9

Weeks Six to Eight

Routine—6–8 Weeks

FEEDING TIMES	NAP TIMES BETWEEN 7 A.M. AND 7 P.M.
7 a.m.	9 a.m.–9:45 a.m.
10:45 a.m.	11:45 a.m./noon–2/2:30 p.m.
2/2:30 p.m.	4:30 p.m.–5 p.m.
5 p.m.
6/6:15 p.m.
10/10:30 p.m.	Maximum daily sleep: 4 hours
Expressing times: 6:45 a.m. and 9:30 p.m.

7 A.M.

Baby should be awake, diaper changed and eating no later than 7 a.m.

If he fed before 5 a.m., he needs up to 20–25 minutes on the full breast. If he’s still hungry, offer up to 10–15 minutes from the other breast after expressing 1–2 oz.

If he ate at 6 a.m., offer him up to 20–25 minutes from the second breast after expressing 1–2 oz.

Do not feed baby after 7:45 a.m., as it will throw off his next feeding.

He can stay awake for up to two hours.

Have some cereal, toast and a drink no later than 8 a.m. while your baby plays for a while on his play mat.

Wash and dress baby, remembering to cream all his creases and dry skin.

8:50 A.M.

Check baby’s diaper and draw sheet and start winding down now.

9 A.M.

Settle baby in his bed, half-swaddled, no later than 9 a.m. He needs a nap of no longer than 45 minutes.

Wash and sterilize bottles and expressing equipment.

9:45 A.M.

Unswaddle baby so that he can wake naturally.

10 A.M.

Baby must be fully awake now, regardless of how long he slept.

If baby ate a full amount at 7 a.m., he should last until 10:45 a.m. for his next feeding. If he ate earlier, followed by a top-up at 7:30 a.m., he may need to start this feeding slightly earlier.

Encourage baby to play and kick his legs on his play mat.

10:45 A.M.

Baby should be given up to 20–25 minutes from the breast he last fed on and then offered up to 10–15 minutes from the second breast, while you drink a large glass of water.

11:30 A.M.

If baby was very alert and awake during the previous two hours, he may start to get tired by 11:30 a.m. and would need to be in bed by 11:45 a.m.

11:45 A.M.

Regardless of what baby has done earlier, he should now be winding down for his nap.

Check the draw sheet and change his diaper.

Settle baby in his bed, half- or fully swaddled, no later than noon.

11:45 A.M./NOON–2/2:30 P.M.

Baby needs a nap of no longer than 2¹⁄₂ hours from the time he went down.

If he wakes after 45 minutes, check the swaddle, but do not overstimulate him with lots of talking or eye contact.

Allow 10–20 minutes for him to settle himself; if he is still unsettled, offer him half his 2 p.m. feeding and settle him back to sleep until 2 p.m.

NOON

Wash and sterilize expressing equipment if you didn’t do this earlier; then you should have lunch and a rest before the next feeding.

2/2:30 P.M.

Baby must be awake and feeding no later than 2:30 p.m., regardless of how long he has slept.

Unswaddle him and allow him to wake naturally. Change his diaper.

Give him up to 20–25 minutes from the breast he last fed on. If he is still hungry, offer him up to 10–15 minutes from the other breast, while you drink a large glass of water.

Do not feed baby after 3:15 p.m. as it will throw off his next feeding.

It is very important that he is fully awake now until 4:30 p.m., so he goes down well at 7 p.m.; if he was very alert in the morning, he may be sleepier now. Do not overdress him, as extra warmth will make him drowsy.

Lay baby on his play mat for a while.

4:15/4:30 P.M.

Change baby’s diaper.

This is a good time to take him for a walk to ensure that he naps well and is refreshed for his next meal and his bath.

Baby should not sleep after 5 p.m. if you want him to go down well at 7 p.m.

5 P.M.

Baby must be fully awake and eating no later than 5 p.m.

Give him up to 20 minutes from the breast he last fed on, while you drink a large glass of water.

It is very important that he waits for the other breast until after his bath.

5:45 P.M.

If baby has been very wakeful during the day or didn’t nap well between 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m., he may need to start his bath and next feeding early.

Allow baby a good kick without his diaper, while you prepare items needed for his bath and bedtime.

