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I don't know what "normal is" but both of my kids were the "eating, sleeping, pooping, followed by more sleeping" kind of babies. They were both grunty and gassy from weeks 4-8 (and also seemed like they had a harder time settling around then; the "witching hours" were in full force).
But neither had colic. Our neighbors kid had that; that poor baby screamed 8+ hours a a day. Those poor parents.
Enjoy your sleepy hungry little babe! Those all sound like good things to me congrats!

DS1 was born at 35 weeks, no NICU stay but he was definitely what you describe for your preemie. He took way longer to ‘wake up’ so to say in his temperament than DS2 who was born at 40+4 and only had like a week of newborn sleepies and then cried and was fussy and high maintenance. So yes, I vote normal and also normal for siblings to be so wildly different!

Congrats on being home! My non preemie baby had reflux so did cry/fuss some while eating but not for the first couple of weeks. Also cried in carseat. Otherwise she barely cried and slept constantly in our arms and 4 hours at night by a few weeks. Was alert while awake but not awake much! She’s now a very alert, happy, great-sleeping 11 month old.

My first son was like your first - cried nonstop, horrific reflux and never slept. It was total hell.

My second son, although not a great sleeper, is MUCH more laid back and doesn't cry that much at all and I think he's more like a typical baby. Hope it continues for you!

@Foodnerd81: This was my experience too. My first cried a lot and didn’t sleep well. Our second was the opposite literally from birth. She’s a little more resistant to sleep now that she’s a toddler though.

My full term baby was exactly like you described. He slept, pooped and basically grunted/squeaked to indicate hunger. I’m not exaggerating when I say he slept probably 20 hours/day. He didn’t cry much. He definitely went through a colicky phase around 2-3 months, but he was a blissful newborn. Congrats on your bundle!

E was pretty much like this, she was born healthy at 38 weeks.

This is totally normal - enjoy it! My first was also colicky literally from the first night. My second was the quintessential "sleep like a baby" newborn. Those early days were honestly such a dream because he was so easy and snuggly! Interestingly, he was not a preemie, but spent 8 days in the NICU. There might be something to do being born right into an environment where they have to sleep through bright lights and loud noises!

You baby sounds like LO2 (born at 37+2). For the first 3 months she was very sleepy and never cried unless she was hungry or pooped. I was worried because LO1 was WIDE AWAKE from birth and was fussy and let us know he needed attention all the time.

All three of mine have been distinctly different. So far, each one has had their moments. My middle was by far the easiest baby though...very much like what you are describing. Even into toddlerhood he napped a ton and enjoyed it, and it totally freaked me out! My first on the other hand was not quite as not-sleepy as your first, but cried for hours and hours too.

I think right now you should just enjoy it and try not to worry unless told otherwise by your doctor. I'm sure he's already been evaluated and at the moment, whether it's something or it's nothing, the best thing for all of you is to just be enjoying this time and bonding and all of that.

So my kids were born 41+2, 38+2 and 36+4 and as they get more premature they got more sleepy. Both DD1 and the twins were basically only up to eat for a really long time. And as others have said because of the NICU time my twins were very independent sleepers from the get go. My second also learned really quickly (maybe because she had to since I was solo for much of the week?) but it was definetly the most work to get my first to sleep and he loved to sleep on me during the day for a long time.

So I vote: Totally normal behavior. Sometimes I felt as though I wasn't cuddling them enough but I think through BF they got their cuddling time then.

Normal! Enjoy!

Sounds normal! My second was like this. Enjoy!