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Both Olivia and Sophia (Janice’s and my newborn little munchkins) still have their clocks flipped upside down. And Sophia seems to be getting worse instead of better. She used to sleep rather consistently from 2:00 AM until 5:00 AM… but for the last five nights that has moved from 4:00 AM until 7:00 AM.
From about midnight until 4:00 AM Sophia has me walking the floor with her and doing everything I can to quiet her fusses. The routine is pretty similar over at Janice’s house with a ton of middle of the night shushing and soothing and pacing the floor. Both girls are midnight fuss-monsters.
So tell us, how long did it take your baby to figure out that day is for play and night is for sleep? What did you do to help encourage the setting of his/her biological clock?
April says
I just posted about my daughter. I followed Babywise, and loved it!
April says
My daughter started sleeping in the night from day 2 on in the hospital. I wouldn’t let her sleep too much during the day, and I had her on a schedule. Eat, awake time, sleep. Repeat. I also nursed her at 8:00 pm., had a short awake time, then put her to bed. I would wake her up at 11:00 pm., nurse her, then put her straight back to bed. She didn’t wake me till 2:30 or 3:00 am. I would nurse her, she would have a short fussy time (maybe 30 to 45 min.) then back to bed. She would then wake me a couple of hours later to nurse, and so on. Main thing was that I wouldn’t let her sleep too much in the daytime. Also, I kept her room with light in it in the day, and only a dim night light at night (so I could see to nurse). She started sleeping all the way through the night (11:00 pm to 7:00 am) at 7 weeks.
Bailey's Leaf says
When we picked up our daughter from the hospital, the nurse gave me the best advice that anyone could have! She told me to make certain that I use as minimal amount of light as humanly possible at night. She also added to be as quiet as possible and not to engage in a ton of conversation with the baby. She said to save that for the day time. The night diaper change and feeding were widdled down to 20 minutes tops. When did our new little gift start sleeping through the night? Try 5 1/2 weeks old!
Promises Fulfilled says
I followed the scheduling technique and “robbed Peter to pay Paul”. Basically, when the baby would wake in the morning, he would be fed, then play time and then when I saw a yawn, he would go down for a nap. Then, I would be sure that it would not be more than 3 hours between his meals, even if I had to wake him up during the day. So, either I would wake him, or he would wake up – then feed, wake time and then down for another nap. Finally, I decided what time I wanted him to go to bed at night and after I fed him in the dark, he would go to bed and then sleep for a long stretch (in the beginning it was at least 6 hours). By 15 weeks, he was sleeping 12 hours through the night, and he has not stopped!
Two books that I would recommend checking out are Babywise and Secrets of the Baby Whisperer.
Good luck to both of you!
christieo says
oh i’m so sorry! mine was up most of the night too, but what we did every night at 8 o’clock was change him into pj’s, read to him, and put him in the bassinet in our bedroom while we stayed out in the living room until we went to bed or he woke up for his next feeding. But when it was feeding time during those hours, I kept it dark and quiet and put him right back to bed. During the day, I had him changed into his day clothes and out in the noise for most of the day, and he would nap in the bassinet that I would roll into the living room. He eventually caught on to “bedtime” and still to this second, 19 months later, is pooped by 8 and happily ready for bed. we’ll do the same for number 2 due any day now, but who knows! every baby’s different! 🙂
Charissa says
Oh, I feel for Ya. My son would wake up 2-3 times a night for the first few months, then his sleeping periods gradually became more spaced out.
Jill T. says
My daughter did this for the first week, and I established a set feeding routine that I didn’t stray from. She ate every two hours during the day, then around 10:00 I nursed her, and she would sleep for about 4 hours, wake up to eat and then go right back to sleep for 3-4 hours. I found that if I missed just one feeding during the day, she would get switched around and it would take a couple of days to get her back on track. Now that she’s a few months old, I still feed her before she goes to bed, and she normally sleeps 7-8 hours.
Kim Priestap says
When my first was born, The Secrets of the Baby Whisperer was my bible, and it worked great. I used it again when my daughter was born, and I will use it for a third time when my latest is born, possibly this Saturday. Both my kids were sleeping through the night, at least 8 hours straight through, by 8 weeks. And I agree completely with the moms who said that when they do wake up at night, no light, no talking, no eye contact. They need to learn that nighttime is for sleeping and daytime is for being awake.
Good luck!
melody is slurping life says
Prayers, hugs and good thoughts.
My boys are 9, 10, 12 and 26…I’ll get back to you when it’s all straightened out. 🙂
Casual Friday Everyday says
Not long. Both of them were sleeping through the night (8 hours or more) no later than 2 months old.
