7 week old sleep issues

[bbandit]

Hello!  I've been visiting the Baby Whisperer site for years now and have followed her book w/ all three of my children.  However, I'm finding myself at a loss w/ some of my son's sleep issues. 

I'm very blessed to say that at 7 weeks he's sleeping a good amount of time.  Last night he nursed at about 6:45 p.m. and was down for the night by 7:30.  I do a dream feed around 11 p.m. and he woke up to eat at 3:30 a.m.  So, that's 8 hours.  He stays asleep during his 3:30 a.m. feeding, but he must not be in a deep sleep b/c he starts to stir as soon as I put him back down.  I usually get up and down to pacify him (several times) until about 5:30 a.m. and then I give in and put him in bed with me (Bad, I know).  But, this gets him to stay asleep w/o fuss until about 7:30 a.m.  All in all, he's asleep for 12 hours.  But, I just would like to rid him of the "up and downs" from 3:30 to 5:30.  I know that can't be restful sleep for him, b/c it certainly isn't for me.  Any suggestions?  Do I try to extend his first stretch of sleep?  Or, do I somehow try to stop the early morning fragmented sleep instead?  I'll write out his schedule below so it's easier to follow...

6:40 p.m. eat
7:30 down for the night
11:00 p.m. dream feed
3:30 a.m. cries, so he's nursed in his sleep
3:40 a.m. stirs, starts to cry, go pacify him
4:30 a.m. stirs, starts to cry, go pacify him
5:30 a.m. stirs, starts to cry, give in to my sleepiness and pull him into bed w/ me (sometimes nurse again)
7:30 a.m. wakes up for the day

Thank you in advance for any help you might have!!  I tried to read through a lot of the FAQ, so I hope I'm not repeating something that has been posted a lot.  But, his day time schedule (which I'll ask about on the nap board) keeps me occupied most of the day and leaves little time for reading. 

Thanks,
Trisha

[josylyn15]

Maybe b 4 u put him down at 3:30 if you see that he is restless sit with him until he is still.  Once you get him in bed pat his back or rub his tummy until he is back in a deep sleep.  If you look at the shh pat in the book she talks about if you don't wait until he is really asleep then you will be back in and out for hours. I think he is younger then when she says to do the shh pat but I think that maybe that info could apply here.

I'm just thinking that he is like you said not in a deep sleep when you leave the room so he is wanting his mommy, then he gets into a deep sleep when he is in bed with you.
good luck
(pretty good sleeper for 7 weeks though : ) )

[bbandit]

Thanks for the replies.  I am trying my best to stay on some sort of EASY routine, but it's difficult b/c his naps are very fragmented.  In the last day or two he has learned to fall asleep on his own in his bed, so hopefully that will help things along. 

I can tell you that he wakes up most days around 7:30 a.m.  He seems to start to get a little restless around the 40 minute mark of being awake.  If I haven't started to swaddle him by 45 minutes then he melts down!  Depending on how long we can get him to sleep, we are either on a 2 1/2 hour or 3 hour EASY.

I do think you are right and I wasn't waiting long enough to put him back to bed after that middle of the night feeding.  Last night, I waited a while and put him down and I didn't hear another peep from him for 3 hours. 

I have a new question though.   His bed time has moved earlier and earlier.  He is now eating around 6:45 and then he's down for the night at about 7:30.  With this earlier bed time, he is waking up at about 2 a.m. rather than his old 3:30 a.m.  I dream feed about 11 p.m. and don't really want to do it later than that or I won't get much sleep.  Should I feed him more frequently before bedtime?  Should I pacify him and see if I can put the night feeding out a little farther?  He does nurse well at that 2 a.m. feeding, but only for a handful of minutes. 

Thanks so much!!

Trisha 

[muddyfeet]

I think you should try a little bit of the "tanking up" Tracy talks about before his bed. It's feeding every 2 hours I think, and I'm going to refer you to the books because mine's on my Kindle which is currently in dead-battery status.

Also, you might try a small, soft, baby-safe "lovey" toy that smells like you to carry him into the early AM sleep cycles.

[josylyn15]

With the tanking up you would nurse at say 5 and then 7 and then at 11 again.
I think your bed time is good, my baby is 5 months and he goes down between 7 and 8 just depending on the day (most days 7:30ish).  The baby whisperer says bedtime around 7 also, but if you do want him to go to bed later what about a walk in the stroller before bath time and he could have a little sleep or relaxing time and maybe that would get him through his bath time a little later.  We go for a walk between 5:30 - 6:00 come home, dad gets some play time for 15 mins or so then we do bath, book, lotion/massage, bottle and bed.

At 7 weeks old I would still feed him when he wakes up in the middle of the night.  Everything I read said that until they are closer to 4 months they can not make it that long without food.  We started not feeding around 4 months and he started sleeping through till around 6:30 - 7 am and then we get up for the day.
Also if he's nursing well at 2 he must be hungry, my guy also ate 4 a short time and then it was easy to drop that feed later.

Good luck, lets us know how it goes.
Also, I don't know about a stuffed animal, in Canada they say no blankets, pillows or stuffed animals b/c they can suffocate on them : (  Maybe a bit extreme but...
 

[muddyfeet]

They say the same here about blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals.  The "lovey" I let my LO have was smaller than her head and firm...about the size of a beanie baby but not a soft toy. I verified that she couldn't obstruct both nose and mouth by placing it in multiple positions on her face and under her. It was small enough and firm enough that even if she tried to bury her whole face in it, she couldn't cover her whole face and even when she rested her head on it she rolled right off of it.

[josylyn15]

Sounds neat, I think its all a little much, like it sucks that we can't have bumper pads now.  My little guy keeps rolling over and getting limbs stuck in the bars, waking up scared and upset.  I'm like "thats why they use to have BUMPER PADS!" ha ha ha!

[muddyfeet]

There are some mesh bumper pads on the market now that are safer. I just Googled "mesh bumper pads" and got a lot of results. You might look at them to see if you think they're safe. 

[bbandit]

So last night was a pretty good night.  He was in bed by about 7:15, dream feed at 11:00 and then he woke to eat at 3:00 a.m.  I did as suggested, and held him for a few minutes afterward to make sure he was really sleeping again.  He went down easily and stayed down until about 5:30 a.m. ...which raises another question.  Is it pretty typical for the second waking to be so close to the first?  He is going so long w/o eating that first stretch, so it seems pretty strange that he would eat at 3 and then need to eat again as early as 5 or 5:30.  Should I try to stretch him?  Or is this his way of trying to get the calories back he missed during the night? 

Thanks,
Trisha