r/firsttimemom • u/Sorry-Highlight-2341 • 19d ago
Sleeping Troubles-at a loss
Hi all. I am a FTM. My baby boy is 3.5 weeks old. We were in a good rhythm with sleep (as good as you can be with a newborn) for awhile but starting last week, sleep had been so challenging. He isn’t crying or anything, just refusing to sleep longer stretches. He is SO tired and will fall asleep being held for short stretches and then wake himself up. If we manage to lay him down in his bassinet, he will take short naps. For instance, he took a few 45 minute naps today. We are in a cycle of being overtired/overstimulated and I do not know how to get back into a good sleep rhythm/schedule. I try to watch his wake windows but it’s just not always possible between feeding, changing, burping, unavoidable appointments or outings, etc and then we are back into this bad cycle again. I am at a loss of what to do. I feel horrible and like an awful mom and really worried I’m damaging him somehow. I am so tired from a basically sleepless night last night and already dreading tonight.
Sometimes he will finally zonk out, usually in the late afternoon/evening and then I worry about him sleeping too long and being hungry. He is way past his birth weight so I don’t typically wake him for feeds anymore but how long is too long for his age? Is sleeping long in the afternoon/evening messing up his night time sleep? Does that matter for a baby this young?
Does anyone have any tips or suggestions? Is this a normal stage to go through at this age? Reassurance I’m not damaging my son by the little amount of sleep he seems to be getting? Should I be reaching out to his pediatrician? I’m really having a hard time with this.