Day sleep affecting Night sleep
Printed From: OHbaby!
Category: Have A Baby?
Forum Name: First baby? Second or more?
Forum Description: Want help? Need support? Want tips? Men and women share advice and tips in this supportive community
URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=32681
Printed Date: 28 August 2025 at 2:00pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.10 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Day sleep affecting Night sleep
Posted By: MamaT
Subject: Day sleep affecting Night sleep
Date Posted: 06 April 2010 at 10:53am
|
Now I know the saying "sleep breeds sleep". Cooper has always been a shocking sleeper during the day but this seems to have made a turn around in the last 10 days. I am now getting him to sleep for 1.5hours - 3hours during the day after being up for 1hour - 1.5hours. But, this seems to have affected his night sleeps. It seems that on the days when he does great sleeps he will wake every hour or so during the night. But, if he sleeps for 30min - 1hour during the day he will stretch it out to 3hours - 5hours at night.
Could it be perhaps that he is not getting enough milk in him during the day? I feed him when he wakes and also feed him to sleep. Both feeds are generally about 10 - 15mins at a time. -------------  
|
Replies:
Posted By: anon
Date Posted: 06 April 2010 at 7:54pm
|
Hi - yes that could be it. All babies need a different amount of sleep during the day, so it's difficult to suggest how many hours he needs. The general rule was 1hr up, 2hrs down when newborn. Around the 3mth mark, 1.5hrs up, 1.5hrs down - bearing in mind all babies are different about how long they can last and how much sleep they need. So 3hrs at one time sounds like a lot unless Cooper's only had a small sleep earlier in the day. If you were sticking to that rule above he may need a smaller nap towards the evening but probably not too long if you have a bedtime in mind that's around 7pm. To summarise - he may be getting more sleep during the day than he needs...
Secondly, he may not be getting enough feeds. Around that age, I did a few cluster type feeds to catch Nathan up in the evening to avoid him waking up frequently overnight. Last thing to add - around the 12wk mark babies go through a growth spurt, and it often affects their night waking rather than daytime (or it did in my case). Therefore frequent waking and being really hungry at night. It can last anything from a couple of nights to a week. Hope that helps! ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
|
Posted By: MamaT
Date Posted: 07 April 2010 at 9:29am
|
Thanks Kristina. I did wonder about a growth spurt but thought he would be feeding more during the day too, but perhaps not. The last two nights he has gone back to his usual wakeups at night, bed at 8pm, awake at 1am, 3am, 5am and 7.30am and is still sleeping around about 2hours at a time in the day. He is generally up for 1.5hours. -------------
|
Posted By: anon
Date Posted: 07 April 2010 at 9:35am
|
Hope I doubt that he needs that 3am feed and has just got in a habit. See if you can resettle him and then you can get a longer sleep. Or I'd suggest dreamfeeding (or if you can't dreamfeed - wake to feed) at around 11pm so that you start getting longer sleeps. It can take a week for it to make any difference (ie. feed at 11pm then they wake at 1am) as it did with Nathan, but after that he may well sleep through till 3am and then start extending out that 3am through to 5am. Last night Nathan missed his 5am sleep so he slept from midnight through to 8am!!! So pleased! ------------- http://lilypie.com">
|
Posted By: Helen1
Date Posted: 08 April 2010 at 9:48pm
|
I have a couple of ideas.
Firstly I would recommend a routine during the day - like a feed every 3-4 hours and then demand feeding during the night. This means they get a lot of food during the day and don't need as much during the night. Also you could try a formula feed about 10:30pm. We found with both our girls that this would get them through to about 5am. Also one suggestion from my doctor was not to get up to your baby unless they are really asking for you (and asking for food). Most babies have a waking period through the night but can often resettle if left to themselves. All the best. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
|
Posted By: anon
Date Posted: 08 April 2010 at 9:55pm
|
Helen, with the greatest respect, I just would disagree with trying formula at night before bed. Every mum I know that does this it begins a slippery slope to babies being FF because they start to like the bottle more than the breast coz it's easier. I don't think it's necessary to go down that road. ------------- http://lilypie.com">
|
Posted By: Helen1
Date Posted: 10 April 2010 at 8:27pm
|
No probs newlywed. What works for one person doesn't work for others.
Amelia would take the bottle or the breast with no hassle as she was used to both. We also had no issues when it became time to wean her from the breast to the bottle - something that seems to happen with heaps of babies. My Karitane nurse told me that breast milk is not as good as it could be at about 10:30pm and if FF worked for us at that time (which it did) then to go for it. A happy mum means a happy baby. Each to their own and it does NOT necessarily mean the slippery slope. I successfully BF Amelia until I decided to wean her at 7 months old. I could have continued quite sucessfully for longer if I wished. I've been down this road with 2 babies now and I was only suggesting what worked really well for our family. ------------- http://lilypie.com">
http://lilypie.com">
|