Brinley Newborn Summary: Week 11

Newborn schedule for baby’s 11th week. Baby newborn schedule and routine for the eleventh week of life. 10-11 week old newborn routine. Find out what to do with a newborn all day, feeding intervals, and playtime activities.

11 week old Brinley

Isn’t she sweet? This is her, giving me big smiles, at my cousin’s wedding reception. She was so tired and still happy as can be.

This is a summary for Brinley’s 11th week; she was 10 weeks old.

You know, babies are just the best. I know in the past I have said newborn phase is not my favorite, but I have loved it with Brinley.

In a couple of weeks she won’t be a newborn anymore!

I think when you have older kids, you really appreciate babies. For one thing, they make life slow down. You have to slow down for the baby. For another, your concerns over a baby are so trivial in comparison to concerns over older children. Not to say they aren’t important, sleeping and eating are important, but I don’t find that as stressful as making sure life’s moral lessons are all happening at the right time.

And they never talk back. You have to appreciate that about a baby 🙂 They also stay put. You know exactly what they are doing and where they are.

EATING

Eating returned to normal this week. 

She took a bottle as usual again this week, which was a relief to me. 

WAKETIME ACTIVITIES

Waketime was fun this week. She really enjoyed her gym. She would slowly grab the toys and hold on briefly, then slowly grab. I just love sitting and watching her learn these skills. 

She is getting much better hand control. She started to suck on her hands briefly at times when awake.

SLEEPING

Naps were normal. 

Night was different. She had three nights in a row where she woke up. Every week after church, she has woken in the night.

This week, after church she just slept and slept all day. It was so hard to get her to wake up and so hard to get her to eat when I did wake her up. That night, she woke at 3:15 in the night. The other two nights when she woke in the night it was closer to 5 AM, so not a huge disruption and not way off of normal.

I figured she woke at 3:15 because she was hungry from not eating the evening before. I thought it would have been better to skip a feeding to let her get some sleep and to build up an appetite.

I also wondered if she was getting cold at night. I really think that was part of it. The last night of the week, I had a new sleeper sent to me to review.

Just a normal looking sleeper. But it isn’t–it is made from Merino wool. What is Merino wool? Here is a description:

Merino wool is nature’s smart fiber and the fabric of our times. Soft as silk, yet durable. Warm yet breathable.

Merino has the remarkable ability to regulate body temperature. It captures and circulates air to insulate baby when the room temperature falls, and releases excess body heat and moisture as the room temperature rises. Baby stays warm and dry through night and day without overheating. 

Research shows merino is the ideal fabric for baby sleep sacks. A 2010 AgResearch study determined that babies sleeping in Merino Kids’ newborn merino sleep sack are less likely to overheat or to become damp or chilled compared with synthetic polar fleece sleep sacks.

It is pricey. Spendy. It normally runs up to $150.00. But it is worth it. It really works. I put Brinley in it in her swaddle blanket–so she is all swaddled up inside. She has slept perfectly ever since. I think she was cold at night.

This blanket is so great because it keeps baby at the perfect temperature without you having to guess exactly how to dress baby each night. And it is a blanket that can’t be pulled over baby’s head. I told my husband after trying it I would totally buy it. I don’t get anything for saying it–and I wouldn’t recommend a product that is so expensive, especially in this economy, unless I really believed in it.

I think I might buy a second for laundry day…I am about to have her take a nap without it so I can wash it 🙂 I am honestly nervous! Ha ha! 

It is sized up to 2T, so you can get two years of wear out of it. Definitely a product that I recommend.

WITCHING HOUR

I wanted to make a witching hour note. For Brinley’s 7:30ish feeding, I do things differently in order to help avoid any witching hour sleep aversion. 

I nurse the first side as usual. Once she is done, I take her to her room, change her diaper, put her in her PJs, swaddle her, and then nurse the second side.

Then when I put her in bed, she isn’t asleep, but she is very contentedly drowsy. If she was asleep, I really wouldn’t see anything wrong with that. She just isn’t. She pulls off, is done nursing, and I burp her and put her in bed. 

So if you have witching hour going on, don’t feel like you can’t do what it takes to help it to go away. Nursing to sleep, swing sleeping, rocking to sleep–whatever it takes. It is one or two feedings a day typically and it is only a few weeks. It is okay to do what it takes to help baby peacefully sleep.

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

AS FOR ME

I had a night of insomnia again–the night she woke at 3:15. I guess I got used to not waking in the night and I was up for the day at that point.

I stayed in bed after I had fed Brinely and put her back in bed. I tried to sleep, but to no avail. I was awake. As annoying as insomnia is, I am really grateful that it is only once a week and not several days in a row like it has been for me in the past.

