McKenna Newborn Summary: Week Two

Baby schedule for newborns. Babywise newborn schedule and routine for the second week of life. Read all about this baby’s second week. 

2 week old newborn babywise baby

Week two has continued on smoothly with little or no incident. Here are some updates on our second week of life.

Newborn GAS

I decided I didn’t want McKenna to have more medicine than she needed. I am not one who likes medicine, but if it is necessary, I will definitely use it.

I started to cut back on how many doses she got in a day. I first cut out one, then a second, then a third. By the time I had cut out the third, she woke with gas pains. I decided to go back to giving gas medicine after each feeding for a couple more weeks. I will then start to cut them out, but do so much more slowly. I think I will just cut one out a week.

Newborn NURSING

McKenna now eats on both sides for about half of her feedings each day and just one side for the other half. I still wake her for 6 of her 8 feedings each day (I keep track). She is growing right on track and doing well.

My friend Rachel left a comment on the blog about how she would burp her son after he unlatched the first time, then continued him nursing on the same side. She would then switch sides after he unlatched the second time. I have done this with McKenna and am often able to get her to eat on both sides when I do this. It works great for her. This is the reason it is great to have people to ask questions to. There are so many tricks out there. Some work for some children and not others, so it is great to have lots of ideas to draw from.

I have also found that if she refuses to nurse the second side, I can get to do so sometimes after a diaper change. That didn’t work in week one, but it worked in week two.

To sum up, this is what I do. I start her on one side. When she slows down or unlatches, I burp her then continue her on the same side. I let her continue on until she is done with that side. She usually unlatches, but sometimes she lazily sucks without a swallow. I read (I think in Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems or What to Expect the First Year) to switch sides when baby sucks about 6 times without swallowing. I then burp her again and start side two.

Baby in crib with the words Babywise Schedule Week 2

BURPING a Newborn

McKenna has also changed in what works best to burp her. We are getting much faster at it. She now works best over my shoulder with her legs straight. It is hard to get her to uncurl those little legs, but it is what works best to get a burp out of her.

WAKETIME for Newborns

Her waketime length has increased slightly and her alertness has also increased slightly this week. I introduce two new waketime activities this week. One was to sit in her swing with it off. I haven’t turned the swing on with her in it yet. It is just a place for her to sit right now. The other is tummy time.

She doesn’t really have any obvious sleep cues yet. There have been a few times she has yawned. Usually what happens is she just starts to fall asleep if I haven’t gotten her down in time, which is quite typical for a newborn. At least it was for Kaitlyn and is for her :).

I have started watching the clock this week for waketime. I put her down either by first sign that she is ready or I start the process after she has been awake for 40 minutes. That way she is always down by the time she has been up for 45 minutes, which I think is realistically all she can handle at this age.

NIGHTTIME SLEEP for Newborn

This is still going well. There hasn’t been any change. She usually wakes for her first feeding in the night and I usually wake her for the second. We are still doing two night feedings in order to have 8 feedings in a day. On the last night of her second week, I moved her to her room for night sleep instead of sleeping in my room. I sleep much better when the baby is not in the room with me.

SWADDLE for Newborn

I still swaddle McKenna for naps and night. A great thing about her is that she often breaks out of the swaddle but still stays asleep, or, rather, goes back to sleep. So she likes to be swaddled, but it isn’t something necessary for her to sleep well.

NAPS for Newborn

McKenna’s naps are great. She still has yet to cry at all before a nap. She often wakes at a transition and goes back to sleep, all without crying (I know this thanks to my video monitor 🙂 ).


Read: Brinley Newborn Summary: Week Two


OUTINGS for Newborn

We took McKenna out for the first time this week to buy some new shoes for Brayden and Kaitlyn. She slept the entire time. It was a short outing and I am being very cautious with her. It is still RSV season here until May 1, and this year it is strongest right now.

So there is our uneventful second week.

Newborn Sample schedule for Week 2 with a picture of a newborn baby

HELPFUL BOOKS for Newborns

I didn’t actually consult any books this week. I am sure if this were baby number one or if I didn’t basically have Babywise memorized I would have consulted some books. So the books I listed last week are still books I would recommend at this stage, as well as the first Baby Whisperer book.

RELATED NEWBORN POSTS

McKenna Newborn Summary Posts

31 thoughts on “McKenna Newborn Summary: Week Two”

  1. I recently found your blog and am so thankful for it! Congratulations on the new baby! I have a 9 week old girl that I am doing BW with. Your insight and guidance has really helped! Thank you!

