6 weeks corrected age (12 weeks actual)

[LAGonzalez80]

My daughter was born at 34 weeks so while her actual age is 12 weeks, her corrected age is 6 weeks.  I'm assuming I should treat her like a 6 week old, correct?

We have been in the process of implementing the EASY schedule however, we are having major problems with nap time (we do the shhh pat for at least 10 min after she falls asleep).  Sometimes I have to go back in and continue to do the shhh/pat for an entire 2 hours resulting in her not getting a nap at all.  Other times, she'll nap for 45 min. Yesterday, she napped for 2 hours.

Any ideas/solutions?  My pediatrician mentioned that 6-8 weeks (I'm assuming corrected age) are the fussiest times...should I expect things to go more smoothly once these couple of weeks pass?

Also, she does not seem to be breastfeeding for long enough during the dream feed. Since she is so sleepy, it is a struggle just to get her to latch (I've tried putting my breast to her lower lip...etc).  I find that I need to change her diaper to get her to wake long enough and even then, she only sucks for about 10 min (a normal feed for her is 30 -35 min).  Any suggestions?  She continues to wake at 2:30 or 3am, I reswaddle her and she falls back asleep with some soothing, however, she'll do that every hour until around 5am where I give in and feed her.

What can I do to help her sleep routine??  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

A couple of things jump out at me (sorry no experience with a preemie, I know they do eventually catch up age wise but I think it is much later?). The middle of the night feed...if she doesnt settle well until she is fed, I would go ahead and feed her on the first wake. Many BF babies cant go that long at night - DD2 had 3 night feeds untils she was 5/6 months old that were hunger, not habit driven.

Second, I personally would not bother to shh/pat for 2 hours if she isnt napping. EASY is meant to be a routine not a strict schedule so sometimes feeds and naps are not "on time" but you can still work to keep the E and S separate and teach self soothing. What does her day look like right now?

[LAGonzalez80]

Thank you for your response!  Knowing that preemies don't catch up until around 2 years old, I'm just using the 6 week corrected age as my marker.

Her routine is exactly as (or tries to be) as outlined per the 3 hour routine in the Baby Whisperer book.

7am wake-feed
7:30- activity
8:30- nap (or attempt to nap)
10am wake-feed
10:30 activity
11:30 nap (or attempt to nap)
 and so on.

Last feeding is at 7pm and she is usually finished by 7:30 which is when we being to wind down.  I df at 10:30pm.

She is not self soothing yet even though I wait a few minutes before I go in to comfort her after she starts getting upset.  She was waking at the exact same time every night after her last feed, so per the info I read in the book, this seemed to be habit driven.  Is there another way to tell the difference? How did you know it was hunger, not habit with your daughter?

She would fall asleep with the shh/pat, I would continue for 10 minutes, and about 10 minutes after I finish, she wakes again.  It is very clear to me that she is tired, but she just won't stay asleep. I feel terrible because I know she is tired and needs sleep, and as outlined in the book, the more tired they get, the harder it is for them to sleep well.  I just don't know what else to do!

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

((((hugs)))) these babies dont make it very "easy" sometimes!

I knew DD was hungry at night because she would try and latch onto anything...even my ear! Nothing but a feed settled her and then one night she just slept through.

Do you go by time for naps or do you observe her sleep signs? ie yawns, eye rubbing.  Some kids do okay on a timed scheduled and others dont (lol just put DD3 down too earl for her last nap she wasnt impressed....she needs me to wait for tired signs and ignore the clock!).

What types of things are you doing duing A time? Some babies get overstimulated easy so that could be something to consider as well.

[LAGonzalez80]

No, they sure don't! And it is my first, so needless to say, sometimes I feel totally lost!

Maybe my little one is just too young to go all night without eating since her corrected age is 6 weeks.  The thing is, a couple of times, she has woken up in the middle of the night, and I just reswaddle her and she goes back to bed.  I certainly don't want to deprive her of milk if she is hungry, but I figured if she was that hungry, wouldn't she be more persistent.  Either way, I guess for now I should continue to feed her even after we do the dream feed.

I wanted to go by time for naps, but immediately learned I just need to observe her sleep signs.  Right now, the only sleep signs I know from her are yawns and heavy eyelids.  I hope I learn more of her signs soon so that I can give her what she needs when she needs it.  I am finding that her A time is much shorter than the book suggests, but I don't want to try and force her to stay awake.

The things we do during A time to avoid overstimulated are mainly talking (me talking to her and hearing her coo or watching her just stare at me), reading books (even though she couldn't care less- haha) and sometimes we do tummy time.  I had her using her play gym and one time I think it was too close to naptime because she had a tough time falling asleep even though she was tired.  It has a bunch of lights and music and that may be something more appropriate for the beginning of A time.

Today she just didn't want to nap at all.  My husband came home after work and he had a difficult time too.  The pediatrician mentioned that babies are fussiest between 6-8 weeks and since she is just beginning that time frame in terms of corrected/developmental age, maybe that is what is happening.

Either way, I hope that with consistent wake/feeding times, and the same EASY routine order (even if S time is a struggle for now), hopefully we'll get there.

If you have any other tips or ideas, I'd love to hear them.  Maybe I'm just trying to do too much too soon.  The BW book mentions the 6 weeks-3 months routine for dream feed and then eating again at 7am, but perhaps I need to allow for feeds in between even though she mentioned that babies should be able to go at least 6 hours at this age?

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Honestly, with a bf baby I would go by baby's cues to feed. I know that some of the bf advice in the bw books is outdated. "Should" doesnt mean "can" yk? Breast milk is so easily digested that lots of babies need night feeds for a lot longer than the book suggests. I actually feed on demand and still do easy I just follow cues. Out of my 3 only one did well by a rigid clock schedule. Yawns are the only sign I am really getting here too.

Oh, that reminds me have you done the know your baby quiz? Temperment can have an impact too!

[LAGonzalez80]

Thank you so much. I think I will start feeding on demand again.

As far as naps, she was very fussy and didn't really nap much more than an hour and a half all day. She just kept waking up every time I snuck out of the room and crying. Since you wouldn't spend so much time doing the shh/pat, what would you do in my situation? I don't want to make her upset by trying to force it, but it is just so obvious she is tired.  The BW warns agains a tired baby saying if they don't get sleep, they sleep even worse. Not looking forward to tonight!

I haven't taken the quiz! Where can I find it?

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

This is the quiz:

The BW "Know Your Baby Quiz"

As for what to do if she doesn't settle..well sometimes I would resort to using a prop...ie rock her to sleep, just to get sleep and sometimes get her up and then try again in a bit or feed. Then work on it again for the next nap!