6 Week Old Baby: Peak Crying, First Smiles and What to Expect

Your Baby at 6 Weeks Old

A 6 week old baby is often at the height of the normal newborn crying period — the Canadian Paediatric Society describes a "peak" of crying around 3 to 12 weeks — while also becoming more sociable, with coos and the first smiles emerging. Feeds run on cue, and a 6 week old may sleep as much as 18 hours a day, for 3 to 4 hours at a time. The first routine immunisations are usually given around 2 months.

Your 6 week old baby can be a study in contrasts: crying that peaks around now, and the first real smiles landing in the same week. Both are normal, and the smiles are a sign of just how much is developing.

This guide covers what to expect this week: the crying that often peaks now and how to cope, the smiles and coos emerging, feeding and sleep, and the 2-month checkup on the horizon.

Your Life This Week: The Parent Experience

Six weeks in, you may be at the crossover point where crying peaks just as the first smile arrives — depleting and tender at once. The Canadian Paediatric Society is reassuring about the crying: it's normal, has no lasting effect on your baby, and it will get better.

When the crying feels like too much, the CPS advises putting your baby down somewhere safe, like their crib, and stepping away for a few minutes to calm yourself. Lean on help, take breaks, and never shake your baby.

The "baby blues" affect up to 80% of new mothers and usually ease within a few weeks, the Canadian Paediatric Society notes. If low mood, anxiety or a sense of disconnection lingers or feels heavier than that, it may be postpartum depression, which affects about 13% of new mothers, and as many as 10% of fathers. It is treatable — please tell your doctor or public health nurse.

Feeding Your 6 Week Old Baby

A 6 week old baby feeds on cue. The Canadian Paediatric Society advises feeding on demand — whenever your baby is hungry — and describes frequent feeding (8 to 12 times over 24 hours) as normal in the early weeks. For formula, follow the feeding chart on your formula's packaging and let your baby's cues guide the amount. The CPS signs of feeding well still apply: six or more wet diapers a day, a content baby, and steady weight gain.

Cluster feeding and fussiness may still be around, often at their most intense during the normal peak crying period of 3 to 12 weeks. This is normal and temporary. The Canadian Paediatric Society is clear that colic happens in both breastfed and bottle-fed babies, and that switching formulas probably won't reduce crying — so offer calm, paced feeds and comfort rather than reaching for a change.

Whether you breastfeed, formula feed or combine the two, your baby's rapid brain and vision development runs on the right nutrients — DHA, iron and vitamin D among them. If breastfeeding isn't an option, the Canadian Paediatric Society advises a store-bought, iron-fortified, cow-milk-based infant formula for the first 12 months — fortified to provide these.

A note on formula this week. A peak-crying week can make you doubt your formula, but crying at this age is a phase, not a product problem. Keep feeds calm and paced. MOF's organic Stage 1 formulas, such as HiPP Dutch Stage 1, are iron-fortified and suitable from birth through 6 months, providing the DHA, iron and vitamin D your baby needs. Formula is a good choice whenever it's the right one for your family.

Sleep at 6 Weeks: What's Normal & How to Help

A 6 week old baby may sleep as much as 18 hours a day, for 3 to 4 hours at a time, according to the Canadian Paediatric Society — and waking to feed at night is normal and healthy. Some babies begin to show a slightly longer stretch, but settled nights aren't here yet.

This is developmentally on track. The Canadian Paediatric Society notes that sleep habits become more predictable sometime after 3 months, so from here you may gradually see the first hints of longer sleep. No method will force settled nights before your baby's body is ready.

Keep reinforcing day and night: bright, active days and calm, dim, quiet nights. Put your baby down drowsy but awake when you can, and protect your own rest where possible.

Safe sleep reminder: always place your baby on their back for every sleep, on a firm flat mattress with a tightly fitted sheet and no loose, soft items, in a crib, cradle or bassinet in your room for the first 6 months. The Canadian Paediatric Society advises this lowers the risk of SIDS.