    Reply
  2. Ok I have no idea where to put these questions so here it is. My baby boy is 9 weeks old and his naps stink. He wakes up crying about half way through hisnap. He goes from dead asleep to crazy mad. I have gone is and tried to burp him and sometimes that works, but most of the time… It fails. My question is how long should i let him cry total?? Should I stick the pacifier back in his mouth?? Also how long should his awake time be?? Also some of his waketimes never happen. He will not do it. HelpI am really desperate.One more question…Hisroutine starts at 6am. So his late eveing feeding is somewhere between 9:00 and 9:30. He usually wakes about 1:30am to eat again. Do I let him cry or should I still continue to feed him at this time. I know the book says at 10:00pmor later let them sleep until they awaken on own..But I don’t know If i should get up and feed at 12:00 or,do what I am doing… I just want some of the night time sleep this book talks about.. HELP!! Thanks agian. Hope all is well with that new baby!

    Reply
  3. Hi Val,So glad to hear/read things are going well. That’s exciting!We just found out that we are expecting our 3rd in December. I’m wondering if you would be so kind to post what your other two kids are doing during the day and at what times so I can have something to work towards. Emme will be a little over 3.5 and Ellie will be 18 months when the new one gets here. I’m going to try to nurse this one (wasn’t able to with the 2nd because of health problems) and need to keep them occupied to get it done! Thanks so much!

    Reply
  4. Oh, and if at all possible, I need the older two girls to nap at the same time so I can have SOME kind of break to look forward to in the afternoon.

    Reply
  5. I know this isn’t related to todays post, but my daughter is 18 months and I’m struggling with going from 2 naps to 1. Many days I feel she is very ready for this, but she typically only sleeps 1 1/2 or 2 hrs. for her 1 nap days. I don’t feel like this is enough rest. She also has begun waking much earlier in the morning than she ever has before. Could that be due to lack of daytime sleep?

    Reply
  6. Another book I highly recommend is “Good Night Sleep Tight” by Kim West! I have found it to be very useful! Sounds like your daughter is adjusting to the world around her well. How is it juggling two other children with a newborn?

    Reply
  7. Hi! So glad to have found your blog…I have found so many helpful things on here! Question for you…my baby just turned 4 weeks old today. How long should he be awake including the time it takes him to eat (sometimes this varies)? Thanks!

    Reply
  8. Sounds like things are going well for you! I have a question about waketime. I’m afraid my 9 week old is sleeping too much??? is that possible? she sometimes takes 2 hour naps. She is on a 3 hour schedule, so it takes 20 minutes to eat and then 1 hour of waketime usually. However, I don’t know if she falls asleep immediately when I put her down so is that considered waketime too? thanks!!

    Reply
  9. Oh…about the gas drops…have you tried Gripe Water? I know that every baby is different. The gas drops did not work for my son, but the gripe water did. The gripe water is just natural herbs so I felt better about giving it to him after each of his feedings. Just a suggestion. Good luck with the gas!

    Reply
  10. Hello! I have to go back to work soon unfortunately and my daughter will be going to daycare. She will be 4 months old. I’m really nervous about it. I was wondering if anyone out there has some tips for the transition? I’m particularly concerned about her naps. Thanks!

    Reply
  11. Hi Valerie,Congrats on the new baby! I too have a newborn (3 weeks) and found a method to get rid of gas/colic without using medicine. The method is quite simple. It is no longer posted on the web, but I happened to save it as a microsoft word document when my 1st daughter had colic. I’m not sure how to get it to you, but if you’d like the info, let me know. On another note, my newborn is on a 3 hour feeding cycle, however lately at night she won’t go more than an hour without being hungry again, and as soon as she latches on she’s out cold after 30 seconds! I try to then put her to bed and 2 minutes later she wakes crying and looking for the breast. I’m afraid we’ve hit the snacking issue and have no idea how to stop this without making her CIO. Any suggestions?

    Reply
  12. What an amazing blog! I recently implemented babywise on my two week old, Isabel. I am currently nursing her for 15 minutes on each breast, every three hours. Our waketime ranges from 45 minutes to one hour. Since implementing babywise, Isabel cannot fall asleep for her naps. It will sometimes take up to an hour for her to fall asleep, and then she will fuss in and out of sleep the majority of the time. Sometimes she will lay in her crib quietly until she falls asleep, but other times she gets very upset. I fear that she is becoming increasingly over-tired with each failed nap time. I have tried cry it out for up to 15 minute segments, but it’s pure torture. Any advice?

