any way to make a 3 week old sleep longer AT NIGHT?

Question

he sleeps really good during the day, sometimes he will sleep for up to 5 hours, I try keeping him awake during the day, but he basically screams until i let him fall asleep, any ideas to get him to sleep this good at night??

Answer 1

He sleeps well during the day because he thinks its night time.

He needs to sleep every couple hours, but not for hours on end. Wake him up a little, keep him in bright active areas when he is awake, and keep night time night time.

Its all about routine.

Answer 2

My three week old has the same problem although she only stays awake an hour and wakes up every three hours day and night because she is always hungry. It may also be that this is his sleep schedule. It should change as he gets a little older. I wish I could help you. You might try putting something with your scent in there and see if that helps. Because my daughter only sleeps 2-3 hours a day because she is hungry so I'm not sure as to your situation. Is it because he's hungry? It may be because he sleeps so long and he is hungry. This time he may be hitting a growth spurt. Sorry I couldn't help you anymore than that. She is my first but she sleeps soundly those hours so I sleep when she sleeps. It helps me feel more rested if I am sleeping every 2-3 hours. You may need to wake him (as a few people said before) and feed him, and change him.

Mommy of 3 week old on Thursday.

Answer 3

I fed my daughter every 3 hours during the day, fed her her last bottle between 8-10pm and put her to bed. I didn't wake her up at all at night to eat and she would sleep 5-7 hours. If you feed him every 3 hours during the day he will never really get a chance to get hungry hungry and will have a nice full tummy when he does to go bed at night. Let your baby sleep when he's tired, they know when they need to rest and babies that young will sleep 18-20 hours a day and that's ok. If you teach them good sleeping habits now it will help when they are older. I have a 4 mo old that has slept through the night for almost a month now. Good luck!

Answer 4

A 3 week old may sleep for a few hours at a time at night, but until he understands the difference between night and day, he is not going to sleep that well through the night, and at 3 weeks he should still be waking up to feed every 2 to 3 hours...so bear with him...my son slept like a rock through the night and ended losing a little weight because he wasn't waking up to feed and my fiancee and i were not waking him up either...so just try to bear with him...at least for the next few weeks...he'll be sleeping more soundly around 8 weeks or so..

Answer 5

3 wks is too soon to try to schedule him to sleep through the night. My son ate every 2 hrs for the first couple weeks and was about 6 wks when he started to sleep 6-7 hrs at night and that was from 10 pm to 4 or 5 am so it didn't really help me when I fall asleep around 11 or 12 and still have to get up that early. It will come-just bear through the next couple weeks.

Answer 6

Ok i been there and there is no way you can make a baby change their patterns this is just temporary when the baby gets older they will sleep through the night just give the baby their bottle they will go back to sleep and weke up again every 3 hours the only thing i could suggest if you stay home try to get some sleep while the baby is napping through the day but i know its hard just hang in there ........

Answer 7

Sorry to be the one to burst it for you - he's 3 weeks old - he makes his own schedule! Welcome to the wonderful world of no sleep!

Keep trying to keep him awake during the day, at the age he is right now, it's a little difficult. But as he gets older, it'll get better - he'll be more awake during the day and sleep more at night. He's still very young to have a schedule. Some people may tell you to put rice cereal in his bottle - I would ask your peditrician before doing so. At 3 weeks, he won't be able to digest it as quickly (hence making him sleep longer), but it can also cause him to gain too much weight, too quickly. Usually peditricians don't recommend doing this method at this age.

Answer 8

babies that young sleep on a schedule they are used to. remember when he was in utero, you were awake and active during the day. This movement is what lulled him to sleep. At night, when you laid down to sleep, you probably felt him moving around. It was awake time for him. He is still used to that. it will be hard for now, but don't worry. When they are that small, the baby will not stay asleep if they are hungry. He needs to eat, so he will wake up. Good luck and remember to be patient.

Answer 9

This to shall pass. Young babies are supposed to wake up at night to eat. The first three months are the hardest, but they gradually get into a sleep program that coincides more with your own. Newborns frequently get their days and nights confused. One thing to do is that when he is awake during the day, make sure you play with him a lot and try to keep his attention. But no matter what you do, when he is ready to sleep, he's gonna sleep!! Take him outside in the sun. This helps to regulate their internal clock. When it is night keep lights as dim as possible. When he wakes feed him quickly and lay him back down. Do not change his diaper unless he is absolutely soaked! Keep all noise to a minimum. He needs to learn that day is for play and night is for sleep. One thing that a lot of mothers do is let their babies fall asleep with a bottle or at the breast. You want to feed him until he is drowsy, and then lay him down. Try not to let him fall asleep while eating. Also, do not rock him to sleep. The goal is to lay him down when he is drowsy and let him learn to fall asleep on his own. Do your holding in the day time. You can also try a swaddling blanket. This does help babies sleep longer because they are all snug as a bug in a rug!! Discontinue around 4 months or so. I recommend the miracle blanket @ miracleblanket.com. Keep in mind that no matter what you do, your baby will wake freguently at night for the first 3 months. It's just another part of motherhood! And you need to try to rest when you can as well. If there is a father in the picture, you need to take turns getting up at night. If not, just try to sleep when your baby does. Good luck and congratulations.

Answer 10

...let's see when my 3 month old was 3 wks he also had his days and nights confused. I just adjusted to his schedule and slept when he slept to get some rest. I swaddled him at night and made sure that he was well fed. Sometimes we had him sleeping in his car seat with a vibrator to make him feel like he was in a ride (boy babies like car rides).

During the day I vaccumed, put music on, TV, washed and opened all the windows for the light to come in. He slept throught that but by the second month he liked the night better because it was quiet and dark.

He is now three months and I only feed him once at night (around 2am) and goes back to sleep.