Had a crazy day - how important is schedule compared to letting lo sleep?

[KingCabbage]

Hey guys!  Had "one of those days". LO didn't sleep well last night and it escalated into her naps throughout the day. No really good naps, she kept waking and finally started howling and screaming. I finally got her asleep after a good feed later in the day.

My question is should I try to wake her up at the 1.5-2 hour mark (she is about 4.5 weeks old) or just let her sleep as long as she needs to? I feel like she just needs rest but I am still learning the ropes of all this!

I'm letting her sleep for now but would love to know in case it happens again in the future!

[Mandy.kamal]

I am by no means an expert- these ladies on here are wonderful!!- but in my experience, I always let them sleep to catch up if they've had short naps and more cranky. Overtiredness can build up so easy. Your LO is so tiny still so a good long, restorative nap should help reset her. Don't quote me on this but I think the max time for a nap is 3 hours- or else it can start to mess with night sleep.

Hopefully you get better advice from the moderators- just wanted to send you some support! Xx and congrats on your new baby

[grace annes mommy]

Let your sweet LO sleep.    These first couple months are erratic and they are so bitty.  You both need your rest.  Nap lengths, etc. become more important later on but at this age, I would just try to focus on the eat play sleep pattern when possible and go with the flow if needed.

[Lindsay27]

Yup I agree with both ladies, bad night, bad naps...let them catch up   Especially as she's so teeny still, it isn't going to make or break the routine, and even if it does it's only 1 day and the benefits of letting her sleep far outweigh the blip in routine. 

[KingCabbage]

Thanks so much! I let her sleep and am tackling the night again. Fortunately she settles much quicker at night so hopefully we can get a good nights sleep and take on another day.

I get discouraged at these setbacks but from what. I've read on here it sounds like setbacks are to be expected!

[lolsyb1982]

Please don't get discouraged, she's doing exactly what newborns do! Most don't fall into a more predictable routine until at least the 12week mark, and even then it's hit and miss!

Just follow her lead in these early weeks and don't stress too much about routines as they'll come.

[Mandy.kamal]

Completely agree!!! I feel like I was just in your exact situation. And then I blinked and now mine is 6 months old. I napped her on my chest or a wrap for the first 3 months. I got so discouraged and thought I was ruining her and she would never sleep in her crib. I regret not just enjoying those early moments with her more.

You are way ahead of the game by even thinking about a routine which means things will fall into place so easily once she's a bit older. Try and enjoy her and the cuddles and know that you'll get there in a few months and you'll miss these early days. Huge hugs to you! You're doing a fantastic job

[KingCabbage]

I am definitely enjoying her these days

EASY has actually made it so I can enjoy her more. She is super fussy and very colicky and the first couple of weeks she was nonstop screaming til she turned purple and my husband and I were losing our minds. I felt very unmotherly feelings towards my darling screaming dragon!

Now that she is on EASY her screaming bouts are extremely rare (yesterday was an exception). She still cries and is a grumpy fuss but she is no longer screeching at us. And we are no longer so helpless, thanks to EASY. We can now hazard a guess at what is wrong and we tend to get it right.

Naps are still very challenging but I'll take hard work over severe scream-stress any day

So now I get to cuddle her a lot more and enjoy her the most ^___^