6 P.M.

Baby must start his bath no later than 6 p.m. and be massaged and dressed by 6:15 p.m.

6:15 P.M.

Baby must be feeding no later than 6:15 p.m.; this should be done in a quiet, dimly lit room. Take care not to overstimulate him with lots of talking or eye contact.

If he did not finish the first breast at 5 p.m., give him up to 5–10 minutes from it before putting him on the second breast.

It is very important that baby is in bed two hours from when he last woke.

7 P.M.

Settle baby in his bed, half-swaddled, no later than 7 p.m.

8 P.M.

It is very important that you have a good meal and a rest before the next feeding or expressing.

9:30 P.M.

If you have chosen to replace the late feeding with a bottle-feeding, then express from both breasts now.

10/10:30 P.M.

Turn up the lights fully and unswaddle baby so that he can wake naturally. Allow at least 10 minutes before feeding to ensure that he is fully awake, so that he can feed well.

Lay out items for the diaper change, plus a spare draw sheet, burp cloth and receiving blanket in case they are needed in the middle of the night.

Give baby up to 20 minutes from the breast he last fed on or most of his bottle-feeding; change his diaper and reswaddle him.

Dim the lights and, with no talking or eye contact, give him up to 20 minutes from the second breast or the remainder of the bottle.

IN THE NIGHT

If your baby is eating before 4 a.m. and losing interest in his 7 a.m. feeding, it would be wise to try settling him with some cool boiled water. If he even takes an ounce or two before going on the breast, it should have the domino effect of him eating better at 7 a.m. The aim is to get him to take all his daily requirements between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. As long as he is gaining weight steadily, you can encourage him to cut down and eventually drop the night feeding. (See the core-night method in Chapter Sixteen, Problem Solving in the First Year.)

If your baby becomes unsettled on being offered water, it is best to continue a little longer with a full feeding in the night.

If he wakes at between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m., give one breast; then start the 7 a.m. feeding on the fuller breast.

If he wakes at 6 a.m. give him one breast and then the second at 7:30 a.m. after expressing.

Keep the lights low and do not overstimulate him with lots of talking or eye contact. Only change his diaper if absolutely necessary or if he is too sleepy to eat fully.

Changes to Be Made During the 6–8 Week Routine

Sleeping

Most babies who weigh more than 9 lbs. should be sleeping longer in the night now, provided they are getting most of their daily nutritional needs between 6–7 a.m. and 11 p.m. They should also be sleeping no more than four hours between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Once he has lasted longer for several nights in a row, try not feeding your baby before his latest time again. The morning nap should be no more than 45 minutes, the lunchtime nap should be 2¹⁄₄–2¹⁄₂ hours—no longer—and the late-afternoon nap should be no more than 30 minutes. He may catnap on and off during this nap and some babies cut out this nap altogether. Do not allow him to cut out this nap if he is not managing to stay awake until 7 p.m. If you want him to sleep until 7 a.m., it is important that he goes to sleep closer to 7 p.m. Between six and eight weeks, you should ensure that your baby’s morning nap is no longer than 45 minutes, as allowing longer than this could result in a shorter lunchtime nap. If you notice that your baby has already become more unsettled at lunchtime, despite offering a top-up before his nap, I would suggest cutting this nap to 30 minutes, even if it means bringing the time of the lunchtime nap forward slightly.

Lunchtime Nap

From six weeks onward, if your baby is sleeping the full 45 minutes in the morning, he should be woken after 2¹⁄₄ hours. If for some reason his morning nap was much shorter, then you could allow him 2¹⁄₂ hours. If your baby develops a problem with his nighttime sleep, do not make the mistake of letting him sleep longer during the day. Keep his morning nap to no more than 30 minutes and his lunchtime nap to no more than 2 hours. It is at around eight weeks that the lunchtime nap may sometimes go wrong: you may find that your baby wakes 30–40 minutes after falling asleep and is unsettled. This is due to your baby taking on a more mature sleep cycle as he drifts from light sleep into a dreamlike sleep (known as REM) and then back into a deep sleep. While some babies only stir when they come into light sleep, others will wake fully. If your baby has not learned to settle himself and is consistently assisted back to sleep, then a real problem could develop. If he is waking during his lunchtime nap (and you are already offering a top-up before settling him), allow him 10–20 minutes to see if he will resettle himself. If he is unable to return to sleep or he becomes distressed at any point, go straight to him and offer him half of his 2 p.m. feeding (treated as a night feeding) before returning him to his bed. If he is still unsettled, just get him up for the afternoon.

