Day/night confusion

[SpringCrane]

My one week old has his days and nights mixed up. Everything I've read on it says to make sure you keep it bright and noisy during the day and quiet and dark at night.

I have a 2.5 y/o, so it can't get any louder in my house during the day...

Any other advice?

 

[Fizzyfefe]

Infants don't produce melatonin until approximately three months old. So, unfortunately, it's just a waiting game until then. I remember one night, it was like a switch flipped, and all of a sudden my newborn slept for more than an hour. It was bliss! Good luck, mama.

 

[MindUtopia]

I think just give it time. I'm not really sure at a week old that it's possible to have a sense of day and night, in the sense that they do anything different. All babies until about 6-8 weeks usually feed at roughly 2-3 hour intervals and mostly sleep in between with very little awake time. They tend to be more unsettled at night just because they're often cluster feeding or needing to be closer to you (as most people tend to expect to put them down more during the night while they sleep, but less so during the day). But there is really little difference between night and day to start anyway, so I wouldn't have much expectation that anything different would be happening yet. Usaully by 6-8 weeks though, you'll start to see more of a pattern, often with longer stretches of sleep during the night and more awake time during the day.

 

[Loozle]

It will take a bit of time. One week old is still brand new.

 

[jodilee6]

My advice, find a decent brand of coffee and stock up on chocolate!

DS1 took about 9/10 weeks to sort his days and nights

DS2 took closer to 12/14 weeks!

 

[minties]

Babies are used to lots of noise in the womb already and mine both found it soothing. I found noisy days helped them sleep more! White noise at night can help.

 

[Zephram]

My second didn't get his days and nights worked out until he was over 8 weeks! Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but it will likely take longer for your baby to figure it out. You kind of just have to roll with it as you can't actually change their body chemistry regarding melatonin and sleep cycles. The one thing than may work is that babies exposed to bright light in the early afternoon will often sleep better at night, so it might help speed up the process if you get your baby out in the sunlight after lunch.

 

[SpringCrane]

Thanks! I guess I'm just adjusting to having a baby that sleeps this time. My first son was never really settled but did do better at night... This little guy is just so content I'm feeling a bit lost.

I'm learning to just go with the flow and enjoy this time while he's so easy!