Sleeping/schedules etc questions regarding newborns. im confused?

Ok My son is going to be six weeks old on Tuesday. I have a bunch of questions. I'd really appreciate it if you laides would answer the ones you can!! Thanks!!


1. At six weeks should he be soothing himself to sleep???? I see some people say they put their newborn down while they are awake and they actually fall asleep on their own. My son never does this. He will sit and hange out until he gets bored and then cires but he will never fall asleep on his own???

2. The book Im reading..healthy sleep habits happy child (something like that) say at 8 weeks put him to bed earlier. But what difference does it make if they are still waking up to eat every two - three on a great night 4 hours???

3. Isn't it too early to expect a "schedule" from a six week old. When they are hungry I feed him, when he is tired I sooth him to sleep. he doesn't really stay awake for more than an hour and a 1/2 at this point.

4. How many oz of formula should a six week old be drinking in a day. Sometimes he drinks an oz at a feeding sometimes 3. He did a few bottles of four but that's rare.

Im kind of just "going with the flow" at this point.

I may add to this but this is all I can think of now.

thanks in advance ladies!

Message edited 1/4/2010 6:29:45 PM.

Re: Sleeping/schedules etc questions regarding newborns. im confused?

1. At six weeks should he be soothing himself to sleep???? I see some people say they put their newborn down while they are awake and they actually fall asleep on their own. My son never does this. He will sit and hange out until he gets bored and then cires but he will never fall asleep on his own???

DS is 5 weeks and he doesn't do this either. I don't think it will happen for some time b/c he is very gassy after a feeding and will wake up if he wasn't burped properly.

2. The book Im reading..healthy sleep habits happy child (something like that) say at 8 weeks put him to bed earlier. But what difference does it make if they are still waking up to eat every two - three on a great night 4 hours???

I agree with you. My DS eats every 1-4 hours depending on the time of day and mood he's in. He has no set sleep time but a sleep range. I do not wake him up to feed him at a specific time either.

3. Isn't it too early to expect a "schedule" from a six week old. When they are hungry I feed him, when he is tired I sooth him to sleep. he doesn't really stay awake for more than an hour and a 1/2 at this point.

I write down DS's eating and sleeping times. I've noticed a trend but it can be off from 30 mintues -1.5 hours. Again depends on the time of day and mood DS is in.

4. How many oz of formula should a six week old be drinking in a day. Sometimes he drinks an oz at a feeding sometimes 3. He did a few bottles of four but that's rare.

I EBF. I asked the Ped about the BM and how much in ounces DS should be eating and he said that he doesn't care how many ounces the baby has per feeding. As long as he has wet and dirty diapers everyday that is all that matters. When I feed DS out of a bottle he will range from 3-5 oz.

Re: Sleeping/schedules etc questions regarding newborns. im confused?

My boys are six weeks tomorrow also

1. Luckily I can put them down awake and they will eventually fall asleep...in the bouncy seat. Only one will go down awake in the bassinet, the other one completely freaks.

2/3. I have no idea about getting on a real schedule or putting them down for the night. Mine are waking every 3-4 hours to eat during the night. However, after the 9 or 10pm bottle - whatever time it ends up being - I swaddle them, turn off the lights and turn off (or turn down) the TV so they get the idea that it's nighttime, for whatever that's worth . I don't swaddle them during the day. After the first "morning" bottle I keep them unswaddled, change clothes, lights and TV on, etc.

They eat every 2.5-3 hours during the day, and are usually awake for an hour or so after two of the daytime feedings, other than that they sleep all day.

4. My bigger guy actually eats less than the little one . He takes about 3.5 ounces 8 times a day for a total average of 26 oz a day (he was 7lbs 15oz at 5 weeks).

My little guy (6lbs 13oz at 5 weeks) eats 4.5-5 ounces 8 times a day for a total of about 36 oz a day. I have no idea where he puts it.

Re: Sleeping/schedules etc questions regarding newborns. im confused?

thanks ladies!! Keep the replies coming!!!

Re: Sleeping/schedules etc questions regarding newborns. im confused?

1. Joey will/does soothe himself to sleep however the second he begins to cry I do go in there & grab him if he's not soothing himself b/c to early for allowing him to cry himself to sleep. At bedtime though, this is never a problem only at nap time (since I stopped belly napping)

2. I will be trying at 8 weeks to put him to bed earlier. Currently our bedtime ranges from 930-1030 but he goes 5-6 hours at night.

