[Submitted Question]

How long should my one month old sleep?

[WombToBloom]

Infants who are newborns tend to sleep a couple of hours at a time and then feed in between. Their actual waking moments during the day are around three to four hours at most.

By the time the infant reaches a month of age, it may still be awake only four hours a day but it tends to have longer periods of awakening, up to two hours at a time. The baby will sleep for up to six hours at a time and some babies will sleep longer than that at one sitting. Hopefully, the period of sleeping is at night so the parents get a solid six hours of sleep at night.

Other babies will sleep for eight hours but will awaken once during the night for a quick feeding. It will be awake longer during the day and can be awake as long as six hours during the day, although this is uncommon. Four hours awake during the day is the norm.

Every baby is different so if your baby has its own unique schedule, don’t be alarmed. The general trend is to sleep longer at night and stay awake longer during the day.

[roknrbn1]

A one month old should not be sleeping longer than 3 hours at a time because they need to be eating that frequently. In order for a baby to thrive, the general rule of thumb is to feed every 2-3 hours, depending on if you are breastfeeding or not. Four hours is too long. A very very sleepy baby may not be getting enough nutritionally, so wake them up, Moms!

[doulamegan]

Usually once a baby is back up to their birth weight, you no longer need to wake them to feed, no matter how long they sleep. If they're gaining well, let them sleep. Ask your dr is you aren't sure what to do.

[bellabirthing]

Originally Posted by roknrbn1

A one month old should not be sleeping longer than 3 hours at a time because they need to be eating that frequently. In order for a baby to thrive, the general rule of thumb is to feed every 2-3 hours, depending on if you are breastfeeding or not. Four hours is too long. A very very sleepy baby may not be getting enough nutritionally, so wake them up, Moms!

i agree. if mom is letting baby sleep for 4 or more hours, the baby will not be as vigorous, and will continue to keep sleeping long periods of time (this might sound good, but newborns really do need to nurse every 2-3 hours). you might need to continue this beyond the time baby has regained his/her birth weight depending on your baby.

with my clients, i see a lot more success and ease with breastfeeding if they feed 2-3 hours rather than when the baby wakes. they are getting perhaps twice the practice with latching and helping build a good milk supply too. it can certainly feel overwhelming for new moms. good partner support and lots of help with everything else the mama used to do can help this a lot, especially napping when baby naps.

soon enough mom will become proficient and the feedings will space out as baby grows and gets more milk at each feeding, making life seem a whole lot easier.

[Catmuse33]

I'd agree. My pediatrician recommended stretching out feedings to 3 to 4 hours instead, and I *still* have issues with milk production. (I don't know if it's related or not... but it very well might be). Also, my daughter was very slow to get back to her birth weight. She wasn't gaining AFTER he told me to feed her only every 3 or 4 hours.

So I trusted my instincts when she was about 3 weeks old, started feeding her on demand (every 1 to 2 hours, and every 3 if she had fallen asleep) and she started gaining weight more quickly.

The only time I have problems now is when she has a growth spurt and wants to nurse nearly all day-- my body can't keep up. Fortunately, now that she's 8 mos. old and eating solids, it is so, so much easier! If my milk supply dwindles, I let her nurse frequently -- I know it's important to nurse so I can increase my production -- but if we both get frustrated, I know we can fall back on some cereal or veggies or something.

One thing I would tell a new mom is keep at it ... it gets much easier more quickly than you could imagine!

[lilypotter2009]

Babies have their most fussiest time at around 6 weeks. You should see an improvement in fussiness after 6 weeks. My baby was the same way. Most newborns like to sleep most of the day so you might want to try to help yours sleep by rocking her or holding her, etc.... Babies aren't so good at putting themselves to sleep and when they get overtired they get VERY cranky and fussy (no fun for you!).

If you see your baby yawning it's probably a good idea to try to wind her down and get her to sleep. Newborns usually can't stand to be awake for more than an hour or two without napping. Your baby is probably sleeping a lot to make up for the lack of sleep the previous day.

I hold my baby and bounce gently on one of those big exercise balls and it puts her to sleep every time! Other ways to soothe to sleep: swaddle, play white noise, pacifier, rock, use a swing/bouncer, dark room

[MrsAshley]

A couple hours at a time and waking in between time to be fed. : )