Hi ds is 4 months old and is bf, still waking 2 times plus the df. He will eat, but by the way he eats, I don't think he really needs it. He eats slowly and is usually done within 10 minutes. He is bf and gets a bottle of formula for his df and I top him off with a bottle before he goes to sleep around 7. When he wakes up, he just starts with a slow ah, ah, ah, and if I go to look at him he is rubbing his face into the mattress and flipping his head from side to side (he sleeps on his belly b/c of his reflux). His eyes are completely shut and he is doing a long aaahhh, that he repeats over and over again, then he stops and looks like he is going to fall asleep, then he starts over again. I have been feeding him, but I don't think he needs it and it is affecting his day feeds b/c he won't eat much when he wakes up. I have tried to let him go but usually I get him after 15 minutes or so or if it escalates. Then I tried to pat/sh him (which is how we sleep trained him for his naps) and he did this for an hour, then fell back to sleep, then woke in the am very happy and ate great.
The interesting thing is that if I pick him up, it is like it startles him out of whatever zone he is in and his eyes pop open and he starts screaming until I feed him. It is like he is not really awake while he is doing this. I don't really think it is a mantra cry, I would say it is a little more urgent then that but it is also not a "I am really hungry cry and you better get in here and get me" cry either. Judging by the way he reacts when I pick him up, I don't think that PU/Pd will work for him and I think that pat/sh irritates him more then anything, so what should I do? If I don't do anything, isn't that the same thing as CIO?
If you need more info, let me know. He is on a 4 hour EASY with 1.5 to 2 hour naps at roughly 9 and 1 and a catnap at roughly 5, bedtime betwen 7 and 7:30, df at 10:30 (which sometimes he wakes before and gets a bottle), and wake time around 7.
Wake times are always either 1 and 4, 2 and 5 or 3 when he has one waking.
Thanks!!
Kim