Pam says
I’m so sorry for the both of you! I feel your pain. My son- who is 6 months now- took a good 6 weeks before he finally realized day and night. It was an exhausting time for the whole family – as you know. And, even when he did figure out day and night, he still woke up (often! 2 or 3 times a night) until he was 4 months old. It took him until 6 months old to sleep well at night. I hope your girls figure it out sooner then he did! I felt like a walking zombie! I don’t wish that on anyone.
Kena says
Both of my daughters took about two weeks before they got their clocks in the right time zone : ) And about a week later, I was able to get everyone on a nap schedule. I hope this helps!! Good luck and congrats!
Amy says
I shouldn’t even be commenting here…but my little one slept from 11-5 from the first night we brought her home. I don’t know what we did right…if anything. I figure our next one will never sleep and will be just a complete horror. Our first is now 2 1/2 and has just been the most happy easy child…. we are sooooo screwed!!!
Tara Robertson says
I have three kids- Aiden is 5 now but was a colicky infant and there was NOTHING I could do to calm him. I paced the floor for HOURS a day and HOURS at night. But he did eventually grow out of it. Eventually. It wasn’t until he was 2 that he actually slept through the night consistently.
My second son, Owen is 4 now but he too was a midnight fussy baby. I found routine (which I find hard to keep up) helpful- the same music playing, the same bath before bed, the same blankets (I know we aren’t supposed to use blankets anymore but it really helped Owen to have a blankie). I also tried to keep him up during the day more… even though I was exhausted.
My daughter Olivia (nice name eh?) is 11 months old and the only way I have successfully gotten her turned around is by taking her to bed with me. I let my husband sleep in the guest room so he could get uninterupted sleep and then I spent a couple weeks with Olivia in my room. Eventually it worked and she turned herself around. She still isn’t sleeping through the night but she is MUCH better now and has quit the midnight fussiness! Good luck!
Frog Princess says
My two kids slept through the night at 8 weeks for the first and three weeks for the second. The second had to be fed formula so therefore her stomach didn’t empty as quickly. Our first was on a 3 to 4 hour schedule and only had 1 night feeding between 2-3 am. We let the fuss otherwise. If they are not hungry or wet then let them fuss it won’t hurt them. that’s what our doctor told us.
Michele says
Right from the beginning, I made sure that my little guy was on a schedule of feedings and sleeping. I’d wake him every few hours (2-2 1/2) to feed him so that he wouldn’t sleep so long during the days. Then I’d try to keep him awake for a bit before he went to sleep. (of course the first few weeks it’s a real big job trying to keep them awake) But the consistency and the routine of Eat, Wake (playtime), then Sleep, really worked. He’s still on that schedule during the days and before no time, he was waking up on schedule to eat without me waking him. Good luck!
Natalie says
My daughter was just born in July and she was like that for awhile. Then she started sleeping through the night for a month or so, although she wouldn’t go down until 1am. And now, she’s up a couple times a night and I’m back in the pacing, shushing, crying (that’s my crying, not hers) boat. Sorry you guys are having a rough time too.
Stephanie says
Oh, I remember those early months…the sleepless nights, the sweet squeaks and squirms, the new motherhood haze. Sooner or later, the little ones will sleep and some semblance of normal will return.
Annie says
Establishing a routine before bedtime for a warm bath really helped my babies have a longer time of sleep at least during the first part of the night.
Though I too had to wake up in the middle of the night on several occasions and had my share of loss of sleep….
But quickly learnt that co-sleeping with my babies with the crib attached to our bed really gave them the security that I was close to them and were better able to get the idea of nights for sleep.
The day was kept bright with all the natural light that could come in too helped baby sleep lighter during the day.
Praying for you both.
Suzio says
My first two babies were sleepers so I didn’t encounter the flipped days/nights until baby #3. He was a handful and it took 9 months to get him sleeping at night and playing by day. Since I hadn’t had that problem with the first two, I was quite unprepared for this delimma, and quite tired from being up all night. Eventually I learned that I had to wake him up during the day at certain times, and then give him a bath before bed at night to calm him down.
Sara says
My son starting sleeping through the night at about 3 months, but before then I was mostly a zombie walking around. I often wondered how long a person could physically go without sleep! I started limiting his naps late in the day so that he would be more tired at night and it seemed to work. Now, he’s 13 months and sleeps from 8 to 8 every day…And I am very thankful for the good night’s sleep I get! Hang in there!
MommaBlogger says
I’ve been blessed with pretty decent sleepers. While they tend to wake up for food, I can usually convince them to go back to sleep.
For us, I’ve always let the babies sleep when they were tired (which is a lot at first). I kept an eye on the times they were sleepy during the day, and watched for patterns. I would gradually try to coax them into more regular times, sometimes trying to keep them awake just a little longer, or putting them to bed just a little earlier until they were into a good solid routine. After that was established, a difference of a half hour here or there (or any varying length of time) would usually be enough to accommodate their growth needs as they got older.
