3 wk old baby - please help!

Question

I know that newborns need to be fed often and sleep few hours at a time. My baby only sleeps about 2 hours at a time. Is this normal? My friend's newborn slept for like 4-6 hours!!!!! She said she even had to wake her baby up to feed!

Please share your experience (I feel like I'm going crazy and that my baby is the ONLY one that sleeps for 2 hr.) haha

When do they start to sleep longer period at a time?

Thank you for all of your help. I just need assurance right now and I'm so darn tired at night.

Answer 1

Hi, not to worry.  My son just turned three months yesterday and he still only sleeps 3 to 3.5 hours at a time.  He slept only 2 for the first 6 weeks too.  

The main thing is to try and sleep when they do, night and day, if you don't have other little ones needing you.  There will be time to catch up on the laundry, dishes and dusting later!  One good thing about housework is it never goes away on its own, so you always get another chance.  ; )

Answer 2

hey don't worry my sister's kid is like that and my sister asked her baby's doctor about it. the doctor told that its totally normal for a baby to sleep 2 hours or less at a time so don't worry but if u still want to make sure than ask your baby's doctor next time u go or call them

Answer 3

ask the doctor

Answer 4

yeah, don't trust yahoo answers for this one, go to a doctor.

Answer 5

sounds like ur baby is hella active. it's not a bad thing, it happens. and trust me, ur going to be tired for a while. lol it's normal don't worry about it, ur baby will eventually start sleeping longer hours, not everybody's baby sleeps through the night, mine didn't. hahaa i never got sleep when my baby was btw 4-12 weeks. you'll be fine

Answer 6

this is very normal -so relax.  your baby will set it's own schedule.  breast milk is metabolized quicker than formula and that's why your baby is awake more often.

Answer 7

Hi.

Yep its normal. My beautiful little girl is breastfeed  and at three weeks she was feeding every two hours pretty much around the clock. over a couple of weeks she started sleeping for four hours at a time and now at ten weeks she goes atleast six hours without waking up- sometimes eight or nine!

When your baby gets better at feeding and a little bigger you will find they can get more milk in less time and go a bit longer betweens feeds.

Theres no telling when your bub will sleep longer. it might not be for months yet, it might be tonight!! Rest assured it will happen eventually.

in the meantime try to nap when the baby does - its all you can do.

Answer 8

Oh hon... your baby is actually the average normal typical baby... 2 hours is good for some... some wake up every 1 to 1.5 hours... and I have even heard of some waking up every 30 minutes EEEK!!   A newborn sleeping for 4 hours is possible, but not that common. And we are taking about a true newborn (less than a week old). They usually don't start sleeping 3 to 4 hours until about 1 month - 6 weeks old. And yes it does get better... My Gavin did have a few times where he wanted to eat every hour when he was 1-3 weeks old... as time went on it got better and better... at 2 months he was up to 4 and 5 hour stretches and at 3 months he was up to 6 hour stretches... he's now 4 months and is up to 7 to 8 or 9 hour stretches... Also what a baby does during the day will affect how he sleeps at night...  So set his room up w/ a calming environment... very dim lights... try to not use any lights at all if you can just use a night light... have the temperature between 70 - 73 degrees F. Not too hot, not too cold. Just cool and comfortable. Since it is summer months, do not over dress. Being too warm causes them to get heat rashes, and also increases risk of SIDS.  Keep the TV off, and keep things quite and subdued... this well help him sleep longer stretches.  But for now you just have to ride it out... their tummies are so tiny and they empty fast causing this feeling of "starvation". so it is in their instincts to wake up and wake YOU (his mother) up to feed him... which means he'll be crying pretty loudly at 3 am for a few weeks :))  Cherish it... there'll come a time when they don't need and dont want you to hold them or cuddle them or do anything for them.

Good Luck with your little one,

Angie

Registered Nurse and Mother of a 4 month old beautiful baby boy.

P.S.  What helped me get through the first several weeks was taking shifts with my mom. On nights when I really needed to sleep, she'd take him.  Or she'd take him so that I could nap during the day. I would nap for 3 hours then wake up refreshed and I could then easily stay up til 3 in the morning for his feeds. Also my best tip, is to top him off at midnight.  Typically they go to sleep by 8-9 PM. Well then I would wake him up around 11:30 or 12:00 to feed him a few ounces just to fill up the belly... then he'd sleep til about 4:30 or sometimes even 5 am... and 4 or 5 hours of sleep for me is much better than just 2 hours.  Try that and let me know how it turns out.

