Newborn Day/Night Confusion - Nursing Question

[juliajaj]

DD #2 was born on 7/6. Ever since we came home from the hospital, she has been sleeping almost the entire day, but is awake a big portion of the night. I'm nursing her every 3 hours during the day (usually I have to wake her up for a nursing). She nurses 15-20 minutes on each side/nursing. She would nurse longer, but I think that's due to comfort. Last night, I woke her up at 8 for a nursing & then she woke up at 12:30 AM for a feeding. She didn't go back to sleep at all until 4:30 (and that was for a 1/2 hour sleep). She's crying softly now (almost 6 AM) & I can tell it's a very tired cry.

Do you have any suggestions on what DH & I can do to resolve her daytime/nighttime confusion. Also, should I nurse her more frequently? I was thinking about nursing every 2 hours to see if that helps with the nighttime confusion. DD #1 wanted to be nursed every 2 hours, so I didn't have to wake her up for feedings.

I'd appreciate any input you can give to me on helping clear up the daytime/nighttime confusion & how often I should nurse. I have her 1 week ped. appointment on Wednesday, so I can ask these questions then, but I thought I'd get a little jump start by asking my questions here.

Thanks.

Julie & Hannah (7/6/04)

[Imperia]

Congratulations on your new baby!

I think this is a pretty common problem. My DD had the same thing going on for the first couple of weeks. My Ped told me just to leave it be and she would learn all by herself, and she did. All I did was try and make sure she nursed plenty during the day, every 2-3 hours is a good goal for during the day. You also might try keeping things dark for her at night when she is sleeping, so she learns that dark = sleep time light = playtime.

It gets easier, really it does! Keep up the good work.

Imperia

[Rachels]

There's not much to do with a tiny new baby-- she'll figure it out pretty soon. The main thing is to keep the room dark and to minimize any talking when she wakes. Cosleeping and white noise helped us a lot, too.


-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/character/2/character39.gif

"We have a secret in our culture...it's not that birth is painful, it's that women are strong!!" - Laura Stavoe Harm

[Marisa6826]

I think Rachel means keeping the room dark at NIGHT.

During the DAY, we had to make sure the lights were on and the room bright.

It made a big difference.

-m

[mamaturk]

We had the same problem with our DD. It's true, they learn to fix it on their own usually... Bright lights during the day and dark and quiet at night.

[Rachels]

LOL. Yep!

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/character/2/character39.gif

"We have a secret in our culture...it's not that birth is painful, it's that women are strong!!" - Laura Stavoe Harm

[Melanie]

Ds was just the same...I can't imagine having a child already and a newborn that has a reverse schedule!

Anyway, I had many people tell me he would resolve it on his own, but the new mommy former control freak in my had to feel like I was doing something so a few things we did: Make sure to change his clothing in the morning to signify a new day. Keep it dark in the house at night (even if we have to be up) light in the day (even if baby is finally sleeping!). How about letting her comfort suck to sleep at night?

Do you have a swing? You could try putting her in that at night if you think she's tired but is having trouble falling asleep. I think the way we finally got Ds to stay asleep at night was in his infant seat...but he was around 6 weeks so it also could have just been when he was ready to join the world in the day.