Day and Night Confusion in Newborn

How old is the baby? In the very early weeks (birth to around 5 or 6 weeks) it is very common for them to have eratic sleep patterns and sleep more during the day than at night , and I am pretty certain that you can't do anything about it at that point. As they get a little older (6+ weeks) it becomes easier to start getting them into a "kind of" routine as they start to wake and feed at regular times. The same for the nursing aswell , you need to nurse on demand as their stomachs are so small that they cannot take much in 1 feed , so this is why they need to feed so often , formula fed babies can go longer between feeds sooner than a breastfed baby , but they still feed every 2-3 hrs to start with. Common growth spurts are around 6 wks then 9 or 12 wks , there are other spurts aswell but they do slow down , but a lot of growth happens from birth to 3 months , they grow ALOT in that period of time.

Put baby in a sunny room, and go about your normal activities during the day- vacuuming, cooking, watching TV or radio, talking on the phone, etc. This will help get the baby's natural rhythms set straight after about a week or so.
Hope this helps!

Hi E., congratus on your newborn! If you are talking days/weeks old then there is pretty much nothing you can do. My daughter had the same problem and on her 2 week checkup with the ped I was a tired wreck. The dr's advice to me was (1) stop looking at the clock during the night...just be accomodating to the baby and (2) NO this won't last forever, the baby will get the day/nights on track...usually within a couple of days/week. Good luck, hang in there!

Don't know about when the day/night thing is fixed, partly depends on you I think, there are some great suggestions. Being active during the day, and not at night works over time.

For the growth spurts, I think it is like 2 weeks, 6 weeks, and a few months, that most get their big growth spurts, but it really depends on the child. When they are first born they still don't have the eating thing figured out, so if your baby is nursing a lot, he or she probably wants to nurse for comfort (this will last a long time, but it's great for both of you), and might not be very efficient at eating, if that is what you are concerned about. They normally take quite a while to nurse when they are small, but as they pick it up it takes a lot less time to get the same amount, and nursing just gets much easier in general. If you're concerned that you aren't producing enough milk, see a lactation consultant or get help from the La Leche League. You are probably doing just fine, but it's always nice to be told that :)

To switch their day/night confusion - make sure you do "eat, wake/play and then sleep" during the day (try and keep them up after feeding for a short period of time and then have them go to sleep) and when you feed them at night, it's "feed then sleep." Good luck! :)

It is natural, but there are things that you can do to help it. You need to keep the baby awake more during the day. Wake the baby at intervals throughout the day (every 2-3 hours) to feed and then keep baby awake after the feeding. Sometimes it's a lot of work to keep them awake when they're tiny. Tickle feet, play and sing. This should help eventually. :)

It should only take a few days to switch the day/night if you do things right.

When you go to put your baby to bed, start a routine: bath, book, a song. Turn down all the lights while you do this routine, making baby think the sun is setting.

I would highly recommend buying the book Wonder Weeks. Key weeks: 5, 8, 12, 16, 19, 26, 37...

I chuckled out loud when I read your question about day/night confusion. My mother and aunts said that I slept in the daytime and was awake at night. I'm not 67 and find that I'm back to doing the same thing. My mother said that she tried to change me without success.

Some are born a night own and some a lark. I'm not sure lark is the correct bird. As a confirmed night owl, what gets me to sleep at night is to be kept awake in the daytime. I don't know if that would work for a baby or not. I'm guessing (s)he would be particularly fussy for a few days until they figure it out. I don't know anyone who has tried it. It's just an idea.