Little Hours
It is 3am, the house is quiet, and you have a question that will not wait until morning. Little Hours answers it. Type what is happening and it replies in plain words, matched to your baby's age, without the forum arguments or the twelve open tabs.
Keep Little Hours free
There is no paywall, no account and no advertising here, and that is the point. If it answered something for you tonight, you can put a few dollars in the jar and it stays that way for the next person awake at 3am.
One tap goes straight to checkout. Nothing is posted to you and nothing gets unlocked, because everything here is already free.What Little Hours can help with
Seventy-seven topics, answered by your baby's age rather than in general. A four-week-old and a nine-month-old get different answers about sleep, teeth and feeding, because they need different answers. Ask twice about the same thing and it goes deeper instead of repeating itself.
Sleep and settling
Newborn sleep patterns and why day and night are mixed up at first. Wake windows and how many naps to expect at each age. The four-month change that gets called a regression. Safe sleep, sleeping bag TOG by room temperature, swaddling and when to stop, dummies, bed sharing done as safely as it can be, and what the settling methods actually involve if you decide you want one. Also your own sleep, which is usually the real question underneath.
Feeding
How to tell whether your baby is getting enough, which comes down to wet nappies and weight rather than how the feed felt. Latch pain and what it means. Cluster feeding and growth spurts. Supply worries, expressing, milk storage times, mastitis and blocked ducts, thrush. Formula amounts by weight, how to make a bottle safely, paced feeding, a baby who refuses a bottle. Combination feeding, night feeds, and stopping breastfeeding gently when you are ready to.
Crying and comfort
The crying curve that peaks around six to eight weeks and eases by three or four months. Colic, wind, reflux and what separates each from the others. What to try when the usual checklist has failed. And the part that matters most: it is safe to put a crying baby down in the cot and take ten minutes, and it is far better than reaching the end of your rope while holding them.
Illness and symptoms
Fever thresholds that change with age. Colds, coughs, croup, ear infections, the common childhood rashes, tummy bugs and the signs of dehydration. Jaundice, constipation, nappy rash, eczema, cradle cap. Cow's milk protein allergy and what makes it different from lactose intolerance. Giving medicine to a baby who spits it out. First aid for choking, burns and head bumps, and the button battery risk most parents have never been told about.
Growing and developing
Milestone ranges wide enough to cover almost every baby, and the specific things worth mentioning at a check. Tummy time, rolling, sitting, crawling and walking. Starting solids around six months, allergens, gagging versus choking, and fussy eating when it arrives. Speech and babbling. Teething, in the order the teeth actually come. Toddler tantrums, biting and the reason reasoning does not work mid-meltdown.
You
Bleeding, stitches, caesarean recovery, pelvic floor, going back to exercise, when periods and fertility return. Postnatal depression and postnatal anxiety, including the intrusive thoughts almost nobody says out loud and the fact that being horrified by them is exactly why they are anxiety. Sharing the load with a partner, your partner's own mental health, doing it on your own, and the comparison trap.
When to stop reading and call a doctor
This list is worth knowing by heart. Any of these, at any hour, means call your doctor or emergency services rather than waiting until morning.
Call emergency services now if your baby is not breathing normally, is blue or grey around the lips, is floppy or unresponsive, is having a seizure, is silently choking, or has a rash that does not fade when you press a clear glass against it.
- Breathing: fast, grunting, pauses, nostrils flaring, or skin sucking in between the ribs or under the throat
- Alertness: unusually sleepy, hard to wake, will not rouse for feeds, or a weak or high-pitched cry
- Temperature: 38°C or above under three months, 39°C or above from three to six months, or cold and mottled skin at any age
- Fluids: fewer than six wet nappies a day after day five, a dry mouth, no tears, or a sunken soft spot
- Tummy: green or bloody vomit, blood in the stool, a hard swollen tummy, or pale, white or chalky poo
- Skin: yellowing that spreads or lasts beyond two weeks
And the one that overrides every list: if your baby seems wrong to you, get them seen. A parent's instinct predicts serious illness better than most single symptoms.
If you are the one who is not safe, that counts too. Tell your midwife, health visitor or doctor exactly how you feel, or call a crisis line tonight. Postpartum Support International is on 1-800-944-4773 in the US, PANDAS is on 0808 1961 776 in the UK, and your maternity unit takes these calls at any hour.
Common questions
How much should a newborn sleep?
Around fourteen to seventeen hours in twenty-four, but in short bursts of two to four hours with no sense yet that night is different from day. That mix-up usually sorts itself out by six to eight weeks. Waking every few hours is the design, not a fault.
Why does my baby cry every evening?
Crying climbs from about two weeks, peaks around six to eight weeks and eases by three to four months, with the worst spells in the evening. Two to three hours a day at the peak is within the normal range for a healthy, well-fed baby. It is a stage, and it is not a verdict on your parenting.
How do I know my baby is getting enough milk?
Six or more wet nappies a day after day five, regular soft stools, back to birth weight by two weeks and steady gain after that. Those are the measures. How full your breasts feel, how much you can pump and how long a feed lasts are all unreliable.
When is a temperature dangerous in a baby?
Under three months, 38°C or higher needs a doctor the same day even if your baby seems fine. Between three and six months, that threshold is 39°C. Older than that, how they are behaving matters more than the number on the thermometer.
When can my baby start solid food?
Around six months, once they can sit with support, hold their head steady and get things to their mouth themselves. Chewing their fists and watching you eat are not signs on their own. Milk stays the main food until twelve months.
Is it safe for my baby to sleep in my bed?
The safest place is their own cot, on their back, in your room, for the first six months. If there is any chance you will fall asleep together, prepare the bed rather than pretending it will not happen: firm mattress, no duvet or pillow near them, baby on their back away from the edge, and never after alcohol or sedating medicine. Falling asleep together on a sofa or armchair is the highest-risk situation of all.
How do I know if it is postnatal depression?
Baby blues are weepy and up and down, start around day three to five and lift by about two weeks. If low mood, dread, flatness or constant anxiety has been there most of the day for more than two weeks, that is postnatal depression or anxiety. It affects roughly one in seven mothers, can start any time in the first year, and responds well to treatment. Tell your doctor using those words.
How often should a baby poo?
Breastfed babies range from after every feed to once a week after about six weeks, and both are fine as long as it is soft. Formula-fed babies are usually firmer and roughly daily. Straining and going red while producing a soft stool is not constipation, it is a baby learning to push while lying down.
When do babies start teething?
Usually around six months, though anywhere from three to twelve months is normal, starting with the bottom two front teeth. Expect a rough three to five days per tooth. High fever, diarrhoea or a body rash are not teething and should be checked.
Is it normal for my baby to be sick after every feed?
Bringing milk back up is normal for about half of babies under three months. If they are gaining weight and mostly content, it is more laundry than medicine and it fades as they mature. Forceful projectile vomiting, green or bloody vomit, poor weight gain or feed refusal all need a doctor.
How it works
Little Hours runs entirely in your browser. There is no sign-up, nothing to install and no account. It keeps your baby's age and name on your own device so you do not have to repeat yourself, and the "start over" link below clears that in one tap. It is an assistant rather than a person, and it does not replace your midwife, health visitor, doctor or a friend at the door.
General guidance for tired parents, not medical advice. If your baby seems unwell or you feel unsafe, contact your doctor, midwife or emergency services now. · Support Little Hours