gets sleepy and will then go down for a nap for 1-2 hours.

However, when it comes to going to bed for the night she fights every step of the way and I have no idea why! We follow the routine exactly the same except she goes into her room instead of in the carry-cot in the living room. When put down she will fuss and then cry until you hold her, as soon as you put her down again she carries on. I finally managed to settle her at 5am by feeding her and putting her straight down, then she slept soundly until 10am.

Any advice, ideas or suggestions on how to get her to sleep in the night? xx

[~Emma~]

Hello and Wecome to BW! 

 Your wee bub is still soooooo young. A time at this age is non-existant and alot babies at that age will actually fall asleep whilst feeding, if they dont then its usually a quick bum vhange then back down again. Your LO may also have her nights and days mixed up too. Do oyu tihnk that this could be the case?

Are you breast or bottle feeding?

[Pixxie]

I know she's still very young but she follows the routine all by herself during the day which makes me think she will benefit from me sticking to it. I think it could be a day/night mix up as she does have a long 5-6 hour sleep but it's just not when we want it! :/ She is exclusively breast fed. xx

[~Emma~]

 If you are breastfeeding your LO may need fed as little as every 1.5 hours. I would advise against trying to stick to a 3 hour routine at this young age as your supply is establishing and those tummies are just so little. My DD is only 12 weeks and is only now managing a solid 3 hours between feeds. Those days in the beginning where just like a feedathon, I felt like I spent the first 2 weeks on the sofa with the bub attached to my breast! I wouldn't worry too much about stivking to a routine just now and enjoy those snuggles, they really are so fleeting the newborn days.

 When is she having this long stretch of sleep? During the day?


(((((hugs)))))) I remember those early days only too well. 

[Pixxie]

She easily goes 2-3 hours between feeds, if she is hungry I feed her but her natural pattern seems to be every 2-3 hours. The long stretch tends to be in morning, today it was 5am-10am and yesterday it was 3am-9am xx

[~Emma~]

If you think its a case of days and nights mixed up then all you can do is ensure that all day feeds are in light and maybe let her nap in light too for the moment until she gets the idea.

 I know alot of mums wake bubs at 7/8am to start the day, although for the moment you may just want to enjoy those lie-ins while you can! 

[Pixxie]

I would wake her up earlier but I'm shattered so I just take what I can where I can get it!

Thanks for your replies xx