Is this normal?

My girls just got home from the NICU on Friday after 39 days. All they do is sleep.

Our Schedule... we wake them every 4 hours to change and eat then put them back down and they sleep more. Is this normal?? My son never slept this much and always wanted to be held (he was quite high needs) Is this what normal babies do?? Will this change??

Also when do we start tummy time?? The girls are 6 weeks old, but not quite to thier due date.

 

Totally normal! Enjoy it while you can! Mine didn't "wake-up" until 3.5 months or so! Congratulations on having them home!!! :yahoo:

 

Ok good. It's just soooo weird to me. My son only slept being held till he was 7 months old it was very very difficult and exhausting. You said wake up?? What should I expect to happen, is it possible for them the sleep through the night (5-6 hours) at 3-5 months, cause I know my son didn't do that till he was 2 years old.

 

Totally normal. Enjoy the quiet while you can. Congratulations on getting them home. :yahoo:

 

QUOTE(pdxpeach @ Aug 26 2007, 01:57 PM) [snapback]380820[/snapback]
Ok good. It's just soooo weird to me. My son only slept being held till he was 7 months old it was very very difficult and exhausting. You said wake up?? What should I expect to happen, is it possible for them the sleep through the night (5-6 hours) at 3-5 months, cause I know my son didn't do that till he was 2 years old.


It is possible. Is the doc concerned with their weight at all? If so, I would continue on an around the clock feeding schedule until the ped releases you. Before about 3.5 months, they would eat, and go back down almost until the next feeding, so that is what I meant by "waking up". At 3.5 months they were awake more than just to eat!

 

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Totally normal! Enjoy it while you can!


Ditto!! YAY for sleep :banana:

 

Mine slept too all the time. They were born at 32 weeks and came home right about 35 weeks gestation. They would wake up most of the time on their own after about 3 hours during the day but if not I usually would wake them. Funny at night it never worked that well. They were always stirring and grunting. I agree with the PP if the Dr is concerned about them gaining weight then they may need to eat a bit more often.

Rachel

 

Mine were like that for the first month. They were barely awake without crying. It was either sleeping eating or crying. Then after about a month things started to change. They would be up for 1/2 hour or so between naps. It is so much easier to keep them on a schedule right now so just enjoy it. Congrats on having your beautiful little babies home with you.

 

When we left the nicu we were told to wake them every 3-4 hours so we've opt'd for the 4 so we call all function better. I was also given the amount they need to eat in a 24 hr period. We have our first ped appt on monday so we'll get a better idea of the plan.

 

Enjoy the sleep now! Mine didn't much when we were first home, i think it was too quiet compared to the NICU. As far as tummytime I would start now for a few minutes at a time each day, until they can move their little head a bit when on their tummies. You can count tummytime time when they are on your belly too if you lay on the bed or couch.

 

Congrats on bringing them home! Whoohoo! I checked out your photo blog - they are absolutely adorable.

Totally normal for them to be so sleepy. That's pretty much all mine wanted to do until they hit their due date (or longer, it's such a blur I can't remember). Follow your pedi's instructions of how often to feed, and how long to keep waking them for feeds. When we brought DD home, we weren't supposed to let her go longer than 4-5 hrs, and did have to wake her to eat a few times. (DS was another story, almost never "forgot" to eat! And he's still like that... )

Agree with pps about starting tummy time right away. Even if it's only 30 seconds at a time (depending on what they can stay awake for and/or tolerate), it's great exercise.

 

Yeah, mine slept like crazy when they were first home - 9 weeks actual, but still only 38 weeks GA. It took a few months before they "woke up" too. Especially Kate, because she was on oxygen for 2.5 more months. Enjoy the quiet and take lots of pictures of peacefully sleeping babies. Soon you'll wonder what happened to that!

 

Yep, that's completely normal and ENJOY IT!!! I remember those first few weeks home, I actually got a lot of sleep...lol! We had to WAKE them to eat every 4 hours and other than that they slept. They told us at the NICU that it is normal to have to wake them to eat until they reach their original due date. Sure enough, once my girls hit their due date, within a week or two, they were starting to wake when they were hungry and be a little more alert during the day. So, enjoy this time while you have it...it will not be like this forever

BTW, congrats on bringing them home!