Sleep issues...

Ok, the boys were doing pretty good with sleep. They had gotten to where the midnight, 3am feedings were going well, they would eat and go back to sleep. Not so much now. I think the problem is b/c they are sleeping a lot more during the day, in the evening. Lucas should have been awake over an hour ago to eat....still sleeping. Which of course is nice b/c I need the break after a very long night but not sure if I should wake him up. During the day should I wake them up to eat at the three hour mark? Is there a way to keep a 2 month old baby awake when they want to sleep? Wondering if we keep them awake more in the late afternoon/evening, they will sleep better at night...or is that not how it works?

Dianna

 

My girls are just over 4 months old (adjusted) and we are just now starting to be on somewhat of a schedule, if you can even call it that. I think your boys are still pretty young for a schedule. At that age I never woke them up (never wake a sleeping baby) even if that meant that they were on exact oppopsite schedules, just because I think they need all the sleep they can get. In HSHHC (I am by no means an expert), Dr. Weisbluth says sleep begets sleep, I dont know how true that it is, it was always kind of hit or miss for us. GL. My girls would have good days and bad days, it was really just hit or miss with consistant sleeping...still is, but its slowly getting better. I think?! I wish I had some magical answers, but we are still figuring out things over here to. GL!

 

I'm not sure how big your babies are but my pedi told me to wake them every three hours the first month. After a month, I had to wake them every 3hrs from 8am to 8 Pm, then I could let them sleep longer at night. They didn't really sleep longer though until close to 3 months. They were just over 4lbs when born.

 

QUOTE(LoriD @ May 5 2008, 07:46 AM) [snapback]755738[/snapback]
I'm not sure how big your babies are but my pedi told me to wake them every three hours the first month. After a month, I had to wake them every 3hrs from 8am to 8 Pm, then I could let them sleep longer at night. They didn't really sleep longer though until close to 3 months. They were just over 4lbs when born.



That should read 8-8. I have no clue why that silly grin is on there. I tried to edit it out but it won't work....

 

I'm sure you will get all kinds of advice on both sides. So you need to do what will work for you! I always woke up our babies after 3 hours to eat. That helped us get on a schedule earlier. But they were getting good rest during the day which translated into good sleeping at night.

 

Mine came home on a 4 hour feeding schedule/routine. My ped told me never to let them sleep more than 4 hours in a shot during that day--in other words, wake them to eat if they didn't wake on their own. My friends thought I was nuts to wake them, but the results showed by the time they were 4 months old, and would go right down for naps between 9:30 and 10, then wake around noon to eat. Same with afternoon naps--I established regular naps at 3 months, once they slept 12-13 hours at night.

My point is, I would go ahead and wake them if it is time to eat--but don't worry about how much sleep they are getting during the day, up until that 3 month mark, mine slept whenever whereever they were, the only "schedule" was to feed them every 4 hours during the day--at night, I let them wake me.

 

I would wake my girls during the day but not at night. They sometimes slept 5-6hrs at a stretch during the night and I did not wake the other at night either. I demand fed.

Good luck!!

 

We woke them at three hours if they weren't already awake. Keeping the feedings every three hours allowed plenty of calories in the day time. Napping was all over the place until about 4mos but the feeding schedule stayed at 3hrs til they were sleeping through. I would strip them down to the diaper, use a cool washcloth to wipe their face, tickle their feet, whatever I could do to make sure they took a full feeding every three hours. Good Luck!