Newborn has nights and days confused?

[tlh97990]

My daughter is 10 days old and I think she has her nights and days confused. she will sleep for 4 hours at a time during the day but at night she'll lay down at 8pm to go to bed wake up at midnight then again at 1:15, 2:30, 3:30, 5:00, 7:00 wanting to eat every time she wakes up. if she is being held she will sleep for 3 or 4 hours but i dont feel comfortable holding her while i sleep as well. i've tried waking her every 2-3 hours instead of waiting for her to wake on her own during the day thinking it would make her sleep longer at night but it hasnt helped. is she too young to get her on a day/night schedule? do i need to do something or will she figure it out on her own?

 

[Brieanna]

She is too young for any sort of "training". Mine has her days and nights mixed up too and what we have done is to bring her out in the main room during the day and do things normally, without being quiet and at night turn the lights down low, no stimulation, talk softly etc and it usually ends up kind of working, BUT (at least for us) the smallest thing (a doctors appointment, trip to the store etc) messes her up and she reverts back to her old schedule. Maybe some babies are just night owls???

 

[sailing_girl]

To echo what was previously posted, keep night time calm and boring for her. We had the same problem with K and rectified it by keeping the lights low and everything really quiet during the night - basically as boring as you can make it. Then during the day, when she's awake, make it fun and interesting for her....take her on tours of the house, play with toys, etc. She'll fix herself soon. Good luck!

 

[bellablue]

that is very normal my little one was up every hour i didnt even get a break lol

sorry to tell ya but thats the way newborns are lol soon she will know the diff like others said make nighttime boring daytime fun

 

[Kasia]

Thanks for the thread! My lo will be 2 weeks old on Monday & I have been having the same exact problem. She will sleep 4hr blocks during the day but as soon as 10pm hits she's UP every hour & I never knew a tiny baby could eat SO much every hour it's crazy! Then come sunrise she falls asleep & I get a break for a bit

 

[menageriemom]

M

 

[sweetpea8]

So did mine! It does get better! Keep it really boring at nighttime as others have said. I just used the light from the laptop so it was as dim as possible and tried not chattering to her, wasn't easy at first!
when I was pregnant she was always so active at night time so I think it follows on!

 

[supertabby]

It's totally normal, in fact babies who are not nocturnal are the unusual ones. Remember when you were pregnant and you'd lie down at bedtime and suddenly it was kick kick kick? That was because while you were moving around baby was lulled to sleep and so they slept more in the day, that body clock just needs a bit of time to adjust.

You can help by making differences between day and night clear. So keep curtains open/lights on, background noise etc during day and chat or sing lots. At night keep lights off or dim, sounds quiet and limit how much you speak to baby and use very soft tones when you do - but still keep eye contact (some sleep training books tell you to avoid eye contact which is just mean). Also temperature can help, warmer at night and cooler in day but always stay within recommended safe temperature of course.

Other than that its just time. Baby is too young for any other type of sleep training and doesn't need it anyway. It will be a while till she sleeps through the night but by about 4 weeks you should be getting some longer stints at night. Your own body clock will start adjusting too, to cope with less sleep and sudden wakings. It does get easier I promise! Oh and "sleep when they sleep" - its a cliche for a reason, you must sleep when she sleeps, housework can wait (get visitors to do it).

 

[hanelei]

I think most newborns do this, it's absolutely normal. Mine quite often didn't sleep much at all between 11pm and 4am- that's why you hear about parents of newborns being so tired, and now you are living it for yourself

It isn't really a problem as much as a stage that they all grow out of. I agree with the above that there is absolutely no need to do any kind of training and actually it is probably a waste of time with a newborn and will only cause unnecessary distress. Just keep rooms light during the day and as dark and quiet as possible at night and you should start to see a gradual improvement with longer periods of sleep at night by around a month to six weeks.

 

[DarlingMe]

Babies are meant to be nocturnal. Hundreds of years ago living in caves, this is when all the hunters (lions, tigers, bears, oh my!) were out so humans had to stay awake. Adults have changed to daytimes, but babies dont know this.

I also read a study a couple months ago that talked about exposing them to light during the day to help them "learn" day time and regular schedules. So as others said, open the curtains, turn on all the lights in the house and keep her entertained. It is perfectly normal and will straighten itself out!

 

[fi79]

I was told in the hospital that a mother's milk production is also higher during the night so babies are biologically programme to want to feed more at night to take advantage of this and to stimulate supply.

 

[supertabby]

Babies are meant to be nocturnal. Hundreds of years ago living in caves, this is when all the hunters (lions, tigers, bears, oh my!) were out so humans had to stay awake. Adults have changed to daytimes, but babies dont know this.

