Everything was going great until........

[mmsanders]

My LO hit 16 weeks and I decided it was time to drop the 5am feed. My husband took over the nightime duty and I slept in the guest room for three nights. It seemed to work, but we created a paci addict in the process. So then he went to waking every 45 minutes all night long to get the paci put back in. So we went cold turkey on getting rid of the paci. The first 2 days went fine, but the last 6 have been hell. He cries so much, which he never did before and is so hard to get to sleep. He caught a cold and we started vaccines this week. I feel like I messed up a perfect little situation to follow the book and now I don't even know where to begin to repair things. The props moderator suggested that I not wean the paci while my little guy is sick, but what about being up every 45 minutes all night.

I really don't know what to do and LOVE some help

My DS is 17 weeks old and sticks to EASY ok during the day, but the 2nd and catnap are a mess these days. He gets a df at 11pm then wakes at 3 and then 6 or so. He falls asleep at the breast, but he is so upset if I don't feed him or give him the paci.

I hope this is enough background and I would so appreciate some help!

Thanks!
Michelle

[binxyboo]

Are you not doing any night feeds at all now? I think at least one, if not more are totally common at that age, esp for a bf baby. Also, I am pretty sure I remember a growth spurt around that time.

My name is Michelle also!

[mmsanders]

Thanks for the quick response. Today I am doing a df at 11pm and then a feed around 4-5am and then the first morning feed around 7-8. So he is getting at least 6 feeds a day.

What would you suggest?

[mmsanders]

And I think you are right, we hit a growth spurt too right in the middle of things!

[*Mona*]

hi can you give us an example of his typical day? including all naps and feedings?

now, at least one night feeding his age IS normal, I have sure been BFing my dd at night once around his age as well.

so, how have you been?

Monika

[mmsanders]

I will just give you our schedule from yesterday. It was similar today, except we had to

E 4am
E 7:00
A > 8:45
S 9:00-10:30
E 10:40
A >12:15 took my daughter to dance class
S 12:30, woke up after 20 minutes, took 30 minutes to get back to sleep and slept until 2:00. Total 50 minutes of sleep
E 2:30
A >3:00
S 3:10 only 45 minutes and tried to get back  to sleep for 40 minutes
A > 5:30
E 5:45 slept for 10 minutes while we both fell asleep at the breast and then wouldn't nap
A >6:45
E a last snack before bedtime, the timing didn't work well for the end of the day feed.
DF at 11:15
woke up at 3, 4, 5 and got a feed then.

And then we start all over again.

The one thing I find is that his first nap of the day is coming together. He slept for 2 hours this morning, so that makes me hopeful.

We also decided to give back the paci last night. We need to get him well and back on a routine and then deal with it again. I think I tried to tackle too much too quickly.

Also I am having a hard time seeing how to meet his sleep needs and get his sister to the places she needs to be too. Any insights into this would be great.

Thanks!
Michelle

[*Mona*]

hi

 actually I think you're on the right track, managing both LOs really well
his morning nap looks great, mid-day one ok, keep on working on getting him back to sleep, afternoon one- I'd definitely move to around 4pm as he's probably not tired enough to nap properly from around 3 pm. besides, you'd want to move him to 3 longer naps a day at his age, so that should help too.

DF- too late. try giving him DF at around 10:30pm. too late DF often because the cause of frequent night wakings.
if he wakes at night- try feeding him around 4 maybe, not 5 as 5am is too close to his first morning feed.

does it all make sense?
hth
Monika

[mmsanders]

Monika,

Thanks for the reply. We had a MUCH better day today. I am feeling like giving the paci back was a really good choice for me and my family. Today we just stayed home, it was supposed to snow a lot and didn't, and just played and watched for cues to see what he did naturally. He seemed pretty happy with a 3-3.5 schedule. He took a one hour morning nap, 1.5 hour afternoon nap, then a monster 2.5 hour nap from 1:30-4, and lastly a catnap at 5. We both fell asleep again at the breast at bedtime, but I can work on that. I did the df at 10:30 as you suggested and we'll see how tonight goes. He went 7 hours between feeds last night, but needed the paci put back in 4 times between 2:30-4am. Moving the df up makes a lot of sense.

I will let you know how things worked out.

Thanks,
Michelle

[binxyboo]

Glad things are getting smoother. What time did he end up having his night feed at?

[mmsanders]

He had his df at 10:30 and then the next feed at 5:15am. He woke up 4 times between 2:00-3:30am and needed the paci. Then he woke for the day at 7:15 like usual.

I think I need to move up the early feed to more like 4:00am so that we start the day on track. Any thoughts about this? But I really want to get rid of it so I am not sure what to do.

Thanks,
Michelle

[binxyboo]

Have you ever tried not dream feeding and see what time he would sleep until?

He woke up 4 times for his paci within an hour and a half? Do you think he would have accepted a feed at that time?

[mmsanders]

I have done that and he consistently wakes between 11:15-11:30pm if I don't do a df.

I am sure he would have taken a feed then (around 2:30), but not a full feed. We did that the week before when I thought he was going through a growth spurt and that is why I think he is waking now. He was sleeping from 11-5 before that. I think this is the paci addict coming out here. All he needs is a plug and that is it. What are you thinking about it?

Thanks,
Michelle

[mmsanders]

Just an update.

Last night he woke up for his df at 10:30 and then for the paci at 2:30 and 3:00, only 2 times last night Then he had a feed at 4:20, where we both fell asleep and then woke at 7:00 for the day. It still isn't great, but it does feel like a little bit of an improvement.

I think my plan tonight is to try to feed him his last awake meal a little earlier so he doesn't fall asleep and I know he is getting a full feed, then df at 10:30 and then go from there.

Again I would love some input.

Thanks!
Michelle