Brinley Newborn Summary: Week 4

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Newborn schedule for baby’s fourth week. Baby newborn schedule and routine for the 4th week of life. 3-4 week old newborn routine.

3 week old Brinley trying to wake up

This is a summary for Brinley from 3-4 weeks old.

POSTPARTUM EMOTIONS

Emotions were the same–up and down, back and forth. I feel like they are easing up, though. It seems like I am my normal self more often than an anxiety-ridden self. The anxiety is only there briefly.

NURSING

Nursing is going well. Still no signs of mastitis (YEAH!). Newman’s Nipple Cream is most likely to thank–at least that is where I am sending the credit. It is the only thing I did differently and I got mastitis with every other child. Knock on wood it doesn’t come.

>>>Read: Mastitis

BURPING

So last week, the burping was a difficulty. This week, it was a non-issue.

HICCUPS

She is hiccuping less frequently. Either she is getting more fat on her body so when she gets a diaper change her body temperature is less prone to dropping, or her diaphragm is maturing, or some combination of both.

>>>Read: Stopping Baby Hiccups

DREAMFEED 

The dance. That is what I call the dreamfeed. A dance put on by me to get Brinley to eat :).

She eats well for every feeding of the day, but the dreamfeed is definitely a battle I fight. Or a dance I perform. I feed one side. I can usually get one side in okay. Sometimes I have to lay her down unswaddled by me so she will squirm around enough to wake up. Then I feed the one side.

Then I change her diaper and give her gas drops. The gas drops often wake her enough to consent to latch to the second side. If not, I must move on to the swaddle. Oddly enough, if I swaddle her back up, she will eat from the second side for at least five minutes. Sometimes I can get ten from her.

>>>Read: Dreamfeed Frequently Asked Questions

Sometimes diaper changes can go very wrong. I remember there was a period with McKenna where in the middle of the night she would, without fail, poop as soon as she had a clean diaper on.

Last night at the dreamfeed, I had a similar issue. I changed her diaper. She made sounds of pooping, so I opened her diaper up to change her again and there was no poop, but she had peed so I proceeded to change her anyway. As I had the diaper open, she peed again, and it went all over her socks and PJs–it didn’t seem to hit the diaper at all. Such magic tricks by babies will always be a mystery to me.

So we had a full wardrobe change. I really just found it all amusing. It reminded me of my baby days with Brayden (boys leak through all the time!) and newborn nights with McKenna. Aaahhh memories. And gratitude they are pretty much only memories now.

>>>Read: Ultimate Guide to Stopping Baby Poop at Night

SICKNESS

She still has a cold. It is getting better, but is still there.

WARMTH

As she is getting fat on her body, she seems to not want to be so warm (or not need so much help to be warm). I am watching her closely so I can make sure I keep her dressed appropriately for her wants at sleep times. 

LARGER DIAPER

Up to this point, Brinley has been wearing newborn diapers. This week, I moved her to size one diapers at night. In the day, she is still doing newborn but is doing size one at night since she goes longer between feedings.

This is a good tip for diapers at night. When your baby gets close enough to the next size up, use a larger diaper at night. I also really like Huggies Overnight diapers.

EARLY MORNING FEEDINGS

This week, a few times Brinley woke at 6 AM wanting to eat. This is what I call an early morning feeding before waketime.

>>>Read: 5-6 AM “Night” Wakings

I decided this week to start feeding her one side and then put her back down, then get her up at 7:30. Our desired wake up time is between 7-7:30, so I want to start trying to start in that window as much as possible.

One day, she woke at 6:30. That day, we just started at 6:30. I figure that is close enough to my start time to just go with it.

I then let her sleep longer between feeds to get back on track rather than waking her up exactly at 3 hours.

NEWBORN NAPS

Naps are great. I put her down awake and she falls asleep without protest. For her waketime length, I aim to start the nap process 45 minutes after she woke up. I typically have her in bed about 50 minutes after she woke up. Yawning is a nap cue right now, but even without the yawn, I will start at 45 minutes. 

>>>Read: Baby Sleep Cues and How to Get it Right for Your Baby

WAKETME ACTIVITIES for NEWBORNS

These are the things we do during waketime. I don’t have a set waketime we do them in since her levels of sleepiness vary at this point in life.

  • Bath (actually, I always do this after her first feeding of the day)
  • Get held by siblings/parents (this happens a whole lot)
  • Tummy time
  • Gym play
  • Read stories
  • “Play” on blanket
  • Lay there and have me take a million pictures of her

WITCHING HOUR

There have been a few nights in her life where she has had a difficulty with falling asleep after her 7/7:30 PM feeding.

It seems to me to be witching hour-esq.

This is uncharacteristic for her, so when that happens, we get her up and hold her until she falls asleep. We actually enjoy it because it is a quiet time that we get to just spend with her.

We have held her the whole time and we have also just held her for about thirty minutes and then put her back in bed until the dreamfeed. I do wonder if she will start to have consistent witching hour nights most nights as McKenna did or if she will stick to just sporadically. 

In a poll I did a while ago, 46% of people said witching hour started at 3-4 weeks old. The age it went away varies greatly, but the majority (34%) said it went away at 8 weeks or younger. 

>>>Read: How To Manage Baby’s Dreaded Witching Hour

NEWBORN SCHEDULE

This is the daily schedule that we shoot for. 

