Baby sleeping patterns (or lack of!)
Discussion
Hello all,
So our four and a bit month old baby isn't sleeping during the day very much, maybe a couple of half hours here and there, up to an hour or so.
She sleeps well at night, goes to bed at eight, wakes up at 12 or 2 some nights for a feed then back till about six.
The wife is in knots because "they" (whoever they are, books or the internet) say the baby should be sleeping for four hours a day, but the baby seems more than happy, can be a bit irky to get to sleep sometimes but nothing that stops her eventually.
Just wondered what other people had experienced.
So our four and a bit month old baby isn't sleeping during the day very much, maybe a couple of half hours here and there, up to an hour or so.
She sleeps well at night, goes to bed at eight, wakes up at 12 or 2 some nights for a feed then back till about six.
The wife is in knots because "they" (whoever they are, books or the internet) say the baby should be sleeping for four hours a day, but the baby seems more than happy, can be a bit irky to get to sleep sometimes but nothing that stops her eventually.
Just wondered what other people had experienced.
Ours is much the same age mate and it varies wildly. Some days she'll sleep for 3-5 hours during the day, others 1 or 2. She always gets at least 8-10 hours at night.
They all seem to be so different don't they? If concerned I'd speak to a Doc but you can't make a baby sleep.
I take it you've done balck out blinds etc?
They all seem to be so different don't they? If concerned I'd speak to a Doc but you can't make a baby sleep.
I take it you've done balck out blinds etc?
My 5 year old son was the same at that age, pretty much splet for 8 - 10 hours a night, but only had cat naps durin the day, "heath care visitor" said this was not right and we should be waking him up at least every 4 hours a night and feeding him. We werent happy about this so spoke to our GP (who is a mother of 3) who said simply that "we know our child better then anyone else, if he is happy with his routine, and there are no heath issue, then keep doing what were were doing".
We did and have never had an issue with it what so ever.
Just out of interest your OH isnt reading the "contented baby book" by any chance is she?
We did and have never had an issue with it what so ever.
Just out of interest your OH isnt reading the "contented baby book" by any chance is she?
Writing from experience, do not get hung up on the routines in the books. It sounds like your baby is sleeping well in the night.........that's it, you've won, job done.
With our first we tried to follow the Gina Ford routine to the letter, in retrospect it was difficult, stressfull and was not the right thing to do.
Being new parents and not having family to learn from / fall back on we needed the book as some sort of safety blanket, to let us know we were doing things right.
Our second is 7 months old and every one is super chilled, no books.
With our first we tried to follow the Gina Ford routine to the letter, in retrospect it was difficult, stressfull and was not the right thing to do.
Being new parents and not having family to learn from / fall back on we needed the book as some sort of safety blanket, to let us know we were doing things right.
Our second is 7 months old and every one is super chilled, no books.
Baby books are about taking what is useful and valuable and discarding what isn't.
Them telling you that your baby should be asleep all day when it isn't - falls into the latter category.
FFS one of the leading writers of Baby Books has no children or formal qualifications in pediatrics. I'd sooner listen to my what my cat has to say.
Them telling you that your baby should be asleep all day when it isn't - falls into the latter category.
FFS one of the leading writers of Baby Books has no children or formal qualifications in pediatrics. I'd sooner listen to my what my cat has to say.
Every baby is different and you have to learn to trust your own instincts.
When we had our first (now 2) we were visited by a community midwife who was probably no older than 23 who quoted a load of government statistics about weight, feeding/sleeping patterns, etc etc that got us massively confused/worried.
The next visit was from a 50+ Jamaican lady who had 6 kids of her own and basically told us to relax, enjoy parenthood and forget "all this modern nonsense". She talked common sense to us for an hour and this totally transformed our outlook.
People have been having kids for thousands of years without any modern healthcare and kids are still being born today in horrific situations that are lucky if they get one meal a day. Feeling guilty if your child misses one nap or a feed is just a modern result of people cashing in on our natural insecurities.
PS - our son is 4 months, hardly sleeps during the day but sleeps a full 7 hours at night and is happy as anything.
Put the books away, relax and enjoy being a parent!
When we had our first (now 2) we were visited by a community midwife who was probably no older than 23 who quoted a load of government statistics about weight, feeding/sleeping patterns, etc etc that got us massively confused/worried.
The next visit was from a 50+ Jamaican lady who had 6 kids of her own and basically told us to relax, enjoy parenthood and forget "all this modern nonsense". She talked common sense to us for an hour and this totally transformed our outlook.
People have been having kids for thousands of years without any modern healthcare and kids are still being born today in horrific situations that are lucky if they get one meal a day. Feeling guilty if your child misses one nap or a feed is just a modern result of people cashing in on our natural insecurities.
PS - our son is 4 months, hardly sleeps during the day but sleeps a full 7 hours at night and is happy as anything.
Put the books away, relax and enjoy being a parent!
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