    Reply
  13. Nikki,sorry to butt in… hope you don’t mind. but it sounds like she is just having trouble going back to sleep or just needs something to suck on. have you tried a pacifier?? she’s still young enough that she needs those feedings, so i would definitely feed her, but it would need to be a full feeding. if she’s fed but wakes up again shortly after, it sounds more like a sleep issue, not a hunger issue. sorry if that wasn’t much help, but my now 13 week old did that for a bit too. i knew it was time to drop the middle of the night feeding b/c he would suck for a minute and then be asleep. just a thought! hope you don’t mind me jumping in.

    Reply
  14. Hi…this doesn’t have much (or anything)to do with this post…but I’m so thankful our newborns are close in age. I’m finding with my 5wk old daughter that she prefers to sleep on her tummy. I don’t expect you to ever endorse this publically…as I know there’re liability issues..nor am I looking for anyone’s approval. I am, however, looking to see if others are finding this with their babies. My husband is not comfortable with tummy sleeping overnight so we do not allow her to do so at that time..and thankfully she goes down very easy at night (knock on wood!) I am trying to get her down for naps on her side and what I find is that by the time the afternoon comes she is almost never able to fall asleep on her side (she wants nothing to do with her back…sleeps on side at night). She will still fuss/even cry on her belly, but not with the intensity or duration of her side (sleep is not always achieved on her side and if it is then it’s not as productive or as long)…but she almost always succeeds in falling asleep on the belly (very good, long sleep). I personally think there is alot of hype with the tummy sleeping thing…I was a tummy sleeper as a baby and lived (1974). But I do understand that it has saved the lives of high risk SIDS babies (which mine, according to some internet reasearch does not fall into). I am convinced if she slept on her tummy overnight…her sleep would be longer and productive (she currently wakes at midnight, then 3:30am). I am concerned that, in time, she will want to sleep on the tummy at night..we’re not willing to allow that till she is rolling over on her own. The tummy sleep began as a result of a very fussy evening baby that would not settle down to sleep during that block and it has spread to her afternoon nap. What has been the experience of others? Please, I welcome thoughts and comments…THANKS!!!!(And btw…we do check more often when she is taking a tummy nap…our pediatrician doesn’t mind the nap tummy sleeping, but of course discourages overnight tummy sleeping)

    Reply
  15. 1st timer,First, when he wakes early, I would first see if he is hungry. If you know him well enough to know for sure if he is hungry or not without offering food, then you don’t have to give him food. But in BW it says when baby wakes early to first treat it as a food issue.For how long to cry, that is up to you to decide. See this post for guidance on what to do when he wakes early:Waking Early From Naps/Won’t Fall Asleep For Naps: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/01/waking-early-from-napswont-fall-asleep.htmlFor the pacifier, that could be the reason he wakes. He might be dependent on the pacifier to make it through transitions and fall asleep. If so, you might need to take it away all together. Moms who have success with the pacifier say they reinsert only one time. See the blog label “pacifier” for more.For waketime see:Optimal Waketime Lengths : http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/07/optimal-waketime-lengths.htmlandAdding Waketime to Your Newborn’s Day : http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/11/adding-waketime-to-your-newborns-day.htmlLet him sleep after 9:30 feed. If he is hungry at 1:30, feed him.

    Reply
  16. Brittney,Today I posted a trio schedule, so you can see that for ideas. I think you will definitely be able to have nap time all at the same time. You are right, the afternoon is basically the only break time 🙂

    Reply
  17. Heather, yes, that can be due to lack of daytime rest. She likely will need an earlier bedtime the days she has only one nap. 1.5-2 hours also likely isn’t enough for her. I would work with the nap time to find the best time for her. With Brayden, 10 minutes made a difference in his nap.

    Reply
  18. Thanks for the book recommendation Susanne! I am always looking for new books to read (though I am often reading too many books at once). I have honestly found three children to be easier to manage than any other number. Most people say three children is the hardest number–even my friend’s mom who has 14 kids. But the older two can play with each other while I attend to McKenna. When Kaitlyn was a baby, Brayden had to wait for me to be done with Kaitlyn to get interaction. With the three, the two can interact, so that is nice.

