Do I wake baby or let her sleep as long as she can??

[minnumd]

My little girl is due in April and I'm just trying to understand the EASY routine the best I can before her arrival. My question is: When I put her down for a nap do I let her sleep till she wakes, or wake her up after she's slept the proposed 1 1/2 hours??? I am especially confused when it comes to the cat naps... I didn't think you were supposed to wake a sleeping baby, but if you put her down for a cat nap close to bedtime won't she just keep sleeping and not wake up after the proposed 45-50 min?? Is it okay to wake her if she doesn't wake up??? I also know that babies sleep more when they go through a growthspurt so if one day she takes really long naps (like 2 1/2 hours) should I just let her sleep?
I'm a first-time mum to be and a bit overwhelmed and confused by it all.

[Taylor's Mommy]

First, congratulations on your upcoming arrival!  What is your due date?  Taylor is an April baby as well!

First, you can actually let your lo sleep as long as 2 hours for a nap and still comfortably stick to a 3 hour EASY routine because what you'll find is that your lo will only be able to stay up 45minutes-1 hour at a time.  Then up to 2 hours to sleep. 

Regarding the catnap, I do not want to scare you at all, but we had a very hard time getting Taylor to take a catnap when she was very young.  Starting around 4pm is when she woudl get very fussy so it was hard to get her to sleep.  But when she did fall asleep for a catnap, it was always for 30-45 minutes.  Don't worry so much about the catnap right now.  It can be the most challenging nap to get them to take, and most of the time you will find there will be no need to wake them, as they do it on their own!   :lol:

Good luck and well done on finding us and planning ahead!

[Kimberly®]

Congratulations on your soon to be, new arrival.

Personally I'm an advocate for the "don't wake a sleeping baby"

I suggest you leave your LO be. Let them sleep and observe them for a few days. As Tracy puts it, get to know your baby. Not all babies thrive on 2.5 hours of sleep. Some need more, some less. I would highly recomend that for your first week or 2 you leave them alone. Yes they will have there nights and days mixed up, and yes you do want to get them on the right track quickly. You can't get there if you don't know and listen to your baby.

The EASY routine is not a schedual, its a routine. Its flexable and you need to mold it to your LO.
As a new born they need as much sleep as they can get. Unless your LO is sleeping 5-6 hours at a time during the day leave them be. My LO for example ate every 4 hours like clockwork and I didn't need to wake her at all.

Bedtimes wont be sorted out right away, I suggest you wait till you meet your LO know her temperment and her schedual
(I personally believe every baby is born with there own schedual built in) before you set anything in stone.

There are other ways to help newborns know night from day. When its time the ppl here will be more then happy to help you with that.


Its VERY rare for a baby to sleep 11pm-7am at 2.5 weeks. My LO sleeps 7-7 and she only started that at 3 months old. It takes time.

The most importent thing is to listen to your baby, know your baby, and respect your baby.

Whe she/he arrives please let us know, and if you need someone to talk to, listen or help, thats what this sight is for.]

Good luck and once again, congratulations.

[minnumd]

Thank you very much for your replies. Stacy, I was wondering: When you would wake your little boy from a nap would he be fussy and cry for a while because of the sudden awakening??? or would he deal with it just fine?? Did you just pick him up when waking him? or did you talk to him gently, stroke his hair or something to get him to wake up slowly??? Also, if you don't mind I have another question about feeding which I would like your opinion on. If you breastfed your boy from the beginning, did you express? My DH would like to do the dreamfeed and we don't know wheter to introduce a bottle of formula at that point and if we do, will I have to express to keep my milkflow up??? Should I express 15 min before the dreamfeed and let the baby have that in a bottle and maybe top of with formula, or can I just go straight to bed without expressing and let DH give her a bottle of formula and do the next breastfeed during the night when/if she wakes up. Thanks 

[minnumd]

Stacy, thank you so much for taking time to answer all my questions. I really appreciate it... it's all a little less confusing now 

[Critter]

Just want to add my two cents 

We never woke our baby up.  My pediatrician was also of this school of thought.  Luckily for us, though, I had a baby who pretty much put himself on 3 hour EASY from the beginning, so it didn't require too much work for me.  Nursing vs bottle feeding was the hardest battle I fought, but that's for another board  :wink:

My son will be 7 months old tomorrow and I still don't wake him from naps.  I think if he's still sleeping, there's a reason.  The main thing is that your baby gains weight at an appropriate rate.  When they're first born, all I remember thinking is "MAN!  Will he ever wake up?"

[Kimberly®]

Just want to add my two cents 

We never woke our baby up.  My pediatrician was also of this school of thought.  Luckily for us, though, I had a baby who pretty much put himself on 3 hour EASY from the beginning, so it didn't require too much work for me.  Nursing vs bottle feeding was the hardest battle I fought, but that's for another board  :wink:

My son will be 7 months old tomorrow and I still don't wake him from naps.  I think if he's still sleeping, there's a reason.  The main thing is that your baby gains weight at an appropriate rate.  When they're first born, all I remember thinking is "MAN!  Will he ever wake up?"

LOL I remember those days not so long ago.. I also remember at 2 months when naps became nightmares, will she ever sleep 
But it all works out in the end