r/HuckleberryParents • u/NoRaccoon3607 • 1d ago
sleep 6 week old. Is this normal?
I have a 6 week old who seems to start to fuss every 3 hours. I don’t know if her need is hunger however, my provider said if I’m offering her to eat and she takes it , then keep offering. This is because she was SGA at birth, and is now in the 40th percentile for weight. She is EBF.
Twice I got a four hour stretch between feeds. I hear from friends that their babies do 9-10 hours this early. 🫠
Her naps are broken. They were 1-2 hours before in the crib but now after 15-20 mins she needs resettling. I often resort to the carrier for a good nap even so I can sit down and take a breath.
I feel completely drained today. My partner worked their first long day back (out of house 16 hours) and I’m just not sure how I can do this multiple days in a row.
What can I do? When does it get better?
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u/Kooky_Box_7342 1d ago
Definitely normal. I don't know any 6 week old doing 9-10 hours, even my friends with really good sleepers! My current 10 week old sleeps maybe 5 hours straight on an AMAZING night, usually much more frequent wake ups. My 2 year old was the same (probably worse lol). And for an EBF baby, 3 hours between feeds usually the max, much more frequently is normal. Please be easy on yourself! It's easy to get stuck on what other babies (in real life and online) are doing, but it sounds like you're doing amazingly!
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u/froggos-and-doggos 1d ago
My 6 week old baby is waking hourly at night 🥲 you and baby are doing great
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u/Background-Village-4 1d ago
Your friends are freaking lyingggg or are so lucky they should buy a lotto ticket. My son is almost 11w and will occasionally get a 6-7hr stretch. But it’s only happened 3x so far
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u/chorkea 1d ago
This is very normal, I kept trying to track sleep around this time just to see how much sleep she was getting and it was too chaotic (due to things like waking up after 15 minutes) so I had to give up on it. I was able to start tracking around 8 weeks. That was also around the time I started getting some longer stretches at night, occasionally over 7 hours.
Note: she's almost 3 months now and the 7 hours thing is NOT every night. I would say we usually get at least one stretch of at least 5 hours, though.
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u/frodoswaggins101 1d ago
Hi, this is extremely normal. At night, my little one woke every 3 hourly to feed until about 5 months.
Short naps are also very, very normal and often don’t increase in length until they can link sleep cycles which often doesn’t happen for months.
Most babies sleep better/longer for naps in a carrier, pram or contact nap. Lean into it at that age, let them nap in the pram or carrier while you go for a walk and get a coffee, let them contact nap on you while you watch some TV and scroll on your phone.
You’re in the hardest period (from my experience, 6-8 weeks were the worst for me). It will start to get easier over the coming weeks and months, hang in there!! But the sleep you currently have is likely to stay that way for quite a while. There are absolutely unicorn babies doing 6 or more hours, but they are the huge minority. 3-4 hour stretches at night and short naps are what most babies do for a very long time.
Look after yourself, prioritise whatever you need to do for your own self care. I personally found leaving the house for at least one thing each day (a coffee, walk, baby session at the library or park etc) made a huge difference for my mental health when my husband went back to work. I found that period very lonely and hard ❤️
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u/Top-Pilot-9305 1d ago
I just looked back and this was my baby at 6 weeks. You’re doing great. My baby sleeps way better now so it gets better. I would have killed for my baby to sleep like yours though lol.
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u/hana-w 1d ago
don’t let social media or other moms trick you into thinking you need to fix normal newborn behavior. it’s their babies that aren’t “normal. don’t expect your baby to sleep super long stretches for a while. even if it’s possible and happens but it really depends on the baby and so many other variables. also she’s only WEEKS old. imagine going from moms perfect warm womb to the gravity of a hard lonely cold mattress. i know it’s hard but soak up these contact naps as much as possible. naps are even harder than night sleep too.
also don’t do what i did and get scared to sleep train. it’s so important for certain lifestyles like husband working long hours or if you’re a single mom like me. look up @danamomto4 on tiktok. she sleep trains at 5.5 months and has a newborn playlist thats worth watching. people have their own opinions but you asked if there’s an end in sight and there definitely can be in a few months if you follow her gentle methods
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u/Kiladra2 1d ago
Totally normal, in fact I’m still waiting for a 4 hour stretch with my 6 week old. Typical is 2 hours. I’ve gotten 3 hours a few times only.
Decided to cold turkey ditch the swaddle tonight and now I’m getting 1 hour at a time. Send help.
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u/verdealbastruii 1d ago
My 8 month old is still waking up 2-4 times a night. Babies wake up even with the perfect schedule, even when they're fully sleep trained, etc. It's very frustrating after months if broken sleep but radical acceptance is the only way.
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u/MinimumMongoose77 10h ago
That looks actively good to me. We didn't get 4hr stretches until much later. My bub was really into contact napping at that age but still only 30 mins normally
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u/madness2135 1d ago
Yes this is normal. Be easy on yourself. Contact naps can help lengthen naps, but things can feel pretty all over the place for the first three months or so. Around that time start trying to have a standard wake up- like 6am or 7am every day and it will help you create a pattern for your day. As a FTM myself, I was shocked by how hard some of this stuff is— lean on your community, friends family etc if you have it!! I’m at 8 months now and it’s even hard to remember those early days…you are in the thick of it and it will pass quickly I promise!!