Please Help - Days/Nights mixed up

[Tiger]

I have a 2 wk old DD who seems to have her days and nights confused. She will sleep 3-4 hour stretches during the day, but then at night, she will wake up every 1.5-2 hours to eat. We try to keep her up for an hour or so during the day to try to help her. We keep things bright during the day and make sure to have dim lights at night, but nothing seems to be working. I should also add that DD is eating formula (I don't know if that makes a difference or not)

Is there any tricks or tips that anyone can give me to help ease her into switching her sleep schedule around. It is so frustrating to see her sleep so good during the day but then be up at night. I know she is still young and this stuff takes time. I just want to know if there is something we can do to help her out a little (and thus help DH and I out)

Thanks everyone!

[Marisa]

It sounds like you're already doing some of the best things you can to help her learn. Try taking her out into the fresh air if it's not too chilly already by you.

It does take some time, most babies are 'mixed up' for the first 4 weeks or so. Think about it, for the last several months she was 'nocturnal', waking up to kick and shimmy just as you were finally sitting down to rest at the end of the day! :)

[Tiger]

Thanks Marisa!

Unfortanately it is too cold to take her out here already. In fact, we got our first snow last night.

Do you think it would help to wake her up every 2 hours to eat during the day?

[cynder]

I wish I had the answer - we went through the same thing. Getting on a routine helps. And by routine I mean that loosely because they are too young for scheduling. We tried to stay active during the day and more still at night. It still took us a good month before DS figured things out. Hang in there!

[wildcat]

My DD has slept in 2, 4-5 hour stretches from the first night, so we might just be lucky. But per our LC, you should try to get the 8-12 feedings in during the day to encourage them to have their longer sleep stretches at night. We feed roughly every 2.5 hours during the day, and yes, I wake her to feed her. Good luck!!

[Tiger]

So wildcat....

When you say you feed every 2.5 hours...currently, DD wakes up and I feed her. She then stays awake for about 1-1.5 hours before falling back asleep. So, should I try to keep her up for 2-2.5 hours and feed her again before she falls back asleep and then let her sleep for another 2-2.5 hours before waking her up to start again?

[Marisa]

That typically means 2.5 hours from start of feeding to start of the next feeding.

I can sympathize -- I had a January baby and it was 9 degrees the week he was born! Way too cold to sneak out of the house at all.

When it got a tiny bit warmer, though, and I was stir crazy, I would put him in the carrier and then put my maternity coat over both of us (with the zipper cracked, of course, so that he got air). Then we were able to spend a few minutes outside and he stayed warm from the closeness. I had a pouch sling, but a Snugli/Bjorn would work as well.