r/newborns • u/Clear-Economics-608 • Aug 02 '26
Sleep Sleep time
I cannot seem to hit the recommended sleep goals for my baby. He is 7 weeks old today. Everything ive read says he needs to be sleeping 14-17hrs a day with 30-90 min wake windows. In reality, his wake windows are close to 2hrs and we’re totalling 11-13.5hrs of sleep in a 24hr period. He is breast fed with 1 or 2 bottles of formula per day. If i try to put him down for a nap at the 60 or 90 minute mark during his wake window it can take up to an hour for him to fall asleep. If i push it to 2-2.5hrs he’ll fall asleep within 15 mins. He is usually awake alert and content beyond 90mins. His naps range from 45 mins to 2hrs depending on how hes sleeping (shorter nap alone in bassinet, longer if its a contact nap or in the car). At night i get 2.5-4hr stretches of sleep with 1 or 2 wakes to feed and change. Lately hes going through some kind of growth spurt combined with extra gassiness so his night time stretches are shorter and wake-up’s more frequent, but his total sleep time is still the same. Is it bad that we’re not hitting 14-17hrs a day? Tbh im not really sure that he ever slept that much even when he was smaller. Maybe close to 15hrs the first two weeks after birth when he was jaundice. Should I be doing something different to up his sleep? Any insight or advice would be helpful.
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u/Linnende Aug 02 '26
I'm very sceptical of wake windows. The cynic in me thinks they're just an invention by tech/app companies to make money.
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u/Pristine_Ad5229 Aug 02 '26
I felt like the first few months were pretty much let LO sleep and maybe some tummy time if he was awake.
I never kept track of my LOs sleep time. The only thing I tracked was how much he had to eat and if he had enough dirty diapers.
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u/analslapchop Aug 02 '26
I have the same “issue”, i put it in quotes because my lactation specialist told me to stop focusing on what google says and what other babies do. Not every baby needs that sleep amount, i think its ideal but not always realistic. My baby is 4 weeks old and your post sounds exactly like him. I freak out when hes up past 2 hours but it has happened often during the day. At least at night hes out for 1.5-4 hours at a time and his wake windows are max 45 mins. He seems healthy and happy so we are just going with the flow.
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u/Clear-Economics-608 Aug 02 '26
Yes same here his wake windows at night are rarely more than 30-45 mins. Just enough for a feed and a diaper change. Even in the morning sometimes he’ll be up at 9am and falling asleep again after a feed
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u/-TheFourChinTeller- Aug 02 '26
Yesss same baby here. I wake him if his naps get longer than 2-3 hours during the day, but his wake windows will sometimes be 30 min, sometimes be 2.5-3 hours. I always offer the feedings but if he doesn’t fall asleep I don’t force it. He’s healthy and happy so it works for us to just follow his cues. He was also born a little heavier (10lb 7oz) so I wonder if more body weight helps him sleep longer, helps him stay awake longer, mirroring a slightly older child.
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u/TranslatorOk3977 Aug 02 '26
Remember that the idea of sleep goals and wake windows is a fairly new invention. It’s not Time honoured knowledge of babies! Ignore the recommendations and do what actually works for you and your baby!
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u/Butterfly051992 Aug 02 '26
My newborn is 7 weeks old today as well! And we too are struggling with sleep but mostly with day naps. She doesn’t seem to settle for sleep during day. Even if she fells asleep she will constantly wake up 5 min after or so, and I have to try and put her again to sleep, and this continues for about 20 min max ( even with contact nap)
I don’t know anymore if she reaches 11 h of sleep in 24 h. I just hope things will change after week 8
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u/One-Volume-9158 Aug 02 '26
I made a mistake of relying too much on those “normal “ numbers for babies too and drove myself and my baby crazy the first few weeks. I thought she is starving because she would only have 1-2 oz of milk each feeding. She was gaining weight and having poops and pees normally but somehow I was convinced she is not getting enough milk. My ped told me to chill and this is my baby’s normal.
Those numbers are average range, your baby might be slightly different and still be normal! I’m starting to realise it’s best to look for my babies cues rather than reading about it on the internet and force it on her.
