Cluster feeds and catnaps???

[careenk]

Hi all,

I really want to follow the EASY routine, but are having some difficulties...

My LO is 4 week sold and started really well on a 3 hour eating routine (i did wake him at the beginnig every 3 hours if he was sleeping).
 I am now struggling to get him to sleep after his A time.  I do watch for that first yawn and immediately swaddle him and lay him.  He is now beginnig to really fight the swaddle and cry once I swaddle him.  Not sure why this can be?  I have started to introduce a dummy, which seems to work wonders, but feel kind of bad to swaddle him and lay him down with his dummy.  It does take him really long to fall asleep, so do I wake him anyway for his next 3hr feed, even if he just slept 30-40mins??

Also, having much difficulty to introduce cluster feeds and catnaps.  As he takes so long to fall asleep, he hasnt slept at all till his next feed time, so not sure if I should leave him longer so he does actually get a bit of sleep?

And DF is also a struggle....i have tried at different times to try and cacth him in different sleep phases, but he is just not interested in my boob at all!!  Then, at 11:30pm or 12pm, he will wake wanting a feed...may even be 4 hrs since his last feed.
I will try tonight to express for his DF and maybe introduce it with a bottle to see whether he takes that.

Any help would be much appreciated!!

thanks 

[amayzie]

With the DF- i would suggest you keep trying at it- i had to sort of use my finger to try to open my guy's lips and get a bit of milk on his lips ready so he knows hy he's there.. After a few goes at it it all clicked in to place and he would start rooting about as soon as i picked him up. I think i left the DF till closer to 6-8 weeks. It worked really well for us- but it doesn't for everyone...

How long is your A time at the moment?

[careenk]

hi,
thank you for your reply!  activity time is about 45mins-1hr15mins...that includes his feed and change.  so it just depends on when i see that first yawn or he stares into space!

he's had perfect EASY days the last couple of days, even started his DF!  my questions now are:

1)with the second cluster feed at 8pm - do they stay asleep or do I wake him for this?
2)at around 6-8 weeks when we cut out the second cluster feed, and say make it at 6pm, do they generally then have their next feed as the DF at 10pm?  will he last till then?
3)he woke up this morning at 2am, then again at 5:30am, but with starting the EASY at 7am, do I leave him until he wakes up or do I wake him again at 7am, even if he only slept again since 6:30am for example?  or can i just adjust so maybe wake him 7:30am, and adjust rest of the day with 15min slots, so he will eat 7:30am, 10:15am, 1pm and then continue on normal 3hr routine?

thanks

[amayzie]

Ok- so in anser to question 2: Generally babies start doing a long patch of sleep at night and this is often from 7pm (or so) till 12 or 1am.. not so handy as you probably WON"T be doing your long stretch of sleep at the same time!! So the dream feed is a way to kind of break up the long stretch so he may do it from 10:30-4:30 or so... SO- the answer is yes- he should be able to make it to 10 or 10.30 or so.

with the third question- at this age (and with us all ages) i would not wake at 7am- especially if he's just gone back to sleep- let him sleep and adjust the day to suit- as in start counting your A times from the wake up and feed time.

I didn't do a very formal cluster feeding arrangement so i'm not sure- but i wonder if you could see if he just sleeps through needing the 8pm feed. I think sometime cluster feeding is more to give you the option of feeding them every time they wake in that evening period. He may not need the feeds and be ready to just go to the dream feed.