For the past 3 weeks, I have been coming here and complaining about lo's nap, sleep and feed. Thank you all for your help.
I didn't have a set schedule before. I was giving milk whenever he cried and putting him to nap after 1-1/2 hours from the time he woke up. Since I will be going back to work soon and he will be in the daycare, I wanted him to be on a routine and came up with a schedule. Also, I want to get rid of his midnight feeding.
I read Tracy's book. According to her if the baby wakes up at different times during the night it might be he is hungry. So, I started tanking him up during the day. He is 8 weeks and 1 day old and he is around 10 pounds. I started feeding him 25 oz. (10 * 2.5) by 9:30 PM. I expected him to wake up 4-ish.
I asked for suggestions here for his nap time and I got a lot of help. Finally, yesterday he had very good naps during the day. I made sure, his naps weren't more than 2 hours and not more than 5-1/2 hours as Tracy suggests.
For the past 4 days I am trying to stick to the schedule. He wakes up anywhere between 12:00 and 2:00 in the night and won't go back to sleep. I shhhhh him from the time he wakes up until 4:00 AM. When I thought it would get better as the days go by, it went worse yesterday. He had 26 oz by 10:00 PM. He woke up @ 12:00 and I was trying to shhhhh. He was still twisting and turning every 5 minutes. So, I tried switching on the fan, he slept for 20 minutes and again woke up. At 2:05 he started crying. I picked him up and tried to shhhh him. Nope he won't go back to sleep. His diaper wasn't soiled either. So, finally I gave up and fed him @ 2:15 AM.
And I am confused about the feeding. I bottle feed him. I tried increasing his intake from 3.0 oz to 4.0 oz every feed. He finishes off the bottle until the last drop. Does that mean he is hungry? Should I feed him more? After I started feeding him more, he started spitting and started waking up with soiled diapers in the middle of the night. The amount of spitting is not too much though. He has a lot of gas. So, I am giving him gripe water every day. Is the amount of formula I give is increasing his gas? Should I slow down or give more than 4 oz per feed considering his weight?
My husband would like to help during the night. But, I am afraid that he doesn't have the patience to shhhh him that long and he might give up.
I am really desperate. I need sleep.
Jo
