Thanks so much for your response! Here is our routine--it has been pretty regular for the past few of days.
Wake/Feed 6:00am He is a quick feeder
Activity 6:30-7:20 Very low key/walking around the house, sitting quietly
Wind down 10 min he falls asleep very easily and usually does not get back up for at least 45min
Sleep 7:30-9:00 that's obviously our goal; if it doesn't happen I keep trying for at least 30 min which
puts us at a 45 min deficit
When he wakes up early, sometimes we take a walk, sometimes I try to play with him, sometimes I buckle down and feed him a half an hour early.
This cycle repeats for the whole day (eat @ 9, 12, 3) until late afternoon--I try to cluster at 5:30 and 7:30, during which times I am only looking for catnaps (he is very fussy after these); then bath and bed at 8/8:30. He has been waking up a few minutes before the dream feed. Then he will wake at around 2am and not again until 6:00am.
He was very congested the past week so we took him in to the pedi. Turns out he is congested due to reflux and even had an ear infection--so he is on Prevacid and Omnicef. Because of that, I have been doing a bit of accidental parenting the past two days, and when he wakes after 45 min, I have rocked him for 5-10 minutes and then put him back down. I was so concerned about him getting enough rest to fight the infection, I just wanted to make sure he slept. To be truthful, it has worked like a dream today. For the first time ever he took two great naps, one decent one, and acceptable catnaps.
I go in every nap after 35 min and wait for him to stir--I place my hands on his body but he starts tossing his head back and forth. He HATES pat/shh--sometimes I sing to him but he almost always starts wailing so I have to pick him up anyway. He will not go back into the crib unless he mostly asleep. I tried w2s once but that was very traumatic for both of us so I really don't want to go through that again.
What do you think are appropriate activity times for a baby his age--now 8 1/2 weeks?
