Hello everyone. I am in deperate need of some help for my son. I am new the the board but I have read the books and have been spending time reading past posts to see if I can glean any help that way. I listed answers below to all of the questions in the "read first" section. I hope this helps. Here is our issue....
My son is 14 weeks old. He was on 3 Hour EASY until 12 weeks. On the 3 hour EASY, he was doing well at night. Would get a DF and have 2 night feedings (usually around 1/2 and 4/5). Then, at 12 weeks, we switched him to 3.5 Hour EASY. At first, the 3.5 Hour EASY seemed to be good for us. We would still do a DF at the normal time and have one NW at around 2/3 am for a feeding. Would go back down well. We usually would not have any other NW in between, and if so, he would settle quickly.
This worked okay at first, but slowly every day things have gone downhill and now we have a crazy amount of NW. This is the current situation.... Still on 3.5 hour EASY. He will go down okay for bedtime. However, for the dreamfeed, he seems to be getting more alert around the time of the DF. Previously, he would be dead asleep. Now sometimes he is even awake before we can get to him with the bottle. He will still take the DF okay most times and go back to sleep. However, then he will wake at almost every hour thereafter, and need settling. This is until a night feeding around 2/3. He will go back down well, but then need settling about an hour later. Sometimes he will then be fine until the morning, but other times he will resume the NW about every hour until he wakes up.
I can't put my finger on what is 'wrong' and how to get him on track. My suspicions are - I went back to work at 12 weeks (two weeks ago), and this is around when the problems started. I EBF, but now he is home with dad and is getting bottle during the day. He seems a lot more gassy (gas has been an issue for him always). Additionally, around 12 weeks, we moved him to 3.5 hour EASY (from 3 hour easy). The reason is that he started to eat more poorly during the day and seemed to not be hungry enough at 3.0 hours. He showed other signs of needing the transistion too (more active, etc.). I feel like the 3.5 hr schedule suites him pretty well. However, naps are still a bit of a challenge. He is sleeping better for his naps, but not great, and this is potentially the problem. Another issue that came up around week 12 was that he was not hungry in the morning and feeding him upon wake up would be a royal battle. He'd be happy, playful, but want NO FOOD at all. At this time we switched to 3.5 hour easy and reduced night feedings from 2 feeding to 1 feeding. This seemed to help the issue a little, but not totally. There are many mornings where he just does not want to eat (breast or bottle). Including today.
I am at the end of my rope and really need help. My husband and I are totally stumped on how to get the little guy back to a happy place. To make matters worse, next week is his last week at home with us. Then, he will be going to daycare full time. I am afraid if we don't take drastic measures to fix this, we will be in a real mess come time for daycare.
I really really appreciate any wisdom or help to get us through this. Thank you for reading.
How old is your child? - 14 weeks old
What’s his/her daily routine? - 3.5 Hour Easy. We put him down sometime between 7:00 and 7:30; wakes at around 7:00 am each day
What’s nap routine? - He goes down pretty well when he is on schedule, and naps good for the first 45 minutes. Usually has to be shushed back to sleep with paci to get the next 45 minutes. This is more successful for earlier naps in the day and it is harder at the end of the day. For naps we swaddle and either put in swing or crib. He does not seem to do better/worse in either the crib or the swing.
How long are naps? see above
What's bedtime routine? Time? - We have a consistant routine. Go to room, turn down lights, rock, change diaper and into jammies, put on white noise machine (it has a 45 minute timer), breastfeed, to bed.
Do you bottle or breastfed?? - Breastfeed. However, now that I am back at work (went back at 12 weeks), he gets bottle fed breastmilk during the day. For bottles, it ranges from 3-4 onces. I nurse for the bedtime feed and the night feed.
How much? or how long? - He usually feeds for 10-15 minutes
If breastfed.. one side or both?? (at each feed) - One side per feeding. It has been this way since he was about 3 weeks.
How many wakes per night? - This is the tough part - I need help!!!! Used to go down at 7:00, Dreamfeed at 10:00/10:30, and would go to about 2:00 +/- and wake for breastfeed, back down to the morning (wake around 7:00). Now this has all changed! He will be fine until dreamfeed, but now has started getting more "awake" around the time of the feeding instead of being in a deep sleep. He will still take the DF okay, even if more awake. However, now he will be up fussing at 12:00, 1:00, 2:00, etc. (about every hour), until I breastfeed. Then he will go back down okay, but get up maybe an hour hour the night feeding and need shussing and paci. This will be at least once, but now increasing more after the night feed.
What’s your LO like when waking at night? How long is he/she up? - When waking at night, he will be up for 5 minutes or so before going back down.
When you go to him/her is she fussing or crying? Or is it a mantra cry? - Sometimes fussing, sometimes crying. We try to wait him out if he is just fussing, as we know he USED to be able to put himself back to sleep. Now he is not doing it so well, so the fussing escalates to crying. After a few minutes of crying, we go in to settle him.
What have you tried to settle?? - Yes. To settle him, we leave him in the crib but put our hands on his chest/legs with firm pressure and give him the paci. We shush him if needed. It is very rare that we need to pick him out of the crib to calm him. It seems he is mostly uncomfortable from gas.
What do you do for A time and how long is it? - We are on 3.5 hour EASY, so activity time is about 1.45 minutes. We transistitioned to this about 2 weeks ago. Prior to this, he was on 3.0 EASY
Are there developmental issues such as teething or milestones? - I don't think so.
Have you introduced cereal? Why, how much, and how many times a day? (for LO’s under 6 months) - No, EBM (either breast or bottle).
Do they have a prop? If so what is it? - I hope its not me! No props that I can think of. He uses the paci, but I don't think he is dependent upon it. He will go down for some naps and his initial bedtime without it.
Do they have a lovie? - No
