Hi all,
My apologies in advance as I am sure the following post has been covered before. I have been reading people's posts across the different areas and attempting to assimilate the information however, after 11 weeks of sleep deprivation, I have been struggling!
I hope it is okay to get people's reflections regarding my little boy who is just shy of 12 weeks old.
My LO is entirely breastfed on demand - he seems to feed every 2 hours - sometimes these feel like good feeds other times snacks - when I asked the HV they said this is how babies feed.
I have been following EASY in the sense that I have been trying to follow a eat, activity, sleep routine without the 3 hrly cycle because I'm feeding more frequently even if this means E and S are seperated by a burp and a nappy change.
Our main difficulties are with daytime naps. Since he was born my LO has been rocked, jiggled, bounced and generally cajoled asleep. This initially worked well and he would sleep good lengths on me. However, over time he would wake up at any attempt to put him in his bed and, more recently, the naps have become less efficient with him sleeping maybe 30 - 45mins rather fitfully and clearly not very refreshed afterwards.
Nighttimes have been slightly better in that he would be taken to bed after falling asleep on us and generally would settle if after 7.30pm. From about 5.30pm onwards he is wanting to fall asleep on us but will not settle in his bed unless it is after 7 ish - I have assumed this is the result of his own bio-rhythms. At night, he will waking for feeding and then I place him in his bed in semi-dozy just been burped and changed state and he generally manages to settle himself with the help of some white noise.
I started ssh/pat yesterday. My LO eventually settled in his cot for 3 naps of 45mins, then an hr and then 30 mins duration. Today has been less successful with 2 naps up-to-date of 15 mins and immediate waking duration. He is starting to cry as we head up the stairs and close the curtains - am I right in assuming that this is because he knows what is coming and is disgruntled that I'm doing something different? I do 20 mins of sshh/patting once his eyes have closed. I consider the naps, for whatever length, in his cot as a big achievement. Nighttime settling have taken 2 attempts and I suspect because I've mis-timed and attempted to put him in his cot before 7 because he was so tired.
I wanted to also clarify the purpose of sshh/pat (need to be fixed on this as I'm doing it) - is it to reassure LO that I'm there while he falls asleep with the eventual aim to gradually withdraw?A long way off, but how do I go about withdrawing the sshh/pat? Is the eventual aim that, with a routine, my LO will be able to put himself to sleep when I put him in his cot?
Also wondering why the very short nap times - is this a sign of overtired or undertired? Given we are clearly already in an overtired cycle, I am struggling to see how this will improve and he will be able to take a decent nap. I also query whether the overtiredness is contributing to the 2 hrly eating because he is so tired when on the boob.
My apologies for just throwing everything at this post, I hope it makes sense. I would appreciate any reflections and advice. I guess, like so many people's experiences of this, I feel that I am letting down my LO.
Many many thanks in advance.
Lorna
