Lots of questions about NW, swaddle, etc

[Jenybean2]

Hi - My name is Jen - I am just recently joining the forums again - they were a great help before with my oldest and now I'm having questions with my 3 month old - so I am returning for some help.  During the last 2 weeks I've been thinking constantly.. "what would Tracy do...."... so I'm hoping you can all help me

My son is 3 months old (next week).

Here is his schedule:

Eat - 7:30 am
Sleep - 9:00 am

Eat - 10:30am
Sleep - 12noon

Eat - 1:30pm
Sleep - 2:30/2:45 (doesn't last til 3pm)

Eat - 4:30
Sleep - 6pm ("cat nap" - but he sleeps until we wake him at 7:30pm for next feed) - how do I get this shorter?... should he be waking on his own from this?

Eat - 7:30pm (4-5oz - breast milk bottle)
Sleep - 8pm

11pm - dream feed (5-5 1/2 oz breast milk bottle)

I have a few concerns/questions..... He wakes up every night at 4am... once in awhile he wakes at 3:15am.... If we put the pacifier in and re-swaddle (if needed).. he goes back to sleep.. but just until 45/60 mins later  :O(... and this then continues the rest of the morning usually... every 45 mins or so.   Should I be feeding him at 4am??  (he is breastfed... but he gets pumped bottles too...and gets about 5 oz at 7:30 and 11pm feeds)  I was feeding him around 5am... because the constant waking was tiring. but he would eat from 10-15 mins... seemed short..like a snack which I wasn't sure if I should encourage... often his 7:30am feed wasn't good then either.  Advice??

We also use a pacifier... and often if we go in at 4am we put the paci back in... reswaddle (and re position since he often gets himself in the corner of the crib "stuck")... and then put his lullabye music back on... are we using props??... or is he just hungry?  He takes 3-5 oz at all his feeds.. and he is about 14lbs.

He is the type of baby that if caught at the "right time" for naps I can just change him, swaddle, and put down in crib with paci.. and he goes right to sleep... night time too... so is he just hungry?/  Or is he wanting the breast as a comfort to go back to sleep?  He is also breaking out of the swaddle all the time.. or getting his arms out (started sucking on hand a lot)... but I'm confused if his hands are comforting him so we should break the swaddle habit... or if they are upsetting to him because his hands don't produce food ;o).

Soo to recap my questions:
Should I be feeding him at 4am when he wakes?
Is the paci, re-swaddle, music back on a prop??
Should I stop the swaddle?

thanks so much - this forum saved my sanity with my first little guy and I know reading and talking to all of you will help me again this time.
Any advice is helpful!! 

[Bex09]

Hi there and welcome back to the forum.

So to answer your questions. I would imagine if your DS isn't settling back to sleep for too long then he is probably hungry by this time yes. That is about a 5 hr stretch, which at 3 mo is really great. I doubt he is waking just for comfort from you, as a prop like that would generally cause a lot more NW than just one and he isn't fed to sleep is he?

Only you can decide if you need to wean the swaddle really, often when LOs start to break out it will disturb sleep as they are just not used to the freedom. We weaned our DD from the swaddle at around 4 mo because she was breaking out and this was causing more trouble from her fighting it.

As for props, a prop is something that a LO has to have to fall asleep and then needs to be able to fall back to sleep if they wake. So if your DS has to have the paci and the lullaby music to fall asleep and is waking needing it again then it would be a prop. These things could become props if you use them for your DS to always get to sleep (or back to sleep in the night) because he will expect them in order to resettl yk? HTHs.

[Cheryl138]

My lo is fourteen weeks, so we've just passed through this stage! He was very ready to move to a 3.5 hour easy and lengthen his a times, this improved his night sleep somewhat.

We have also just weaned the swaddle, still use it for ot naps, but he now sleeps in grow bag, and this is hopefully a step towards weaning dummy from sleep times as without the swaddle hevpulls the dummy out and sucks his hand - last night I heard him self settle this way at 10.30

On the feeding front, if you feed at four, oes he take a full feed, then go back out properly? If so, I'd feed, and have the long term aim of pushing this feed back by five minute increments every couple of nights to stretch his sleep.

[Jenybean2]

Hi!! 
Thanks so much for writing back - life was crazy for us over the last few days and I haven't got to write back until now - but I read everything as soon as you wrote it:).  I am now feeding my LO when he wakes up in the wee hours of the morning .. because I think you are right that he is hungry... he now goes back to sleep until 7:30am usually (sometimes I have to wake him too).  Thanks for your advice. 

Well - we have stopped swaddling at night - but we still do it at naps.  LO is getting his dream feed around 11pm (sometimes 11:30) and slept until 5/5:30 am several nights in a row after we got rid of the swaddle.  But the last two nights he woke up around 4am again... I'm wondering if he's going through a growth spurt because he seems hungry quicker all day than normal... but the problem is that he doesn't seem to eat for long...like 20 mins....(breastfeed)... I'm going to post on the eat forums questions about the eating because my first ate a lot at every meal.. and this little guy seems full much quicker.  So if he is going through a growth spurt... not sure how to increase his feeds during the day... if he won't eat more oz (pumped milk) and/or eat for longer...thanks for your help!!

[Bex09]

Hey thanks for the update, glad things are going well. the feeding issues do sound like it could be a GS. Sure you will get help on your feeding post with that. At least if it is a GS then it shouldn't last too long.