Sleeping Too Much?

[saffrongirl]

Okay so my girl is a week old today and wow, does she sleep! She wakes up every 2-4 hours (sometimes going longer at night) to eat but sometimes falls asleep while nursing (after 10 min or so) and I have to wake her up to finish. She seems to get fussier as evening comes and wants a nipple to be pacified. I remember this with my first dd but I don't remember her sleeping quite so much (especially not at night). I know I should be grateful for the opportunities to rest - and I am - but I'm concerned that this sleeping is abnormal. How much should a 7-day-old be sleeping?

[Dmitrizmom]

everything I've read says that newborns should sleep 16-18 hours a day.

[BekahMomToOliver]

NAK.

I've got a sleeper too. And when she's not sleeping she's cluster feeding. The past 24 hours has gone thus:

8 pm to 12 a.m: nursing
12 a.m. to 5 a.m.: sleeping
5 a.m. to 5:20 a.m.: nursing
5:20 a.m. to 10 a.m.: sleeping
10 a.m. to 11 a.m.: nursing
11 to 11:30 a.m.: bath
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.: nursing
1 p.m. to 7 p.m.: sleeping
7 p.m. to now (9:20 p.m.):nursing

And "nursing" is anywhere from 5 to 45 minutes on a boob, until she latches off/fusses, then burp, diaper check, then back on the same boob (unless she's still fussing, then I switch). She might have 5 minutes of quiet alert time, but it's pretty much just going from boob to boob for a couple hours. So, long stretches of nursing followed by even longer stretches of sleeping.
Soooo different than DS. It's bizarre.
She's gaining like crazy though.... 5 oz. in 3 days. Guess whatever she's doing is working!
Sorry I'm not much help. I think lots of sleep is okay though as long as they're gaining well.

[rebeccajm]

I have a sleeper, too! He is 9 days old today and is awake MAYBE 3-4 hours during the day. He wakes up 1-2 times to nurse at night. Last night he only woke once and went right back to sleep. I am enjoying the rest I'm getting while it lasts! He does nurse well and appears so be gaining well. Guess we'll find out next week at the ped.

[acemama]

My little man sleep probably 19-20 hours a day still. He does nurse a lot but basically does it while sleeping

[Julia24]

Babies need sleep to GROW, both cognitive and phsyical. I wouldn't worry AT ALL about her sleeping too much, I'd be much more concerned about a baby sleeping too little - as long as she's gaining (and having wet and poopy diapers is a great indicator of that).

Charlotte at 7 weeks is sleeping roughly 19/20 hours a day still. The 5 month old I watch is still ready to sleep after between 1 and 1.5 hours of being awake. I'd say he probably sleeps 16+ hours. Hell, my 7 year old still sleeps 12 hours!!!

I'm convinced this is what makes for healthy and smart kids - plenty of sleep and great nutrition.

[clemrose]

My dd was such a non-sleeper that I'm afraid I'll jinx myself for saying it but...

My ds is a sleeper too (so far--have to qualify it ). We're still amazed that it looks like we may have gotten the sleeper everyone said we were due for. He is ten days old and for the past several nights has been cluster feeding in the evening until about 10:30 then just waking to nurse briefly at night. He naps well, has a few alert periods during the day. He too naps and nurses.

We have an Amby Hammock in our livingroom/diningroom and he naps really well in that. We've made no attempt to keep the noise level down -- playing music, talking, vacuuming etc. He sleeps right through it all. I've heard of kids like this before, I just never thought I would get one!

[MyZoeJane]

Most of what I've read has said that about 20 hours a day for the first couple of weeks is normal! My 17 day old son only has about an hour of wakefulness during the daylight hours and is awake for a few more hours in the evening and during the middle of the the night.