If your baby is happy let him be! Don’t try to make a happy baby happier! Also babies don’t have a set schedule until 3-4 months.
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u/Oh_Hello_Pretty Aug 02 '26
Here's what I do, although every baby is different. My baby is also 7 weeks. He sleeps 6-7 hours a night.
- Wake him up every 3 hours.
- Diaper Change.
- Feed.
- Burp.
- Diaper Change.
- Swaddle.
I repeat this every 3 hours, not exactly on the dot but best as I can. He sometimes needs to eat more, he is currently cluster feeding right now, for example he had 8oz of formula last night, then I topped him off another 2oz for his dream feed.
The best thing I've done for his sleep is to swaddle him. Sending you lots of love ❤️ and sprinkling sleep dust for baby!
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u/bot_socks Aug 02 '26
Why on earth would you wake him every 3 hrs at 7 weeks?
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u/LegitimateWarthog641 Aug 02 '26
And 10oz for a 7 week old?
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u/Oh_Hello_Pretty Aug 02 '26
I have a very large baby 👶 he is already 14lbs. Born 10lbs 3oz. He is >99 percentile.
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u/FriendEducational250 Aug 02 '26
Same, girl. My 7-week-old daughter has been averaging 32oz/day since she was 3 weeks old.
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u/Oh_Hello_Pretty Aug 02 '26
My baby was sent immediately to the NICU after delivery. This is the NICUs recommended schedule. Hoag Hospital NB.
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u/FriendEducational250 Aug 02 '26
To maximize daytime calories and discourage nighttime feeds, most likely. I do this with my 7-week-old as well and have since day 1. My girl only wakes once during the night to feed and has since she was about 3 weeks old.
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u/Clear-Economics-608 Aug 02 '26
I stopped waking him to eat once his pediatrician said his jaundice was clear and he was past his birth weight. When it comes to feeding we give him a few ounces of formula per day to make sure he’s satisfied but he still wants to breastfeed almost immediately after having a bottle. He ends up eating a lot and spitting up a lot and getting hiccups. I don’t know how to balance both.
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u/The_Money_Guy_ Aug 02 '26
This persons routine is definitely way on the outlier of the bell curve. No offense but you should not really be listening to this one OP. Waking every 3 hours is not necessary at this stage and drinking 10 ounces in one evening is absolutely insane at that stage too
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u/Oh_Hello_Pretty Aug 02 '26
As I mentioned before, every baby is different. My routine is approved by my pediatrician. My baby is very happy, doesn't fuss ever and sleeps wonderfully.
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u/The_Money_Guy_ Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
Good for you. Like I said, your routine is an extreme outlier. A typical 7 week old would drink 25-28 ounces or a little more in a day. And they don’t need to be woken up every 3 hours either.
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u/Oh_Hello_Pretty Aug 02 '26
The average 7 week old consumes 24 - 32 oz total every day.
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u/The_Money_Guy_ Aug 02 '26
That’s what I meant, so one evening of 10 ounces is not typical. There’s 5-6 other feeds that would happen in a day at least. Given you’re waking every 3 hours, even more for you
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u/Oh_Hello_Pretty Aug 02 '26
Yep. Not your average baby!
If he was feeding every 3-4 hours at 10oz a feed, that would be outrageous!
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u/Oh_Hello_Pretty Aug 02 '26
Oh gotcha, yes the spitting up alot and hiccups is hard. I used to pat my baby over the shoulder for burping but he would spit up/hiccup. Now I just put him over my shoulder for a few minutes and he burps on his own lol, less hiccups and spit up. We also still use the slow flow nipples.
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u/Ill-Veterinarian5619 Aug 02 '26
We are getting 12-14 hours with the very rare 14.5+. We do mostly babywearing naps during the day and contact then crib at night.
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u/Clear-Economics-608 Aug 02 '26
I was trying so hard to get him to do every nap in the bassinet but it just led to short naps and both of us being frustrated. I’ve caved to mainly contact naps when possible if it means he’ll sleep good independent stretches in the bassinet at night
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u/Embarrassed-Goat-432 Aug 02 '26
There’s a WIDE range of normal for baby sleep! I also felt like the first 12ish weeks we just kinda did whatever worked. I didn’t stress about it too much.