What's your newborn's sleep/wake pattern?

We had somewhat of a schedule going and I was loving it - up for 2-3 hours in the AM then sleeping and feeding every 2-3 hours. Then he'd sleep like a champ for 3 hours at night and eat and go right back to bed. Now, he's sleeping much more during the day and eating much more often and last night was a disaster. I worry all day whether or not I'm doing the right thing. Do I give him a pacifier between feedings when he's fussy? What do I do to entertain him when he's awake? He just wants to be held. He's only 10 days old...should I just go with what he wants?

Re: What's your newborn's sleep/wake pattern?

Sarah had her days and nights mixed up in the beginning, so she'd sleep for 4 hour streches during the day and be up every 2 hours at night.

My doctor said to try to keep her up more during the day, play with her more (but I didn't really know what to do with her since she really wasn't too responsive at that point) talk to her a lot during the day, change her diaper often and keep her undressed (that wakes them up) and then he said that I could put a cool washcloth on her chest during the day to wake her up. He said it would make her mad but keep her up. I just couldn't do it, so I dealt with it and within a few weeks she had her days and nights straightened out. I napped when she did during the day, which really helped me deal with being up more at night.

HTH!

Re: What's your newborn's sleep/wake pattern?

Alex had that in the beginning... she was sleeping in the day, staying up all night. So, about a week ago I started waking her up during the day every 2-3 hours... she has to be changed anyway (she poops every freakin' hour!), so, although she fusses a little, I don't feel so bad. After every diaper change she gets hungry so she stays awake another hour for feeding, cleaning, etc... then sleep for another 1-2 hours. By the time night rolls around, she's konked. Last night she slept from 11:30pm-8am, waking only once for a feeding.

Speaking of which, time to wake baby for her next diaper change!

Edited to say, there's not much you can do in terms of activity to keep them awake, so what I do is pick her up from her bassinet, talk to her, change her diaper, put her on her exercise mat for a little while, or put her in her stroller and take her for a walk... anything to switch gears periodically during the day. It seems to help.

Message edited 10/6/2005 12:32:36 PM.

Re: What's your newborn's sleep/wake pattern?

I loved holding sidney and singing and dancing around (delicately) with her when she was brand new. Good light exercise for mommy and stimulating for baby.