How much time should a 6-week old spend awake?

[chlobo]

For a few days my 6-week old was up almost all day. While I know that is not right, now she seems to be sleeping all day (perhaps making up for lost time). Is there some general rule of thumb about how much time a baby should spend "awake"?

[TraciG]

Sydney was doing that also, a couple of weeks ago, she's now 7 and a half weeks old, she seems to sleep most of the days now, I always worry that she wont sleep at night, but she used to never nap, thank God now I get breaks, I dont know the answer except sounds just like my baby.

[new_mommy25]

I'm not sure what the general "rule" is but in my experience if Noah was up longer than 2 hours he got really fussy. It's hard at that age because their sleep patterns are all over the place but it'll adjust itself quickly. If possible try to get on a routine. Ours is very very loose mind you, but I try to have him up, napping, bathed, and down for the night at around the same time every day.

[jennifer13]

You will definitely find some days of sleeplessness and then times of sleepiness. As the previous poster said, a rythym of being awake about 2 hours is very common. At six weeks my DD was sleeping every 1.5 - 2 hours. You might try putting her down for actual naps- as they get older some babies lose their ability to just pass out anywhere and need more napping structure.

Good luck!

Jennifer
Mom to Norah 5/23/03

[jal]

I can tell you that every baby is different (but you already know that)!

It doesn't matter what the general rule of thumb might be, as your child might be an extreamist that doesn't follow the "rules".

If your 6-week old is being provided an environment where he can sleep as long as he wants (i.e. it's not a case of noises or lights waking him) and you don't see any other symtoms that something might be "wrong", I wouldn't worry about. Just wait and mention the odd sleep pattern to your ped during your next visit (should be two weeks away shouldn't it?).

I know the rule of thumb is that a new-born should sleep 14 to 18 hours per day. With the exception of an illness, our son has never slept 14 or more hours during a 24 hour period. Seems like we got 12-13 hours tops on our "good" days and still only average 11 to 12.

[amp]

I agree about the general 2 hr. awake and then needing a nap again. My son lasted about 1.5-2.5 hrs and would get fussy and need a nap. He still does this to an extent, at 6.5 mths. He can go longer many days and not on others. Just expect that and then watch for his cues (increased fussiness not due to another cause, rubbing eyes, hard time keeping eyes closed, etc). I've read that young infants need about 18+ hrs of sleep through the day and night. Good luck!