5 week old takes too long to get back to sleep!

[aimeemarie]

My 5 week old dd is great about getting back to sleep during the day, but at night it's as if she's ready for her awake time. It takes a long time to get her back to sleep. What can I do? She is sleeping 5.5 hours during the day and 4 hours from 8-11, and then the feedings after this she is hard to get back to sleep.

[marlowho]

How much daylight is she getting during the day?
I ask this b/c this helps babies figure out day vs. night and transition since most babies were up more during the night in the womb.
I would try letting her get as much daylight as possible during her awake times- and making sure her room is light during the day to help with this (even during naps.)
And if she's not fussy at night, it really is ok to let her "play" or otherwise be awake in her crib even if you're sleeping.  (Of course make sure her crib is safe and child-proofed.)  :wink:
HTH!

[aimeemarie]

She hadn't had a problem AT ALL with night vs. day and last night she was right back to sleep at the end of the nursing session and I was only up an hour total for 2 feedings, I'm not sure what the problem was, but we kind of tweaked our bedtime. Before we fed at 7 and put her down at 8:30 and last night we fed at 7:00 and bathed at 9:00 and nursed at 9:30 (with a little awake time and  a little catnap between feeding and bathing). She was down at 9:30-1:45. Pretty good for us!

[marlowho]