Answer 9

It is more common for newborns to wakeup every 1-2 hrs for a feeding.  Some parents get lucky and get a sleeper but that isn't always good because if they sleep to much and not eat enough they get dehydrated and don't gain weight.  My mom said I was like that, she kept checking to make sure I was breathing.  At 3 wks your baby is still very young and it is perfectly normal for the baby to sleep only 1-2 hrs still and wakeup for feedings.  

Answer 10

Newborn babies will cluster feed, usually during the night hours, where all they want to do is eat for hours at a time. Remember that when the baby was in your womb, they were fed 24/7 by the umbilical cord. So not having food available all the time is an adjustment for them. Things will get better over time. The important thing right now is to sleep when the baby sleeps.

On those most tired nights, as I was going back to work, I hired a babysitting service so that someone could sit up with my son at night and I could work during the day without losing my job.  

Answer 11

If you are breastfeeding this is so normal, they need to eat 10-12 times in 24 hours.  sleep with your baby and nurse, good way to be cozy and the baby can nurse, sometimes you won't even notice.  My babies were breastfed and nursed constantly for a few months.

if you are bottlefeeding your child will sleep more in a few more weeks.  Babies don't sleep well for a while and you can't compare to your friends baby, cause they are all different.  you will sleep again, hang in there.

Answer 12

It is normal.  All babies are different.  Some sleep longer than others, some less.

It gets easier...and you will eventually get more sleep.  Try to nap when the baby naps :)

Its all worth it!!!

Answer 13

ask the doctor  

Answer 14

My baby slept for 2 hours at a time and woke up every 2 hours in the middle of the night for the first year. I thought I'd go mad. Maybe he's not getting enough food to hold him over longer. Maybe that's just the way he is. Hold him and talk to him when he's awake. Don't go to work if you can afford to stay home. I know how tired you are and you can't make good decisions when you are tired. Go to bed early and avoid staying up late for some "me" time. This wil pass in time. Keep him up for longer periods and don't let him sleep for 4 hour stretches in the daytime. That was my son's problem, He slept in the day and woke often in the night. I didn't know any better.My son is now 46.

Answer 15

My newborn little girl is only 3 wks old as well and I am lucky to get her to sleep for one hour. Honey, trust me your baby is not the only one whos sleep pattern is like this mine, along with others, do the very same thing. I am a first time mother and I am terrified of doing something wrong or hurting her by accident, but I am trying to get through it and i am sure u no that it is not very easy being a first time mom it is very very scary. talk to u later.               pl

Answer 16

First off, like others have said: Definitely talk to your doctor just to be on the safe side, no matter what anyone else says. But, i will still offer my experiences. My daughter is now almost 3, and since day 1 she has never followed the "normal" patterns for babies. She came out holding her head straight up on her own! Maybe the first day she slept a bit, but other than that, she did not sleep all day like i heard was going to happen. She was up almost the whole day, and when she did nap it was for a couple hours at a time, but she was never on a set schedule, never had a designated nap time. After a while, she even started taking only 20 minute power naps and was up the whole day! The plus side for me however is that sometimes i could still get her to sleep longer at night. I discussed these concern with the doctor, and she was fine, but she is/was advanced in a lot of ways and ahead of her schedule in height/weight/head circumfrance. All babies are different, so check with your doc and i hope you get some sleep soon! Hope this helps :)

Answer 17

Lol, every baby is different. Some eat more than others, some sleep more than others, etc. When they hit a few months old, that's when they start sleeping through the night. Newborns sleep approximately 16 hrs a day. But AGAIN---this varies from baby to baby. What your child is doing is normal and nothing to fret about. Try to make the baby's father take care of it for awhile so you can rest up :) Hope this helps!

Answer 18

My daughter was doing this at 3 weeks as well, I thought I was going to die, ha ha. It turns out the cluster feeding does end (great news, but it seems like it takes forever). As soon as they start going through a growth spurt they will sleep more cause they need the strength. My daughter is 7 weeks now and sleeps for about 4 to 5 hours, so it does get better and you are not alone.