7 Weeks - When Can I Let Him Sleep For Longer?

[tonemonkey]

@gidmos44 Haha Things change quickly! Here’s to hoping you get a few more hours straight soon.

 

[marysmit]

@tonemonkey You can let baby sleep! Our 9 week old currently sleeps 7-9 hour stretches most nights now.

 

[tonemonkey]

@marysmit That’s amazing!! Thank you so much for the advice.

 

[meeniminyong]

@tonemonkey Once they're back up to birth weight and are continually gaining, let them sleep. My babies wake me up on their own when they are hungry!

Enjoy the sleep!

 

[tonemonkey]

@meeniminyong Thank you so much. I appreciate the reassurance!!

 

[joeuwa]

@tonemonkey Dream feed him before you go to bed and wait for him to wake you up when hungry. I usually don’t let him sleep more than 6-7 hours with no food but I never wake him up to drink milk; I do it while he continues to be asleep and has worked wonder

 

[tonemonkey]

@joeuwa Incredible!! I’m going to give this a shot!! Thank you!

 

[joeuwa]

@tonemonkey Absolutely! My baby sleeps from 8::30-9 since he is 1 month ! When you dream feed him, you avoid his need to wake up for hunger and he starts understanding is night time because “he does not see no one awake “. Good luck

 

[joeuwa]

@tonemonkey I accommodate his schedule so he drinks his last bottle asleep at 11:30 pm every night , I go to bed and put the alarm for 6 am and feed him again , he then continues to sleep till the other feed at 9

 

[disciple1997]

@tonemonkey How I would kill to be you! lol

 

[tonemonkey]

@disciple1997 Hahah you know how these things change day to day and week to week though lol

 

[luella]

@tonemonkey Our 8 week old gives us an 8 hour stretch at night now and it’s great. Don’t wake them up! If it’s in the day time and he’s going on 4.5-5 hours then I’ll wake him up to feed but mostly bc I went to make sure he’s getting in enough calories during the day so he sleeps well at night

 

[tonemonkey]

@luella That’s a great mindset to have!! Going to try to do this during the day as well!

 

[rasalhague888]

@tonemonkey My pediatrician said to count myself lucky and let her sleep because she was gaining weight. This was at our 2 month appointment because our daughter started sleeping longer around 7 weeks too and we asked her about it.

 

[selam]

@tonemonkey The recommendation for amount of milk is an estimate not a set rule , everyone’s milk varies in fat and calorie content slightly so what you’re giving is probably the perfect amount for your baby

 

[tonemonkey]

@selam Ugh such a good point. And so reassuring. Thank you

 

[joeb32]

@tonemonkey We were told by our lactation consultant to let him sleep overnight but still wake him up during the day. She said generally if they feed more during the day they stay more full at night. She also said to start a bed time routine so they get used to when they sleep longer without waking. We still feed on demand but are getting stretches of 5-6 hours sleeping at night.

The loose guideline she gave us is:
10pm start the last feed and put them to bed
10pm-7/8am feed on demand but do not wake them
8am-10pm feed on demand but don’t go over 3-4 hours without a feed

If we’re doing a bath that night we start it before the last feed. I like thinking about it this way because even if newborns don’t have a schedule I still feel like I have a schedule because it breaks my day down into chunks.

 

[tonemonkey]

@joeb32 This is amazing information. Wow. We are going to start this tonight actually. Really, really appreciate you taking the time!!

 

[joeb32]

@tonemonkey I hope it goes well! It took a couple weeks to get where we are now but I can look at our feedings (I track when he feeds in a notebook) and can definitely see the progress as he slept longer on that first stretch!

Something that I think helped us as well is we are strict about day time being bright and noisy and night time is dark and quiet. I read that online somewhere that newborns don’t have a sense of day and night at first. So when we put him down after his last feed at 10pm we make sure the room is dark, he’s swaddled, and we use a soft sound machine as well. Then when I wake up with him around 7-8 we open the blinds and “start our day” and try not to tip toe around him during day time naps.

 

[tonemonkey]

@joeb32 I’m so glad to hear/see that all of your hard work is paying off!

And I keep hearing how important it is to try to echo their surroundings to day vs. night. We do this to an extent, but will definitely make it more intentional now.. especially given your success. Seriously.. thank you so much! Best of luck on your continued journey