Newborn Won't Stay Asleep During the Day

All babies are different. My first slept through the night @ 6 weeks and the second didn't make it through the night until 3 months old.

I am sorry to say it's possible he won't be sleeping through the night when you go back to work so I would prepare yourself that it's a possiblity. Be flexible because his sleep patterns will constantly change as he gets older. Cereal in the bottle is what helped my kids. It might make him sleep a little longer so you only have to get up once or twice verses two or three times.

Good Luck!

I have a 3mo. old. So I kind of know what you are dealing with. She would sleep more during the day, than night. Around 1mo. she would have a few nights she slept all night, but not much. Around 9 weeks I started putting cereal in her bed time bottle. She now sleeps all night, There are sometimes she wakes up in the middle of the night. Now during the day she takes cat naps. I now the doctors say not to give food till they are older, but I've given all my kids cereal at 1-2mo. I hope he starts sleeping all night for you soon. It help's out alot when they do. Good luck.

Not many women will agree with this but even my Ob took my advice when his son wouldnt sleep, I would give my girls a bowl of cereal about 30 min befor bedtime as soon as 3 days old, I would mix it very thin and feed it to them off a spoon not in a bottle this helps them learn to control their tongur not just suck it is alot of trial and error and they will spit alot of it out at first but my girls are 12,10, and 7 and they slept for 5-6 hours every night from 1 week old.

I am wondering if you give him something for gas. I never had to give my child anything for gas so I dont even know if you can give it to him at that young of age...but I do know they have it in the baby section at stores because I have seen it. Other than that, I have no idea. It sounds like you are doing everything else ok. Putting him to bed still awake and before he gets too tired. This might sound mean, but you said that you pat his bottom to calm him to get him to sleep but I personally wouldnt do that not only because it starts a bad habbit but that could also be a reason as to why he wont stay a sleep because he realizes that you have stopped. But you also mentioned how you try to get him back to sleep and it doesnt work so that kind of gets rid of the patting the bottom theory. I would talk to your pediatrician about it to see what they suggest. Good luck and i hope all goes well!!! :)

There is a fabulous book that may help you called "On Becoming Babywise". Following it from the start pretty much guarantees babies sleep THROUGH THE NIGHT no later than 7 to 9 weeks. I used it and all 3 of my kids slept 6-10 hours from 3 weeks. This book and the others in the series (preschool wise, toddler wise, child wise and teenage wise) are great for helping establish routines that work and dealing with siblings as well as behaviour later. I know your baby is 10 weeks but it still can work for you. Also if you notice your child is gassy have you considered what he is eating? Since you are breastfeeding maybe it is something you are eating. Most dr's recommend cutting out gassy foods first such as broccoli and onions, but my lactation consultant (who we lovingly referred to as the nipple natzi) said dairy is the 1st thing to knock out. I know it worked for my last 2 children. Good luck and hang in there!

B. :)

A lot of babies only sleep in short stretches during the day. Rather than try and get him to sleep longer during the day, I'd try and keep him up and awake more during the day. You want him to be tired at night for a little longer than 3 hours.

Also, I always put a little bit of rice cereal in my babies bottles at bedtime in order to help with sleeping.

Suzi

M.,

Unfortunately at only 10 weeks old there's no surefire way to make him sleep a certain amount of time. They're usually just not developmentally ready for organized sleep patterns yet.

I wish I had a good answer for you - in my experience they just work it out naturally as they mature more. However, like another person said it's sometimes helpful to keep them stimulated as much as possible during daylight hours (without OVER stimulating) so they'll want to sleep longer at night.

Good luck!

J.

P.S. - I would suggest getting the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Scott Weissbluth. It's my sleep bible and I still refer to it constantly! It's the one resource that I've found is almost always right on the money! And it's not "one size fits all". It gives solutions for more fussy babies and easier ones as well.

Why don't you visit www.babywhisperer.com and check out the message boards? They are very active and have tons of experienced moms who can give you suggestions. Also, a book called Twelve Hours at Twelve Weeks was very helpful.