3.If you jotted down each time, I bet you'd see a rough schedule you didn't know about. Joeys schedule like clockwork is 3 hour intervals right now but I began to establish that for him.....but you'll get different views/opinions on this. The scheduling works for us & Joey.

4. Joey is 7 weeks today and gets 5 oz. every 3 hours, he is FF.

Re: Sleeping/schedules etc questions regarding newborns. im confused?

Posted by Linda1003

Ok My son is going to be six weeks old on Tuesday. I have a bunch of questions. I'd really appreciate it if you laides would answer the ones you can!! Thanks!!


1. At six weeks should he be soothing himself to sleep???? I see some people say they put their newborn down while they are awake and they actually fall asleep on their own. My son never does this. He will sit and hange out until he gets bored and then cires but he will never fall asleep on his own???

2. The book Im reading..healthy sleep habits happy child (something like that) say at 8 weeks put him to bed earlier. But what difference does it make if they are still waking up to eat every two - three on a great night 4 hours???

3. Isn't it too early to expect a "schedule" from a six week old. When they are hungry I feed him, when he is tired I sooth him to sleep. he doesn't really stay awake for more than an hour and a 1/2 at this point.

4. How many oz of formula should a six week old be drinking in a day. Sometimes he drinks an oz at a feeding sometimes 3. He did a few bottles of four but that's rare.

Im kind of just "going with the flow" at this point.

I may add to this but this is all I can think of now.

thanks in advance ladies!

Message edited 1/4/2010 8:21:21 PM.

Re: Sleeping/schedules etc questions regarding newborns. im confused?

1. At six weeks should he be soothing himself to sleep???? I see some people say they put their newborn down while they are awake and they actually fall asleep on their own. My son never does this. He will sit and hange out until he gets bored and then cires but he will never fall asleep on his own???

My DD is 5 weeks old and I have a DS who is 3. The pediatrician and the books I've read agree that it is probably too early for them to soothe themselves to sleep, right now they need more attention and contact for a few more weeks. I have to rock my DD to sleep or walk around with her. If I lie her down she just cries.

2. The book Im reading..healthy sleep habits happy child (something like that) say at 8 weeks put him to bed earlier. But what difference does it make if they are still waking up to eat every two - three on a great night 4 hours???

I swore I'd have a schedule this time around, but it doesn't always work out that way. She goes to sleep at different times each day and wakes up every 3-4 hours. I'd say on average she goes down for the "night" at 10 or 11pm and will sleep until around 2am. My goal is to get DD to sleep from 7pm to 7am like my son did, but he didn't do that until almost 3 months.

3. Isn't it too early to expect a "schedule" from a six week old. When they are hungry I feed him, when he is tired I sooth him to sleep. he doesn't really stay awake for more than an hour and a 1/2 at this point.

I do the same thing as you do and get the same reaction that you do.

4. How many oz of formula should a six week old be drinking in a day. Sometimes he drinks an oz at a feeding sometimes 3. He did a few bottles of four but that's rare.

DD is a chow hound. She is drinking almost 5 ounces per bottle, 7 bottles per day. The doctor said this is a lot and expected her to drink only about 3 at this age, but she was (and is) a big baby. As a general rule they are supposed to drink 3-4 ounces of formula per pound of weight, per day.

Re: Sleeping/schedules etc questions regarding newborns. im confused?

Thanks Ladies this is def helping!!

Re: Sleeping/schedules etc questions regarding newborns. im confused?

1. At six weeks should he be soothing himself to sleep???? I see some people say they put their newborn down while they are awake and they actually fall asleep on their own. My son never does this. He will sit and hange out until he gets bored and then cires but he will never fall asleep on his own???

At 6wks we just worked around DS schedule - basically there was no schedule. At 10.5 wks he started STTN & is now in his crib. He learned to put himself to sleep about a wk or two ago.

2. The book Im reading..healthy sleep habits happy child (something like that) say at 8 weeks put him to bed earlier. But what difference does it make if they are still waking up to eat every two - three on a great night 4 hours???

We probably started to get DS winding down for bed around 8 wks - he'd still wake up about 4-5 hours later for a feeding, but it helped get him where he's at now.

3. Isn't it too early to expect a "schedule" from a six week old. When they are hungry I feed him, when he is tired I sooth him to sleep. he doesn't really stay awake for more than an hour and a 1/2 at this point.

I think 6 wks is too early. They start to fall into a schedule themselves - it's amazing to watch.

4. How many oz of formula should a six week old be drinking in a day. Sometimes he drinks an oz at a feeding sometimes 3. He did a few bottles of four but that's rare.

