Please don't think I am posting this to brag, I am REALLY concerned about it.

For the last 4 weeks (my DD is 10 weeks) my DD has been sleeping 9-10 hours a night, which is great. Well, that was in her Miracle Blanket. For the last two nights she has resisted being swaddled so I have let her sleep on her tummy.

Well, to my fright she slept almost 11.5 hours the first night, and this second night she slept 11 hours. Both times I have had to go in and wake her up. I don't know how long she would have slept if I hadn't.

Even after she sleeps that long she still acts like she is overtired after just an hour or so of awake time.

What concerns do you guys have about this? I talked to the pedi about her sleep (before when she was sleeping 9-10 hours) and she seemed like she thought that was a lot of sleep. Isn't 11 hours without a feeding a LONG time for a LO her age? When I talked to the doc, she said that she wouldn't even know what to test for if there was something wrong with that much sleep.

Any suggestions? Should I keep waking her, or should I just let her sleep.

Look into hypopnea. Sleeping on her belly may be depressing her breathing and thus resulting in a longer sleep cycle with lower O2 blood concentrations. Main symptoms:
* Inability to achieve dream and restorative sleep.
* Chronic fatigue and inability to wake up.
* Predispostion to respiratory ills.
* Snoring/Mouth breathing

This is a varient of sleep apnea and is common in predisposed belly and back sleepers. The best position to sleep in is on ones side. Also one does not have to SNORE to have sleep apnea or hypopnea. However if a child under the age of eight snores or mouth breaths in their sleep, there is an 85% they are suffering from obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea.

Please read my post on Sleep disorders in children on the parenting issues board. This will outline the major signs you should look for and be worried about. Six out of a hundred children have a sleep disorder.. two out of a hundred have sleep apnea. This is normally the result of enlarged tonsils and adnoids.

Respectfully,
MG

Jaundice babies tend to sleep a lot. I hope a dr would of picked that up by now, but hey you never know. How is her color? Especially the whites of her eyes and her gums. Bring her into the sunlight to really look.
Also, are you breast or bottle feeding?

She is FF and gaining really well. She is in the 75-90th percentile for her weight and height. She isn't jaundiced, I know this because she had jaundice when she was first born.

Good thoughts though...

Hi mj,

I wound't worry about it at all! Elliana is a sleeper too. She sleeps from 10pm until 8am and then takes great naps throughout the day 2-3 hrs. I called the doctor b/c I was so concerned about how much she was sleeping and they said not to worry about it. They told me never to wake a sleeping baby unless she is going to sleep through 2 feedings which through the night is fine. They told me as long as she is eating and having wet diapers than she is fine. Every couple of weeks I notice for a couple of days she is extra sleepy...I think that is a growth spurt b/c she snaps right out of it. Enjoy it...we are one of the lucky ones!

Koukla

My daughter was a little older than that...12 weeks, and she did the exact same thing. Although, she wasn't on her belly, she sucked her thumb. So instead of waking me to feed her, she pacified herself. She slept over 12 hours at night and I did wake her because my boobs hurt so badly. She would be awake for about 45 minutes to an hour and then be ready to go back to sleep.

My doctor did run some tests on her to just make sure and came to the conclusion that my daughter liked to sleep. She said some babies need a lot of sleep to grow, but she just wanted to be thorough so she ran some tests, which were all normal.

I was losing my milk supply though. So I would nurse her an put her down at 8 p.m. and then I would pump before I went to bed at 11 p.m. That way I wasn't going so long between feedings.

Anyway, I know you're freaked out, but babies who sleep on their bellies sleep much better. I wasn't brave enough to do until mine were rolling over, but I do know people who's babies did early on.

,

Our first two babies were born during the tummy sleeping era and most babies slept the clock around and were often sleeping through the night by the time they were six weeks old. That was average. Some did sleep all night like yours is doing. They sleep so much better and longer on their tummies. Since her weight is good I wouldn't worry about how much she sleeps. She will let you know when she is hungry. Also, it is normal for a baby this age to not be able to remain awake for more than an hour at a time during the day. Many cannot even stay awake that long. Our first child woke every three hours to eat and went right back to sleep, except for once a day when it was bath time. During that time he stayed awake for two hours, but that was it except for feedings. As far as the tummy sleeping goes, SIDS is extremely rare no matter how they sleep and that statement comes directly from the AAP.

Nancy

I thought they found that SIDS does result in sleeping on tummy thus the reason we dont do it becuase their heads are not strong enough to move if they wind up face down? I would have to say sleep on back only.

I have a son who is 12 and back then they said side only. He wound up one night on his tummy and he was crying and I didnt hear him. The dog finally did and when I found him he was red from crying but thank God he was breathing. I only go by what they say they have learned with the sids patience they do have.

Either way if baby wants to sleep let him. My last one slept with me and at 6weeks slept throught hte night and can sleep 12 hours. She is almost 1 yr. Its great when they have a great sleeping pattern. THe only time she doesnt sleep well is if she is teething or learning something new. Had to see her trying to stand at 2am one night. It was funny.

I thought they found that SIDS does result in sleeping on tummy thus the reason we dont do it becuase their heads are not strong enough to move if they wind up face down? I would have to say sleep on back only.


I agree, back only at this stage. SIDS is down something like 40% since babies were put on their backs. I was also told at the hospital that they studied some Asian country (don't remember which) to see why their SIDS rates were so low and it's because their babies always slept on their backs. They believe it's something about rebreathing stale air (CO2) when they put their faces flat down.

I know they do that because we used to let my son sleep on his tummy for naps because he slept so much better. He slept on the living room floor on a blanket so we could watch him though. On several occasions we had to move his head over to the side because he put his face flat down blanket and not move it back to the side. He slept on his back at night while we slept and I suppose since he went into a deeper sleep he didn't mind being on his back.