Did I misread sleepy cues?

[katriona]

Hi all,

I've been trying really hard to spot my DS' sleepy cues. Although 3.5 months old, he has a really hard time staying awake more than 1.5 hours in the day (the dreaded 45 minute nap monster :twisted:). This morning though he outdid himself, and we were on cue for a full-on overtired meltdown only 40 minutes after being awake for the first time: This was our timetable for last night and this morning.

6.15pm out for the night
1.15am full feed
1.30am back to sleep (he's a fast guzzler!)
4.20am full feed
5.00am back to sleep (took a little while to settle)
6.15am awake for the day, cooing and gurgling in his hammock. daddy time!

Then:

6.35am first yawn (uh-oh, did I really just see that?)
6.40am offered a feed, he took a full one.
6.50am staring intently at cat, making little gurgly sounds to himself; i decide to interpret this as seven-mile stare and hotfoot it to bedroom.
6.55am sure enough, begin our little routine, and he's rubbing his eyes already. i've missed the window, and the fussiness begins.
7.30am finally asleep in hammock sucking on thumb. it's taken 35 minutes of pat-ssh and gentle walking to stop him crying and get him drowsy. Now I'm sure he'll wake up after 45 minutes because he was overstimulated. And so the day will continue.

I guess I wasn't looking for him to display sleepy signs so soon after getting such a long night of sleep (admittedly interrupted by the two feeds).

He does have a cold, and I'm wondering if this could be affecting things. 

Am I misreading his sleepy cues? Can he really start yawning just 20 mins after waking up? Perhaps he's not overstimulated when crying, and it's just a necessary part of the wind-down routine for him?

Any words of wisdom would be appreciated :-)

Katriona

[Jaime]

hi,

i had a couple thoughts while i was reading your post...

first, the time between waking for the day & the first nap is usually pretty short.  at 3.5 months, it's probably around an hour (or less, as it seems in your case  :wink: )  A time will extend as the day continues.  so, if his first A time was 1 hour, his second A time might be 1.5 hrs, etc...

secondly... 2 full feeds at night?  what does the rest of his day look like?  are you cluster feeding in the evening?

third - yes, a cold can blow everything to pieces.  if that's the case, i've found it's best to just ride it out as best we can, since they like to cuddle so much more when they're sick.

HTH