Obviously, if his lunchtime nap was cut short, he cannot make it through from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. happily. I find the best way to deal with this is to allow 30 minutes of nap time after the 2:30 p.m. feeding, then a further 20–30 minutes at 4:30 p.m. This should stop him getting overtired and irritable and get things back on track so that he goes to sleep well at 7 p.m. See Chapter Sixteen, Problem Solving in the First Year, for more in-depth solutions.

He should now be half-swaddled at the morning nap and 7 p.m. sleep and, by the end of eight weeks, also at the late feeding and in the night. Some babies may start to wake earlier in the night again once they are out of the swaddle; settle without feeding or reswaddling.

Feeding

During growth spurts, breast-fed babies should be given longer on the breast to ensure that their increased needs are met. If you have been expressing, you can reduce this by 1 oz. to ensure that his needs are immediately met and by the end of the eight weeks cut out the 6:45 a.m. expressing. If you have not expressed, you can still follow the feeding times from the routine for your baby’s age, but you will have to top him up with a short breast-feed before his daytime naps. If you do this for a week or so, this should help increase your milk supply. A sign that this has happened is that your baby will sleep well at the naps and not be so interested in the next feeding. Once this happens you can gradually decrease the length of time that you top-up until you are back on your original feeding schedule. A formula-fed baby should have his feedings increased by 1 oz. when he is regularly draining his bottle, starting with the morning feeding. The late feeding should only be increased if all the other feedings have been increased and he is not going a longer spell in the night. Try not to give more than 6 oz. at this feeding unless your baby weighed more than 10 lbs. at birth. Some babies will need to move to a medium-flow nipple with three holes at this stage.

Between the ages of six to eight weeks, a baby who is gaining weight steadily and weighs more than 9 lbs. should be able to go longer from his late feeding—around five to six hours—provided he is eating well during the day and not sleeping more than the recommended amounts. If your baby is still waking between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. despite drinking a good-sized amount, I advise, if you are not already doing so, that you give a split feeding at 10/11:15 p.m. The extra milk and time awake is often enough to help the baby sleep longer in the night. For this to work, it is important that you start to wake your baby no later than 9:45 p.m. so that he is fully awake and feeding by 10 p.m. Allow him to drink as much of the feeding as he would want, then put him on his play mat to exercise a bit. At 11 p.m. you should then take him to the bedroom and change his diaper; then offer him a further feeding. If you are formula-feeding, I advise that you make a fresh bottle for the second feeding.

If your baby then wakes in the night, check that he has not kicked off his covers, as this is another cause of nighttime waking in babies of this age. If he is securely tucked in but still waking, you should then settle him with some cool boiled water. If he refuses to settle, then you will have to feed him, but it would be advisable to refer to Chapter Four, Understanding Your Baby’s Sleep, and Chapter Sixteen, Problem Solving in the First Year, to check for possible reasons why he is not sleeping for longer in the night. If he does settle, he will probably wake again around 5 a.m., at which time you can give him a full feeding, followed by a top-up at 7–7:30 a.m. This will help keep him on track with his feeding-and-sleeping pattern for the rest of the day.

Within a week, babies usually sleep until closer to 5 a.m., gradually increasing their sleep time until 7 a.m. Keep increasing day feedings, not night feedings. Most babies are happy to wait longer after the 7 a.m. feeding, so keep pushing this feeding forward until your baby is eating at 10:45 a.m. During this stage, when your baby is taking a top-up at 7–7:30 a.m. instead of a full feeding, he may not manage to get through to 10:45–11 a.m. for his next feeding. You may need to give him half a feeding at 10–10:15 a.m., followed by a top-up just before he goes down for his lunchtime nap, to ensure that he does not wake early from the nap. If your baby goes back to waking earlier again, wait 10 minutes or so before going to him. If he does not settle himself back to sleep, try settling him with some cool boiled water or a cuddle.