    Reply
  19. Kelly,At four weeks, most will have 30-45 minutes of waketime including feeding. Basically that means no activity (or just a couple of minutes). By now he is 6.5 weeks old. Many that age also still have 30-45 minutes, but some can do up to 60. Very few can handle more than 60.

    Reply
  20. jrjones,No, she isn’t sleeping too much. It is possible to get too much sleep, but I think that is a rare case. On a three hour schedule, naps should be 1.5-2 hours, so that is great.Actually sleeping time would be how long she is sleeping, but don’t stress about that unless she is fussy going down or wakes early from the nap.

    Reply
  21. Susanne, thanks for the gripe water tip. I finally got some last night. I am going to replace one dosage of drops with the gripe water every few days and see how she does. The gas drops work fine, but the natural herbs are appealing to me.

    Reply
  22. jrjones,I don’t have any daycare experience, but I do have a couple of posts with tips (from other people). See the blog label “daycare” for those.

    Reply
  23. Nikki,I would be interested in that info. Perhaps you could post your email and I would delete it as soon as I get it and email you? I don’t really want to post me email address on here because I don’t want my mailbox overrun with questions :)Hopefully you have the waking every hour issue worked out. If not, let me know and I will go into more detail. But it sounds like she isn’t really hungry. She is looking for a “pacifier” in you. She could be having some pain of some sort (gas, reflux, etc.). She could also just want something in her mouth to sleep. Only eating for 30 seconds isn’t even a snacking issue because 30 seconds is barely long enough to create a let-down in you. I would first try to figure out the reason for the waking. If it is pain, you need to relieve the pain. If not, you need to decide what to do. You want her to be able to fall asleep on her own, so I would choose a method to get to that point.

    Reply
  24. Hoaks, I would recommend the Baby Whisperer method. See the blog label “baby whisperer” for a post on her 4 S’s.

    Reply
  25. LC, I have no experience with tummy sleeping. I personally would never do it because I am such a rule follower and am very cautious. There are a lot of people on this earth who slept on tummy and lived–including my husband and little sister (recommendations changed between my birth and my sister’s). But according to the ‘experts’, there are many who aren’t alive because of tummy sleeping. I do know of many moms who do tummy sleeping today. I think it is something to decide for yourself. I recently read in a book (but can’t remember what one…I think What to Expect the First Year) that baby will get used to sleeping on back after some time. You can swaddle to help keep the arms still. Within 2-3 months, your baby should be able to go from tummy to back, which is when the risk of tummy sleeping is gone, I believe. The way I look at decisions like this is cost/reward. What is the benefit of tummy sleeping? Longer stretches of sleep? That is of value. What is the cost or possible risk? The possible risk is SIDS. Now, is the risk worth the reward? That is for you to decide.

    Reply
  26. Hi Valerie! We just welcomed #3 into our family last week. It is so good to have your blog as a resource! We had BW with our other two children and I really like having the Baby Whisperer too. My question is about naps. With a 1wk, 1 day old daughter, I don’t want to expect too much 🙂 but I do want to start as I mean to finish! Last week the naps went great! This week she has started to fuss and try to fight out of her swaddle when I put her down for a nap. Not everytime, but about 5 out of 8 naps. She is soothed with a paci with a few minuets of sucking but she will begin to fuss again and try to fight her swaddle (after she spits the paci out). When she is asleep, she is asleep! But I wanted to get your opinion on this fuss issue. Her waketime after I nurse, change and coo at her is about 1 hour. Could this be the issue? She is also held by older brother/sister for a few moments before she is put down (part of the hour waketime)…could I be overstimulating her and not realizing it? Waketime is tricky. I don’t want to have too much but I’m not sure how much fussing before a nap at this age will settle her. Thanks so much for your advice. This blog is so very helpful! Emily in SC

    Reply
  27. emilylane,I think the waketime is too long for sure. She also could be overstimulated. I don’t think I would do her being held before every nap. They are very easily overstimulated. Before too long, she will be able to handle more 🙂

    Reply
  28. So I thought having a reflux baby was tough…gassy babies are really tough too! My LO is almost 2 weeks old and burping has been rough but I was just re-reading these posts since I remembered you were dealing with gas and the legs-straight-to-burp method is GENIOUS! Thank you so much! Never would have thought to uncurl her legs!

    Reply

Leave a Comment