>>>Read: Falling Asleep Tips for the Sleep-Deprived Mother

I wanted to update exercise for me. I started off exercise with pilates. About three weeks ago I upped it to Lindsay Brin’s Boot Camp. I do that three days a week. Next week, I plan to add in cardio on my elliptical two days a week. 

SCHEDULE

This is our daily schedule.
7:30–feed
8:20–nap
11:00–feed
11:50–nap
2:00–feed
2:50–nap
5:00–feed
5:20–nap
7-7:30 (time varies here)–feed, then bedtime
10:15–dreamfeed

HELPFUL BOOKS

RELATED POSTS

11 week old Newborn schedule pinnable image

Brinley Newborn Summaries

A list of all of the baby newborn summaries for Brinley. Get a week by week summary of what is going on and a typical weekly schedule and routine for a newborn baby.

25 thoughts on “Brinley Newborn Summary: Week 11”

  1. Another beautiful picture Val. I notice that Brinley eats at 5 and then goes down for a nap 20 minutes later. How long is that 5:20 nap. I'm having a hard time with my evening schedule and not sure if I need to shorten or lengthen my dd last nap. Thanks for your help

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  2. Ohh…that is a typo. She actually goes down 60 minutes later. That is her longest waketime of the day. It is often a 60 minute nap, though sometimes it is two hours.

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  3. Okay- what is YOUR schedule? When are you exercising, picking lids up at school, taking baby with you on errands? Just curious!

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  4. Valerie,Thank you so much for your blog! I am a first time mother with a newborn about a month younger than Brinley. Your blog is such a helpful resource and an encouragement.I just ordered the Lindsay Brin DVD! Can't wait to try it. I used her trimester workouts during my pregnancy. Although, I've been cleared to exercise for two weeks now and still haven't gotten around to it… baby steps. 🙂

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  5. I too am a first time mom and find your blog very helpful and encouraging! My little boy is close to Brinley's age. He'll be 12 weeks next Thursday. I'll be going back to work part time next week also. I had a few questions because the time changes next Sunday, he may be going through a growth spurt and I would like to start eliminating that dream feed. It seems like a lot to change in one week especially since his schedule may be slightly off since I won't be home with him. Any suggestions? Do you think I should wait and work on eliminating the dreamfeed a little later? Thanks for your help!

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  6. Hi! i'm a first time mom, I found out about and switched to the babywise method at around 9 weeks. My little girls is now almost 12 weeks…i'm wondering since she started the method late, when should she begin sleeping through the night? I use the 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm and 10pm feeding schedule but she still eats at 1 and 4 am.. if i don't wake her for those feedings then she wakes within an hour or 2 of them acting hungry.. so i try to wake her instead, to keep her morning routine starting out right..she naps 90 mins after waking, so at 830, 1130, 230, 530 and goes down for the night at 830 with what i think you are calling "dreamfeeding" at 10 and going right back to bed.. again i'm wondering when should she be sleeping through the night and dropping her 1am and 4am feedings? should i be putting her down for naps earlier? she also rarely wakes happy..always cries when she wakes.. help! hope you have some suggestions 🙂

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  7. Hi Valerie, I have the wool sleepsacks too, and love them! Could you explain how you put her swaddled in it safely? I have been swaddling arms only outside sleep sack, but she is so large at 17 weeks that it barely reaches. Thanks!

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  8. Bethany,I get up at 6 AM each morning and exercise and get ready before kids get up.I don't often take Brinley with me to run errands. Right now, I do them on weekends or in an evening. If I go in an evening, I take her with me. When she gets older and can do longer wake times, I will go during the day on week days. I was just talking about this with my neighbor yesterday. She has seven kids. We were laughing on how the more kids you get, the less often you take the baby out. It is just much easier to fit it in when your husband is home and you can zip out without anyone. But at the same time, McKenna is my best shopper of my three oldest kids because she went out with me much more, so Brinely will get there–there just isn't a strong reason to be there right now.

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  9. Sarahoutloud you will be years ahead of me! I haven't consistently exercised with a new baby until Brinley. Good job 🙂

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  10. Unknown I am in the same boat with the dreamfeed. I agree–bad timing with the time change and a growth spurt age. I have been considering dropping the dreamfeed at the time change, but I think it is a risky move since 8AM will then be 7AM and if she isn't ready to drop the dreamfeed, then if she woke early, it would be even earlier. But 10:30PM will then be 9:30 PM, so if I am waiting until 10:15 to do a dreamfeed, it will feel like 11:15 and I will be so tired! So it would be nice in that way.So this is my current plan. I think I will leave the time change at the exact same time–so I will then be having it at what the clock says is 9:15 but will be the new 10:15. I will do that for two weeks, then if things are still going smoothly, I will start feeding less at the dreamfeed to work toward weaning. Another thing we have coming up is weaning from the swaddle. Things always seem to all come at once.

