Keeping baby awake during the day?

[drloretta]

I was always a go with the flow kind of person and it sorted itself out quickly. One thing we did was have her nap in the living room in her PnP during the day, and in her crib at night, so she could associate where she slept with what time of day/night it was.

[Deleted]

If you want to see an opinion on wake times, you can look at www.babywisemom.com/2008/07/optimal-waketime-lengths.html

But it's babywise voodoo.

I was pretty much a "roll with it" kind of mom at that age.

She doesn't need entertaining at this age, she just needs to be around people and cuddled to death. Being in a carrier and going where you go is far more stimulating than lying on a play mat (not that you can't set her down, but don't feel like you need to read to her and sing to her and put black and white flashcards across her line of sight for hours a day to be a good mom).

[Deleted]

At that age I would put DS in his bouncy chair, or play with him with toys for 20 minutes or so after feedings until he started to get sleepy again. I never swaddled during the day.

[ijack]

I would go with the flow as well. One thing that helped my girls sleep was being outside - so if it's nice you can go on walks or whatever.

[Deleted]

At that age, my kids could only handle being awake for about an hour so I'd try to get them down right after that. However, if they were awake for a little longer right before they went down for the night (around 7:30ish), it seemed to help them give us an extra long stretch of sleep.

It seems a bit counter intuitive but all the sleep experts say that good daytime sleep begets good night time sleep and I have always found that to be true.

[speckledfrog]

I always just went with what they needed at that age. Keeping them awake will just be a miserable exercise for everyone involved.

[dcrunnergirl]

Sleep begets sleep. The more the LO sleeps during the day, the better they'll sleep at night. If you keep them awake too much during the day, they may sleep better at night for one or two days, but in the long run, they'll end up with a sleep deficit and become overtired, cranky, and whiney. At that age, about an hour of awake time, from the time they wake up to the time they fall asleep, is all they need.

[pugz]

I don't think it would make a difference with her nighttime sleep. She'll sleep longer as she gets older and her tummy can hold more, some say 12lbs is the "magic" number. We are seeing longer sleep at night now that Squirms is near that weight, she is sleeping 7.5 hours straight at night right now.

Squirms still needs to sleep between EVERY bottle night and day. Sometimes it's just a short 15 minute nap, but she needs it. If she wakes up clearly hungry (crying) we feed her right away, then play with her (recently she loves being on the playmat and kicking her piano). If she's not crying when she wakes up we play first, then feed when she's fussy. Typically after eating she'll be playful for awhile and then get fussy and we know it's time for a nap. Othertimes she finishes the bottle and is totally out so we just wrap up her and put her in her bouncer to sleep.

We swaddle for all naps and at night. Happiest Baby guy recommends this and it works well for us since she wakes herself up if her hands are free. He recommends swaddling for at least 4 months, longer if your baby still wants it.

[jackpackage]

Go with the flow! I think a 4 hour stretch at night is really good for a one month old. We do what dr.l posted-naps in swing, PNP, or RNP, and bedtime in his crib and ds became a pretty good sleeper by 3 months. Are you guys getting out much during the day?

[hannamaren]

I would go with the flow but promote daytime with things like noise, daylight, etc.
Her rhythm will sort itself out if needed.

[cjeanette]

Go with the flow.

[pugz]

oh and I am not big on reading any kind of "baby training" books but I think the Happiest Baby Sleep Habits book is good. For the 0-3 month ages he really just reinforces using the 5S's as well as some other tips like exposing baby to sun a bit each day, dimming the lights 30-45 min before bedtime at night, using swaddling/white noise during naps (I don't do the latter, don't want white noise on all day in my living room!) I have just started reading again now that Squirms is 3 months to see what he suggests next about transitioning to the crib, weaning from the swaddle over the next couple of months, etc.

his tip that I find the hardest to follow is not putting baby down asleep. We put her in her swing to fall asleep during the day but at night always rock her until she's sleeping then put her in the RnP...but I think it will all be okay, eventually

[Deleted]

Oct 15, 2012 10:52:10 GMT -5 @kar said:

Nope. Keeping babies awake led to overtired kids in my house and more awake time at night. As much day sleep as they wanted, as much food/nursing during the day as they wanted, with noise and light and as quiet (+ white noise) and dark and calm at night for better night sleep.

You can see if she wants to play a little more during the day, but I wouldn't push awake time if she's tired.

This is what we did too. DS STTN at 6 weeks, so this worked well for us. Light and noise during the day, but DS got to nap and nurse whenever he wanted. His naps were pretty evenly split between the RnP, crib, and being rocked in my arms while I GBCN'ed. He didn't like the swing, he looooved the RnP. During his short awake times, we would do tummy or naked time, read stories, play with toys. Over time, his awake time got longer. I wouldn't push awake time at that age, it's counterproductive.

[dcrunnergirl]

Oct 15, 2012 11:47:28 GMT -5 @msstarry said:

We aren't getting out much, I plan on starting to do excursions tomorrow if she cooperates. I just got cleared to drive Friday but I want to make sure I know how to use the car seat right with DH tonight

She really sleeps an awful lot in general. She takes a long time to nurse - often 40 minutes or so. Other than that, she'll maybe be up 10-15 minutes on average each feed cycle (so 1.5-4 hours). And it's more sporadic than that. Sometimes she'll just nurse then fall asleep on the boob and sometimes she'll be up for an hour. In the evening though she normally has 1-2 hours of pure fuss / screaming, so perhaps that makes up for it

What you're describing is completely normal. Enjoy all the sleeping time she's getting now b/c that will change before you know it.

[evynsmama]

I only ever swaddled DD if it was sleepy time, we started tummy time with her aroud 4 weeks, and she loved her swing and sometimes I would just put her in her crib and turn on the mobile since that wasn't her bed (she slept in our room in a pnp until 2 months). I feel like babies need to sleep when they are sleepy and you should try to go with the flow in that regard. For the evening have you looked into the happiest baby on the block dvd, sounds like she may be a little colic-y

[MamaMaui24]

We did a loose "eat, play, sleep" routine but definitely went with the flow and followed his lead. Have you read/watched Happiest Baby on the Block? I'm a believer in the 4th Trimester.