catnaps

[frankiesmom]

Can anyone explain the catnaps that Tracy talks about in her 3 hour EASY?  DS is 5 days old and sleeping well during the day but having issues waking at the 45 minute mark at night consistently. He is taking three 1.5 to 2 hour naps really well.  Last nap is ending between 4 and 5.  So, if his last nap ends at 4:30, and he is ready for another at 5:30, do I wake him after he has only slept for a short time to get another feed into him or just let him as long as he wants and treat is as a fourth nap before bed?  And then if I wake him at 5:30,do I put him back down at 6:30, wake him by 7:30, then feed him and put him to bed for the night?
Does that make sense?

I guess my question is, do you just let him do the catnap if that is what his body is doing or should you wake him if he is trying to take a full 2 hour nap?


Just trying to figure out if the changing to the catnaps might prevent the 45 minute night wakings.
Thanks, Kim

[UNCMomma]

Do you think he has days and nights mixed up?  Sounds like he's getting his long stretches of sleep during the day... but if they're not over 3 hours I wouldn't think they're TOO long.  Hmm...  As long as you're feeding him about every 3 hours during the day and trying to get him a tiny bit of awake time when he can tolerate it after feeds, I would say you're doing all you can for your 5 day old!  He will probably figure it out soon that night time is the main sleep period!  I always left my baby in a bright sunlit room for napping during the day, as I've heard sunlight helps their body's clocks get on the correct time!! 

Also, where is he sleeping during the day and at night?  Same place or different???

Amanda

[frankiesmom]

thanks for the reply.  i think he does have his days and nights confused.  he sleeps in his room in the bassinette always.  i am trying to extend his awake time but i don't want to get in that trap of him being overtired.  any thoughts about what to do in early evening with those catnaps?

kim

[UNCMomma]

I'm not exactly sure but it seems like in EVERY schedule there's a catnap.  Even at such a young age, I remember DD doing the same thing in the evening.  I think they have a harder time 'settling' in the evening (witching hour syndrome!), and my 13 week old STILL does!  Frequent feedings aren't a bad thing at this time of day, since they will probably help baby sleep for a longer period of time once he goes to bed.  I would just keep letting him sleep when he needs it (don't try to extend Awake times too much now, especially in the evening!) and feed him on schedule (waking every 3 hours if needed), while cluster feeding some in the late afternoon/early evening if needed.  Does this answer your question??

Amanda

[frankiesmom]

I guess my question was, if he doesn't wake for the cluster feeding or catnap, should I wake him.
i.e, if I put him down for a catnap at 5 and he wants to sleep until 7, should I keep him on that 3 hour EASY or actually wake him at 6 and feed him again?

Thanks,Kim

[UNCMomma]

Oh, so sorry.  No, I wouldn't wake him to cluster feed at this point, I would let him sleep up to the next 3 hour feeding.  So if he's due to eat again at 7 according to the 3 hour EASY, if he's sleeping, let him sleep and wake him at 7.  Don't worry so much about cluster feeding, b/c soon he'll probably be awake during this time anyway b/c it seems they all have trouble doing anything but cat-napping in the evenings by a few weeks of age!  I never woke my LO when she was this young, I just kept feeding every 3 hours during the day and she automatically stretched the time out at night (I did do a dream feed about 10, are you doing this?  This sort of makes up for cluster feeding if you can't do that...)

Amanda

[frankiesmom]

Thanks, I haven't started a dream feed yet.  When is a good time to do that?
I did it with first ds once I introduced a bottle and then let dh do it, which was a great help.
At what age can you start the df?

Kim

[UNCMomma]

I've done the Dream feed with DD since day 1.  I don't think it's ever too early, as it helps them get their one long stretch of sleep when you're sleeping.  Anytime after 10, although I think some people do it earlier. 

Amanda

[avery's momma]

my lo doesn't seem to want to wake up from this catnap to have bedtime and i am unsure of what to do! she doesn't usually sleep soundly for this nap, and so i usually get her up 45 mins after she went down.. but she has been down and out for a little over an hour! i don't want to mess up bedtime, as she does such a great job with it! (usually 7/7:30) but it's already 6:11! confused as to if i should let her sleep til the next feed, then do E,winddown, and bedtime S... hmmm.. any ideas?

[UNCMomma]

On the RARE occasion that my LO sleeps well (and longer) for this catnap I let her sleep and get her up if she's not up by 7.  Then bedtime is pushed to about 8, but it works out okay.  Hope this helps! 

Amanda

[avery's momma]

hey amanda! thanks for the reply. as soon as i hit "post, " i heard squirmy baby avery in her crib and i went to go get her up. it was so nice to not hear her crying at the end of a nap!! she was just in there looking around, and i bathed her.. she got super squirmy in the tub, i thought she was going to have a bm in the tub, so i pulled her out and diapered her.. but then she got super fussy and acted hungry (2 hrs since previous feeding..) i was hoping to stretch her out longer than 2hrs bc she always wakes up 8 hrs after that feeding, but she wouldn't have it! i ended up feeding her at 6:30 and then putting her down at 7:00 (out like a light!) it was so nice to not have a fussy afternoon! (it makes me wish every day was like this!)
ps- got your pm.. you know, i was thinking her hair looks redish! dh has dark brown hair, i was blond and now it is med brown but there aren't any redheads in our families! that pic for sure makes her look like a redhead! i wonder if it will stay that way? thanks for the advice!

[frankiesmom]

hi, thanks for your thougts.  Last night, Luca went down for a catnap at 4:45 and slept until 6:45.  So, when he woke up, I thought I would give him a bath but he was crying for food, so I bf him for about 20minutes, then short sponge bath, then bf him some more but he was so tired, he fell right asleep, then woke 45 minutes later. He did this the night before, almost like he is taking his catnap at 8, instead of earlier.  So, I fed him again and he ate.  Any suggestions, or just ride it out?  I am thinking eventually he will shorten the 5 o'clock nap and then it will work itself out.
Thanks again,
Kim