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  11. Sarah Cange,Try having her up for about 60 minutes instead of 90 minutes–especially for your first one or two feedings. Am I understanding right that you are waking her twice a night to eat? If so, stop waking her. Let her wake you. Even if she gets close to morning wake up time, let it happen. That is a normal thing that pretty much all babies do. It has to happen to get to sleeping through.I think exactly when she is STTN will vary from baby to baby. Some start quickly, some take months. If it were me (and it has been me before), I wouldn't even hope for STTN until 7-8 weeks after you started BW.

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  12. Disclaimer girl,I just swaddle her up like normal, then I put her in the sleep sack. So it is over her swaddle blanket completely. Does that make sense?

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  13. thanks 🙂 i stopped waking her during the night and put her down for naps earlier as you suggested..and she does sleep a lot more at night (yay!) should i be putting her down after 60mins after each feeding? its just seems now that she is napping (or not napping sometimes just fussing in bed for a while) a lot during the day now..which means she is only up about 5 or 6 hours a day.. at what point do we expand her awake time from 60 mins at a time? sorry.. i'm really not an idiot.. lol.. just feel lost here..

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  14. My LO will be 11 weeks next week and sleeps 6-8 hours at night but lately will not take any longer than 20 minute naps during the day. Mostly from 12-4. Hell go down fined with no crying but wake up crying 20-45 minutes later. I've tried feeding him, letting him cry, putting to bed earlier, keeping up later…nothing seems to help! Sometimes he takes a full feeding and sometimes not. Any suggestions?

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  15. My little girl is almost 11 weeks. She is doing perfect with feelings and naps and night sleep. I'm wondering when she wakes early from her 4th nap which usually happens after an hour do I try to entertain her until appropriate feeding time, feed her early, or wait a little longer to put her down for that nap so she wakes closer to my desired time to feed? We do 7,10:30,1:00ish 4:00 and try to aim for 7:00 then a dream feed around 10:15 but usually with how cranky she gets I feed her around 6:40 p.m then put her right down but when that happens her sleep has been not as sound for a couple hours after? Any suggestions Blessings,Shannon

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  16. Hi! So glad to have found this because I am admittedly lost ! Daughter will be 10 weeks old tomorrow so way behind here. I've been lucky enough to have a good sleeper who we regularly put to sleep at 1030 and wakes 5 hours later at 330 am for a feeding, followed by the next at 630. Last week Sunday the 21st she went down at the same time and slept 7 hours until 5:30. This lasted most of the week with one night only 5. I really enjoy that sleep plan and would ideally just like to edge the 1030 bedtime earlier. Would you suggest starting by 'fixing' or adjusting the day plan ? I'm not at all sure how to begin ! If you'd let me call you I would 🙂 thank you for being here as I'm petrified I will mess up a good thing before i go back to work next month 🙂

    Reply
    • You do have a good thing going! Read through my "starting Babywise late" guide. See what you might like to implement. For moving the 10:30 earlier, I would wait 2 weeks before changing (which it has been by now). Then I would move it earlier very slowly. Try 10:20 for a few days. If that doesn't work out, go back to 10:30 and be happy with it 🙂 but if it does, then try out 10:10. Then 10. Do it slowly waiting 4-7 days between each switch. Good luck! Let me know if you have other questions.

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  17. It seems like you have decided to do one less feeding than babywise recommends at this point. Is there a reason for this? I'd love to be doing 1 less feeding than I am, but worry about my daughter getting enough calories in the day. Could you share how you decided on this number of feedings at this point?

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  18. I’m following babywise since 2 days for my 11 week old. After his dream feed at 10:30pm, he wakes up around 3am and then 6am again.
    How and when do I get longer stretches. He is not a good napper either ( takes about 30-40 mins each time).
    Not sure if I need to do something different. I’ve tried soothing mechanism ( pacifier) at night but it only lasts for 20-30 mins. I need some sleep

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    • Since you mentioned that you use a pacifier and it only works for 20-30 minutes, I would wonder if it is hunger. What happens when you feed your baby? Does he eat well at the next feeding? If he eats at 3 and then eats well at 6, you know he really is hungry and needs the feedings.

      I also wonder if he isn’t able to self-soothe since you mentioned that this can be an issue in the daytime, also. Have you done any sleep training at all? Can he fall asleep independently?

      Reply

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