BecJ... I have good and bad news!
The good news is we have settled on 3 hours 15 minutes A time before first sleep and 3 hours before second sleep. This is resulting in great sleeps, yesterday he had 1.5 hours in am and nearly 2 pm (and I had to wake him as it was just after 4.30). Also had to wake him the day before but the 2 before that he woke about 4/4.30. I then do around 3 hours awake time before bed time and he's asleep within seconds - in fact, he's asleep within second for day sleeps too.
Here's the problem though... I just can't get him to stretch out night feeds.
2 nights ago (Tuesday night) he fed at 6.44pm and then woke for a feed just before midnight (just over 5 hours later), then he woke at 5.20am (and he tried really hard to go back to sleep, I was watching him on the monitor.) as I was keen for extra sleep I brought him into bed with me, he screamed and I fed him 1 side and he then slept till 7am when DS1 came in.
Routine this day was
Awake 7.05
Asleep 10.20 to 12.00
Asleep 3.00 to 4.40
Asleep from 7.30
Last night (weds night) I fed him at 7.05pm and he woke about 10.30pm (not even 3.5 hours later), I fed him bothe sides and then he woke 2.45 (4 hours later), and then he stirred a bit from 5 but was awake from 7 (4 hours again).
Yesterday's routine was basically
Wake 6.55
Sleep 10.10 to 11.40
Sleep 2.40 to 4.35 (woke him up)
Asleep 7.30
On Tuesday I also moved him to 3 feeds a day, so roughly
7am feed
8.30 breakfast
12 lunch
2.30 feed
4.30 (or when wakes) snack
5.30 dinner
6.45/7.00 feed
7.30 bed
What I have noticed is that he self settles really well for all sleeps where he goes to sleep easily, maybe he finds it harder to resettle at night so he screams out for me?
Monday night (fed 6.30pm, 11.40pm and 3.50 - he woke around 1 hour earlier) I tried to offer water and resettle without a feed, but after 1 hour I gave up and fed him. He was asleep within minutes (as he always is after a feed - even though I'm sure to put him down awake, and once a night I change his nappy after the feed before putting him down).
Monday we came back from a weekend away (where his day sleep was awesome and nights got worse and worse) so I could put that down to only sleeping in the car that day perhaps, Tuesday was better but for the early waking (but maybe I should have left him) and Wednesday night was crappy, not sure why? Too much arvo sleep maybe? But I would have thought the 7.30 bed time makes up for that?
Sorry about the massive post - this little guy does my head in... I'm not far off booking him into sleep school, but was hoping you might have an idea what's going on before I do?
Thanks in advance!