I also read a study a couple months ago that talked about exposing them to light during the day to help them "learn" day time and regular schedules. So as others said, open the curtains, turn on all the lights in the house and keep her entertained. It is perfectly normal and will straighten itself out!

O/T but I have to point out homo sapiens have never been nocturnal, we need vitamin D for one thing and modern indoor lifestyles with long days in the office are causing vitamin D deficiencies. Nor have we ever been natural prey for lions, tigers and bears, but if we were we wouldn't protect ourselves with being awake, we'd sleep when predators were about as we'd be hiding and unable to forage or hunt. Plus we didn't live in caves hundreds of years ago, try tens of thousands of years ago. Our newborns are nocturnal because of the pregnancy process but they adjust to the natural human state of being quickly.

 

[DarlingMe]

Babies are meant to be nocturnal. Hundreds of years ago living in caves, this is when all the hunters (lions, tigers, bears, oh my!) were out so humans had to stay awake. Adults have changed to daytimes, but babies dont know this.

I also read a study a couple months ago that talked about exposing them to light during the day to help them "learn" day time and regular schedules. So as others said, open the curtains, turn on all the lights in the house and keep her entertained. It is perfectly normal and will straighten itself out!

O/T but I have to point out homo sapiens have never been nocturnal, we need vitamin D for one thing and modern indoor lifestyles with long days in the office are causing vitamin D deficiencies. Nor have we ever been natural prey for lions, tigers and bears, but if we were we wouldn't protect ourselves with being awake, we'd sleep when predators were about as we'd be hiding and
unable to forage or hunt. Plus we didn't live in caves hundreds of years ago, try tens of thousands of years ago. Our newborns are nocturnal because of the
pregnancy process but they adjust to the natural human state of being quickly.

Ok so hundreds of years ago is a bit off. But the staying awake through the night is not. Homo sapiens never would have slept 8 hours. They would have slept in small 2 hour spurts to stay safe, as babies do. I am sure any animal that crossed the path of a 10 lb baby would happily have eaten it as a snack at these times as well. Both lions and tigers would (and still do) hunt down a human. Tribal populations still deal with frequent lion attacks.

Humans have adapted and would have gotten sunlight when hunting, even if they slept during the day. When I was pregnant I worked until midnight, and did not get to sleep until 5-6am. My LO still was born with the same day night confusion that others complain of. So that is the opposite of what occurred for a normal baby in utero, but the same instinctual sleeping habits. It is believed that early primates Were nocturnal. Which was my point, their sleeping is instinctual, not something that is mixed up.

 

[blinkybaby]

All you can really do is keep daytimes really stimulating - curtains open, TV on, go around doing your daily business without worrying about waking her etc, and keep night-time dark, no stimulation for night-waking etc and hopefully it should work itself out.

Can I ask what time of the day your baby was born? I'm just interested because my LO was born at 2 in the afternoon and never had a problem with mixed up days and nights, just wondering if it has a bearing on this. I heard babies who are born at night are more nocturnal? xx

 

[puddycats]

I cud of written this myself hun. X

 

[menageriemom]

Well I started posting last night on my iPhone but the forum froze up at midnight and I hit post by accident! Sorry!

My newborn had her nights and days mixed. It lasted for about 3 weeks, but she transitioned herself and now sleeps very consistently at night. We just kept it bright during the day and dark and dull at night and it happened quickly. Good luck!

 

[tlh97990]

All you can really do is keep daytimes really stimulating - curtains open, TV on, go around doing your daily business without worrying about waking her etc, and keep night-time dark, no stimulation for night-waking etc and hopefully it should work itself out.

Can I ask what time of the day your baby was born? I'm just interested because my LO was born at 2 in the afternoon and never had a problem with mixed up days and nights, just wondering if it has a bearing on this. I heard babies who are born at night are more nocturnal? xx

she was born at 1:58am so maybe that does have something to do with it!!

last night she did a lot better than she has been doing. i've had to have her sleeping on a boppy pillow or in my arms to get her to sleep at night. but last night i gave her a bath at 6:30pm put lotion on her gave her a bottle and let her sit up for a little bit (she may have some reflux issues) then laid her in bed a little before 7:30pm. she woke up at 10:15 to eat laid back down right after slept until 12:30am. then she wouldnt settle again until 3am but slept from then until 6:30 when we just decided to stay up. but after she ate she slept until 9:30 so i got a little more sleep. all day yesterday i had her in the living room in the play yard with the tv going and us going about our normal business and had her sleep in her crib in her room at night. it was the first time she laid flat in her crib without screaming! baby steps are key!! thanks everyone..any additional advice is always appreciated