How do I get my 2 month old baby to sleep during the night not during the day?

Question

I have been going to bed around 6-8 am every morning. He wakes up around 1 or 2 am and then wants to be up. I loose a lot of time during the day catching up on my sleep. What do I do to get back on track?

Answer 1

My son was the same. At this age there's pretty much nothing you can do. Training does not work. They do tend to confuse day and night at the beginning, but then the melatonin kicks in and babies begin to recognize the night as the night and melatonin (sleep hormone) makes them sleep at night. In the meantime just try to make a clear difference daytime - keep everything in daylight and at the reasonable noise level - DAYTIME :)
Your baby will gradually switch. I know it's hard on you, but try to get all sleep you can and just bear with your newborn.
He still supposed to feed on demand so even when he sleeps at night he will still wake up to feed every 2-4 hours until he gets to sleep through the night (another issue)
Good luck and congratulations

Answer 2

Two months, hmmm. I never experienced this, so this is just a thought. I kind of remember the 8 and 11 or 9 and 12 feedings, and then so thankful when the baby slept until 6 or 7 a.m. All I can say is that between 8 and 9 play with the baby to the extent that you can play with a child of that age, read to him, give him a bath and feed him and to that feeding add just a little rice cereal mixed with breast milk or formula. I know babies aren't supposed to be fed any solid food until way later, but try it once or twice and see if there is any negative consequences. When the weather is decent, bundle up the baby as necessary, and take him for a stroll around 5:30 p.m. or so. Hopefully, that won't interfere with dinner plans. If you don't think much of this suggestion, try giving him the rice cereal at the 1-2 a.m. feeding. That's all I have. This will become his normal routine until some time later if you can't break it, but I don't believe in ignoring or letting little ones, especially this little, cry. Good luck. This, too, shall pass.

Answer 3

There's no real way to get him on this schedule before he is ready. But you can encourage the development of a suitable routine by keeping him in the middle of things during waking hours. Keep the TV as loud as you normally would, vacuum the floors, wash dishes, do the laundry....all with him right there in the middle of it with the shades drawn so there's plenty of light. And interact with him as much as possible when he's alert during the day. It's clearly day time. Then at night keep things calm, quiet, and dark. When he wakes to feed or you are changing him.... fight the urge to talk to him like you normally would. Get in there, get it done, and quickly get him back to sleep mode. No time for play. Talk in a slow "boring" voice.

Also you may try feeding him more ounces at a time for night feedings and fewer at a time during the day so he gets into the habit of waking more frequently during the day and not as often at night. Worked for my son who is just over a month old and sleeps nearly through the night. Good luck!

Answer 4

I read that if you increase the last bottle - about 9:30 or 10:00 pm and start decreasing the other night feedings will help. My baby started sleeping through the night at 2 months - I give her the last bottle - about 4.5 oz at 9:30 - 10 - before we go to sleep - and she'll wake up at about 6:30 every morning.

Answer 5

Try to keep your baby up during the day by playing with him. Around 8 pm start to get him ready for bed. My 2 month old stays awake all day. Maybe naps for an hour. Around 8 pm I get her ready for bed. She usually sleeps 6-7 hours through the night.

Answer 6

Babies tend to become overtired and sleep fitfully when they are kept awake longer than their bodies can handle. That approach does more harm than good, in my experience. With my babies, I would just be sure to keep the lights off (or dim) during night feedings and diaper changes, and try to keep the house bright and busy during the daytime hours (not overly so, just... awake). Slightly quieter during naptimes, but with six kiddos that was rarely accomplished. ;) I don't recall any of my babies having a problem with days/nights being mixed up, past about a month or maybe six weeks old.

Honestly though, after the first few babies, and realizing first-hand how fast they grow up and outgrow the newborn stage, I came to enjoy those night wakings. I didn't want to waste a single minute of their babyhoods frustrated about lack of sleep; I just wanted to cherish every precious moment.

Answer 7

Babies sleep in cycles... more at times, less at times. So, a portion of this you should just accept as normal baby stuff.

However, you can also try other hints seen all over these boards, or in a good baby book. (which I recommend you get!) Keep the room dark and quiet so he can sleep during the night. During the day, keep things at normal "noise" level... all to encourage him to nap during the day while actually sleeping at night..

You might also make sure you're feeding him plenty at that last nighttime feeding... it'll help!

This is when you learn to roll with the flow, mom. One of these mornings the sun will pour in your window and you'll jerk awake, on your own, look at the clock and say, "EIGHT O'CLOCK!!! HALLELJUAH!!"

Answer 8

The best advice is to not let him sleep a lot during the day. Now they do need naps but they do not need to sleep all day just play with him and keep him awake and you will find that he will sleep more at night and for longer times.

Answer 9

Its very hard to get babies back on track when they get there nights and days mixed up, make sure at night its dark and the least bit of stimulation for the baby as possible. during the day make sure it is nice and bright out, weather permitting get him outside as much as possible and as tempting as it is to snooze when the baby does during the day, at least set a clock so you can not sleep the day away, if the baby is tring to sleep all day, other than regular naps try to get lots of stimulation in that doesn't put him to sleep, sing songs like patty cake, itsy bitsy spider and baby bumble bee (not twinkle twinkle or a lullaby) some thing cheery and w/ hand movements to keep his attention. you could give him a bath if he looks sleepy and its not time for him to sleep. lay him on his belly for belly time, try putting him in a bouncy seat w/ a little rattle or some thing. you just really need to keep him occupied during the day and not at night, it is rough for the first couple of days but it usually doesn't take long for them to adjust to the days.

Answer 10

if hes two months old he should be sleeping morning and night with breaks inbetween for a bit of feeding. but alot of his time should be spent asleep. and youll loose alot of sleep during these first few months, dont worry. things will work out soon