How long did it take your newborn to get into a sleep/eat routine?

[Tammy]

DD2 is 6 weeks old and rarely will she go to bed and stay asleep before 3 or 4 a.m. I'm doing same bedtime routine with her each night too. She eats every couple hours during the day and evenings so she shouldn't be hungry. I know she's still young but I go back to work in 6 weeks and will be a zombie if she doesn't start sleeping more. I remain hopeful. ;)

[edurnemk]

DS started sleeping more at night at around 8-10 weeks. We'd put him to bed around 8 pm, then he'd sleep for a long stretch, nurse again around 1-2 am and from then on he'd wake every 2-3 hours to nurse and be up at 6 am.

But his daytime schedule wasn't very predictable until 5 months (naps and all that).

[Katigre]

DD2 is 6 weeks old and rarely will she go to bed and stay asleep before 3 or 4 a.m. I'm doing same bedtime routine with her each night too. She eats every couple hours during the day and evenings so she shouldn't be hungry. I know she's still young but I go back to work in 6 weeks and will be a zombie if she doesn't start sleeping more. I remain hopeful. ;)
How long is she staying awake for? What are you doing to minimize her disturbances at night (encouraging her to sleep) and establishing daytime/nighttime? How much are YOU getting out of bed/turning on lights/moving around each night? That will make a significant difference in your tiredness levels.

[alirebco]

Are you swaddling her at night? That was the only way DS would sleep. Also what time is she initially going down at night? I remember DS would go down around 11 pm, and then wake to nurse around 3-4 pm, then back down for a good long while.

[daisymommy]

Not until around 3-4 months, with all 3 of my children. I followed Weissbluth's advice and it was helpful. I don't schedule my children, or let them cry it out at all. But his book gives you a good idea of what to expect as far as generally how long they can stay awake between naps, when to out them down for naps and nighttime, etc. all based upon age. He says don't expect a routine to be solidly in place before 4 months; but that if it happens, that's great too.

http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Sleep-Habits-Happy-Child/dp/0449004023

[army_mom]

DD got into a great routine right around 7 weeks, when she started daycare. She slept through the night as soon as she started daycare, going to bed at 830ish and I would wake her at about 5 to get ready for daycare. All the activity at daycare just exhausted her and let her sleep well for me! But I think we have been blessed with a sleeper as I had to wake her up to eat from the time she was born....:love-retry:

[SnuggleBuggles]

6+ months. Sorry!

Hmm, upon reflection that isn't really true. Ds1 slept great from month 2- month 6...then went down hill when teething and physical and emotional milestones arrived! Those 4 months were great. Ds2 wasn't nice enough to give them to us!

Beth

[wellyes]

Mine both settled naturally into sleeping through the night around 12 weeks. It does NOT last long but it is a godsend at the end of maternity leave.

6 weeks is the hardest time of all, IMO. Hang in there!

[okinawama]

I think around 10 weeks we were getting a decent stretch at night and pretty predictable nap timings ( the naps however went to pot shortly thereafter and stayed that way for a while). The absolute key for a good night sleep for us was an early bedtime, without it the night waking were NUMEROUS!

[fedoragirl]

DD started sleeping through the night (except for feedings when I would cosleep with her) at 11 weeks. She did have some rough patches at 4-5 months but that's because her teeth came in quite early. She has been a good sleeper for the most part.

[wimama]

Are you swaddling her at night? That was the only way DS would sleep. Also what time is she initially going down at night? I remember DS would go down around 11 pm, and then wake to nurse around 3-4 pm, then back down for a good long while.

:yeahthat: Swaddling really helped my DS sleep. He was and still is a active sleeper. He would wake himself up if we didn't swaddle him. Loved his miracle blanket.

I went back to work when my DS was 7 weeks old. I was pretty apprehensive about getting enough sleep when I went back to work. But, I was really lucky and DS settled into a good sleep routine, right around then. I would put him to bed in his crib and then I would stay up until 11pm or 12am. I would wake him up, change his diaper with dim lighting in his nursery and then take him to our bed to nurse him. We had a arms reach cosleeper and I would put him in there for rest of the night. He usually at least sleep until 5 or 5:30. I read about twilight nursing somewhere. I think that is what it is called. And that basically is what I tried to do. He rarely woke up on his own at night and he easily settled right back to sleep after nursing.

I have trouble getting back to sleep after I have been asleep for a while, so it worked out well for both DS and I. I would love to be that lucky again with this baby.

[bostonsmama]

We had a horrible run with colic. It made naps absolutely unpredictable, but she cried so much during the day and was so overtired that she started passing out from sheer exhaustion right around 8 weeks. She went down around 10-11pm and slept until 3, then woke at 5am and finally 8-9am. As she got older and we put her to bed earlier, she'd go down at 9:30, wake at mightnight, then wake at 5:30am, then finally at 8:30am. At 3 months she started consolidating sleep and does 11 hours straight without waking to nurse. It's a God-send! Her whole second month is such a blur to me. I was a walking zombie. THankfully she grew out of the colic largely and naps well during the day. Ditto the Weissbluth rec. We EBF and haven't done CIO, but I liked a lot of what was in that book, esp w/ establishing the nightime routine and not waking a baby when they stir in active REM sleep. With babies, my guess is that eventually, when THEY are ready, something just clicks and they do it.

[boolady]

Not until around 3-4 months, with all 3 of my children. I followed Weissbluth's advice and it was helpful. I don't schedule my children, or let them cry it out at all. But his book gives you a good idea of what to expect as far as generally how long they can stay awake between naps, when to out them down for naps and nighttime, etc. all based upon age. He says don't expect a routine to be solidly in place before 4 months; but that if it happens, that's great too.

http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Sleep-Habits-Happy-Child/dp/0449004023


I was a big Weissbluth fan, too. We also didn't CIO or really try to schedule her-- it was most helpful to me to realize what was going on with her (she also had some serious reflux going on) and try to focus on proper sleepiness cues that I didn't even know about, rather than wait until she was completely overtired and beyond wired.

[LadyPeter]

At 6 weeks I was really exhausted, but DS started lengthening his sleep to 6 hrs at a time around 8 weeks old. Now we average a 6-8 hour stretch, quick feed and another 2 hours. We used The Sleep Lady's Goodnight, Sleep Tight recommendations and saw immediate improvement. I liked her methods because I just couldn't do CIO.

[AnnieW625]

For the most part I have been lucky with both kids.

DD1 slept through the night for the first time at 12 weeks from midnight to 7 am (but we were on vacation), but once we got back she started sleeping from about 8 am till 4 am, and then would feed and go back to sleep till around 6:30 or 7:00 am. She kicked the 4 am feeding once she was formula fed at 4 months old. DD2 who has reflux started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks old, but wouldn't sleep well during the day at all. She didn't get a good daytime sleep pattern until she was about 5 months old, but even then it was closer to 8 months before she slept more than 2/1/2 hours at one stretch for me during the day (I work full time so she had been doing it at daycare, but not well at home until Christmas break!).

DD1 had bad teething issues at night so we'd be up with her about every other night for about an hour between 2 and 4. DD2 on the other hand has woken us up :bag twice since she was 2 months old (and her two bottom teeth have come in now).