7:30–feed
8:20–nap
10:30–feed
11:20–nap
1:30–feed
2:20–nap
4:30–feed
5:20–nap
7-7:30 (time varies here)–feed, then bedtime
10:00–dreamfeed

Then night feed(s)

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12 thoughts on “Brinley Newborn Summary: Week 4”

  1. So when are the night feeds occurring between the dream feed and the 6 am feedings? I can't believe I even care since I don't even have a baby, but I'm still curious 😉 maybe you mentioned it in a previous post, but I didn't see it.

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  2. What does your toddler do during the first feeding? I saw in an older post a schedule with Brayden having TV time during the first feeding. I am trying to figure out what I will do with my 22mo when I have a newborn. I want to start the day off right but am not sure I could leave him downstairs with the TV while I feed the baby upstairs. My toddler is always up by 7am, so I don't want to get the baby up before. Thanks!

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  3. This makes me so hopeful! Any tips for how to get a baby to "like" the swing? We're getting a new swing for the next baby and I am praying they like it when they're not napping well in their crib!Also, I found hiccups and burping were related. The more hiccups they had, the harder they were to burp. I think this is because burping mostly has to do with being relaxed and upright, not any special patting or anything, and hiccups (recent or current) make their tummies tense and tired, so it's harder to relax and release that air. That's just my theory based on what would happen with my DD at that age!

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  4. Congrats on your new baby, so exciting! THe newborn phase is such a journey as each child is different. I am a BW mommy and have a 3 yr old who is doing fantastic. Today i have an almost 8 week old daughter, who is BF and does great except for evenings. SHe nurses at 6:30, 9:30, 12:30, 3:30 and final feeding at 6:30. I do not do DF as I am concerned about waking her and getting her back down. At the 6:30 feeding, 9 of 10 times she is so fussy and sometimes going nuts (poor little thing, i think it's witching hour). Because she is so upset, she will not settle down to nurse/bottle at all….. I never experienced this with my son, so i am at a loss and just feel so bad for my little lady that she cannot get a full feeding in.I would appreciate any feedback/comments. THank you so much in advance!

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  5. I have a 4 week old, too. My second and looking at your schedule I thought it was pretty funny because that's almost exactly our days! We have a cluster at 4:30, 6:30, and 8:30, but other than that our times line up the same! When are you finding your baby needs to feed at night other than the dream feed?

    Reply

  6. Thanks for your suggestion on wake times in a previous post. You're so generous to take the time to answer questions! I know your hands are full! We all appreciate it so much, though!In reading about Brinley's witching hour, it brings up another question.. We seem to be having a rough time at exactly the same time as you – after that 7:30 feeding. She goes down easily all day – no crying – and falls asleep on her own (except for the wake time issue we're still working out, but still, no crying or fussing), but it's almost like clockwork. From 7 until 10, I never know what things are going to look like. My question is – do I still try and lay her down? How will I know that this phase has ended? There have been a handful or less of nights where she falls asleep for the night before 10, but it's from me rocking her or holding her. If I try and lay her down after that feeding, she starts her fussing/crying, then I hold her, rock her, etc., and she finally falls asleep. The other night, instead of laying her down after that feeding, I just went ahead and rocked her, and she was out cold for me to lay her down within about 30 minutes..so it makes me want to just do that every night rather than try and lay her down (which can sometimes turn into her not going down until 10pm), but I don't want her to become dependent on me rocking her. During that 7-10 period, she spits up a lot and seems to burp a lot. I'm wondering if something might help her get through it, and if so, is it more of a gas/tummy issue than a witching hour? (PS – I don't do a dreamfeed b/c she's going from her 7:30 feeding to around 3 or 4am, then up again by 7:30. She'll be 8 weeks on Monday.)

    Reply

  7. I am so glad I found this blog! Inamorata a first time mom & this helps so much. I am always looking up posts on here. Thank you so much for taking time to respond. I have a 4.5 week old. During the day we have a good 3 hour feeding thing going . She most definitely does not have a solid 1.5-2 hourvnap though. Shell wake up multiple times. If she isn't drying but just lying there & looking around should I just leave her there? Also, she seems to sleep hard and silently for her first stretch at night, when I feed her in the middle of the night & I put her back down sage seems to wiggle squirm sigh and grunt with her eyes closed for hours. I worry she isn't getting restful sleep and also that she isn't sleeping longer stretches because she may only be half asleep? I'd love anyone's input on these things. Thank you!!

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  8. Hi! I am from Singapore and can i am somewhat like your schedule but i am curious to find out – does that mean your baby is now nursing only 7 times a day. Looking @ ur schedule you have stated 6 feeding times and the 7th time will be the middle of the night feed. My baby is now 5 weeks old and yes congrats to your new born! I really appreciate and happy that you now have a newborn baby around the same time as me so i can always reference your site. Haha! Rest well!

    Reply

  9. What is your nap process for a baby of this age? Do you rock them at all or swaddle? or just put them in their bed awake and let them sleep? At what age did you start letting them cry it out to get to sleep and if you did so early, will they still fall asleep in your arms if desired?

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  10. Hello! I love your blog. I don't know if you respond to these still but thought I'd ask. My almost 4 wk old is on a similar schedule as yours but at 7. I noticed that you don't cluster feed. He's been doing well waking only once in the night but if I don't cluster then that means he will only get 7 feedings. I'm assuming the same would happen for your Brinley if she only woke once? Is this okay or should I try to cluster feed so he gets the 8 feedings a day? Its been difficult to wake him for cluster feedings so I've been letting it go but worry about only 7 feedings. Just curious if Brinley was down to once a night or if you changed your schedule to get 8 feedings.

    Reply

  11. Where should my 4 week old be napping? In a quiet room on her own or out in the living room? The living room typically has the tv on and people talking.

    Reply

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