DS is EBF, so I'm unsure how many ozs he at at that time.

Re: Sleeping/schedules etc questions regarding newborns. im confused?

1. At six weeks should he be soothing himself to sleep???? I see some people say they put their newborn down while they are awake and they actually fall asleep on their own. My son never does this. He will sit and hange out until he gets bored and then cires but he will never fall asleep on his own???

DD is 8 weeks but by 6 weeks she started to soothe herself. I put her down drowsy but awake and swaddled. She makes her noises for about 15 minutes and then she's out. This happened with my first DD also. This is at night though. During the day I just let her sleep, eat, play when she wants.

2. The book Im reading..healthy sleep habits happy child (something like that) say at 8 weeks put him to bed earlier. But what difference does it make if they are still waking up to eat every two - three on a great night 4 hours???

That confuses me also but I read that book too with my first DD when she would have a three hour witching hour". The book said to put her to bed so I did and it was like magic. She went to bed earlier and slept longer so I guess it's worth a shot.

3. Isn't it too early to expect a "schedule" from a six week old. When they are hungry I feed him, when he is tired I sooth him to sleep. he doesn't really stay awake for more than an hour and a 1/2 at this point.

I always try to start a schedule at 6 weeks - or a routine I should say. Bath, bottle, book, sing to her, swaddle and then crib. I put her down between 7-7:30 and she sleeps until 2-3. Eats again and goes down until 7. I try to stick to feeding her every 4 hours during the day. She's always been like that though. I never had to feed her every 2-3 hours.

4. How many oz of formula should a six week old be drinking in a day. Sometimes he drinks an oz at a feeding sometimes 3. He did a few bottles of four but that's rare.

At 6 weeks DD was at either 4 or 5 oz every four hours during the day and about 6-7 at night.

Im kind of just "going with the flow" at this point.

It's hard, I know. You just have to find what works for you and your baby. Eventually you will. It was easier for me this time because I've been through this before and because this DD is so much easier than my first. Good luck!


I may add to this but this is all I can think of now.

thanks in advance ladies!

Re: Sleeping/schedules etc questions regarding newborns. im confused?

1. My DD was not able to soother herself to sleep until she was probably around 8-9 months old when we finally let her sleep on her tummy. Up until that point we would put her up on our shoulder at bedtime (7-7:30) and she would fall asleep in less than 5 min. and then we put her in the crib for the night. All of a sudden she just didn't need us to help her anymore but it took months.

2. I didn't follow any book with regards to sleeping. I followed my DD's lead. She would eat every 3 hrs. on the button in the first few weeks and usually sleep in between at night. By 8 weeks old she was STTN from 10pm to 9am and by 12 weeks old she was STTN from 7pm to 7am. I never forced a sleeping routine on her, I simply observed the patterns she was creating for herself and followed that.

3. I didn't worry about any routine or schedule when my DD was so young. Again, as with the sleeping I also followed her cues for eating and it all worked out. Gradually she would up her ounces and gradually she would lengthen the time between bottles and it worked out fine for us. By 4 months we noticed her jacking up her ounces and barely making it 2hrs. between feedings. She would also watch everything we ate and would "chew" when she saw us eat so we added cereal and Stage 1 fruits and veggies and she dropped her ounces back down and was going at least 4 hrs. between feedings. It was just a matter of observing what she needed.

4. At that age my DD wasn't drinking more than 3oz. per feeding. I would say between 2-3oz. at 6 weeks old.

You can drive yourself crazy with trying to have your baby fit into whatever schedule and routine some books tells you to follow. I just observed my DD and followed her cues and she's been the easiest, most pleasant child a mom can ask for. She sleeps awesome, eats awesome, naps awesome and I never once followed a book or forced a routine/schedule on her. Do what you think feels right and what you think is best for your child and you'll be fine.

Re: Sleeping/schedules etc questions regarding newborns. im confused?

1) Too young to be self-soothing. I would say my DS started doing that at about 3 months.

2) Also try reading the Baby Sleep Solution by Suzy Giordano (used to be called 12 Hours Sleep by 12 Weeks). You can start putting them to bed around that time and eventually they will learn to eliminate a night feeding (for example 11pm feeding). Then he should sleep 8pm-2am (for example) and then like 3am - 8am (example). Then event. give up the 2am.

3) A schedule, I sort of did when my DS was 6 weeks..I fed him every 3-4 hours. It wasn't the same as his schedule now at 5 months, and back then we kind of went with the flow, but our days developed a routine.

4) At 6 weeks old, he was drinking about 5 oz per feeding.