As for night sleeping, as I said, we’ve been blessed. I have always done night nursing in bed (and the two of five that weren’t breastfed did seem to want to be up a little more). I just keep working at gradually doing a schedule. The more you’re able to keep track of times (I know it’s not easy when you’re sleep deprived 😉 )the more you might notice a pattern forming after a while. I’ve also noticed that working on the daytime schedule seems to help the nighttime schedule, especially if you can keep them up a little later in the evening, so they’ll hopefully sleep a little better in the night.
Kathleen Marie says
With my first I had to do several things. She was up from about 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. with a little nap somewhere in the middle. I was so exhausted. If you are nursing the doctor told me to have a small glass or red wine about 9:30 – NO caffeine – and then nurse the baby. In the morning I was to have a large orange juice. This stimulates the baby.
I also tried everything to keep her awake during the day. She was such a sound sleeper it was rather hard. I would try and wake her early from naps as well.
I also gave her a cooler morning bath to help her awaken and a warmer more soothing night time bath. I also massaged her back at night to help her relax.
Swaddling also helped her to sleep and not cry as much. Babies are so use to be bound tightly in the womb that swaddling makes them feel secure.
Praying for you both!
Deb - Mom of 3 Girls says
Our girls went through this too – we just tried to keep the lights off or dim at night and not play with them much or give much stimulation, so they finally learned that night was night… Good luck! 🙂
Karen - Little Fun; Little Learning says
My little ones pretty much understood that night was night. However, I did have problems with my 2nd child waking every 2 hours to eat. I would spend half the night feeding him. This went on for months!!! I was a zombie. I was so thankful when he started sleeping through the night.
Amy says
I don’t know that he had his days & nights mixed up, but my oldest was up EVERY.2.HOURS for the first 7 months. I was exhausted and swore I’d never take sleep for granted again.
Melissa says
Our pediatrician told us to make noise around our daughter during the day so she wouldn’t sleep as soundly, make sure it was light and to wake her for feedings during the day so she would eat as many times as possible while we were normally awake. That increased the chances that she would sleep longer at night because she wasn’t hungry. We let the phone ring right next to her, people rang the doorbell, we talked in normal tones . . . she got used to it and has been a decent sleeper since about her 2nd week.
Laura says
Yep I’d have to agree. When the babes are awake at night no light, no talking, no TV and NO eye contact. This worked well for all three of my kiddos. You really have to teach them the difference between night and day so during the day it was bright and cheery voices with the sunshine coming in. Hope that helps!!
Jennifer says
Only our oldest had this problem, thankfully.
And it only lasted the first two nights we were home from the hospital with him. My wonderful husband would try to ‘play’ with him the whole day, most of the day when he tried to snooze so at night he’d sleep, because he’d be tired and no one was bothering him.
Something worked because by 5 weeks of age he was sleeping from 11pm-5am.
Sharon says
My first-I’m afraid to say-it took him a few months. Almost 4 or 5 months old. I was beyond exhausted. (he was also colicky) My 2nd one, though, was great. He had a few nights total of confusion, but for the most part, he was doing well from about a week old. Not “sleeping through the night”, but sleeping well at night. 😉 (I also co-sleep, so half the times I’m up I don’t remember!)
I sure hope they transition for you soon!
Casey says
I second what Amy said about light. 5 out of 6 of our babies were sleeping through the night at 6 weeks.
I get them into sunlight as soon as they wake and darken the room as much as I can at night.
Amy says
I think it’s important to keep the light in your home as natural as possible. During the day when the baby naps, leave the curtains open. Don’t use a lot of artificial light at night (this is just for the first three months or so). The TV, especially, can cause their little clocks to “re-set,” so leave it off as much as possible. (There’s nothing good on TV, anyway, but Tivo what you can’t stand to miss).
I’m a co-sleeper, myself, so I’ve not done the up-all-night-pacing-the-hall thing. I find that a snuggle and a nurse is a lot easier on me, and the baby for that matter.
Vanessa says
I was very lucky! With the exception of the first night (which I paced the floor all night), my first daughter slept from 10 pm – 5 am almost every night from the second night. My second daughter on the other hand was quite the fusser. We tried everything…bassinet, crib, OUR bed…lol. The only way she would sleep was in the vibrating bounce seat or the infant car seat. I think she felt more comfort in the confines of those two seats.
Debbie says
I was going to say what Natalija just said about bathing my baby but trying to keep them awake a long as I could before the bath, that way they did sleep for a little longer stretch of time. I think that they started sleeping a little longer once they started taking more milk.
Natalija says
For my babies, evening baths helped quite a bit. I would bathe them after the other children were asleep, usually after 9 o’clock and then nurse them. Usually after the bath they slept the longest stretch, allowing me to sleep a bit before the next nursing (like from 10pm to 2 or 3am). That seemed to work best for all my 5 babies.