Thanks everyone for your replies. I was beginning to think no one would help me!
Actually, yesterday (before I had gotten any replies) was an excellent day
. I tried the same routine (of switching to 4-hourEASY).
Here's what happened:
he had a 4:30 wake up (which I think he may actually need)I fed him.
then he FINALLY slept til 6:58!!!! I had planned to do a w2s to make sure he didn't wake up at 6:30 and my alarm rang but I didn't even hear it. (nice one, huh?) Maybe he heard it.Just kidding. We live in a small 1 bedroom flat so Kubko's crib is right next to our bed.
E 7:00
A 7:20-started wind down at 8:20 (we danced, swaddled him, rocked with lullabies) he got a bit fussy while I was rocking, but when I put him down he just mantra-ed a little bit and then he was out.
S 8:40-9:20, then I ssh-patted him 10-15 min, and he then slept til 11!!! I was going to wake him and feed him at 10:15, as the plan goes, but just let him go.
E 11:00 EBM (DH fed him)
A 11:30 with DH he started wind down about 12:20, I swaddled him, he started fussing, so quickly rocked with a short lullaby and as he was clearly falling asleep, I quickly took him to the bed (so he's still be awake) and he went to sleep right away,
S 12:30-tried w2s at 12:55 (tried to startle him a bit) but he still woke at 1:09, tried to let him settle,(mantra-ing) but was afraid he'd get past the consolable, so I came in and patted his belly and then held down his hands (swaddled without hands)and ssshed. He went back to sleep about 130, Woke again at 2:20
E 2:20
A 2:40 started wind down about 3:15 (swaddled, rocked,lullaby put in bed)
S fell asleep at 3:45 slept til 4:15, I ssh patted, he went back to sleep but woke at 4:45.
******when he slept til 11 that first nap, I decided to go over to the 12-15 day routine of switching to 4-hour EASY. There is no catnap in that routine, technically he should've slept til 5. I thought it was too little of time to ssh-pat (just 15 min left of naptime)
E 4:47
A played a bit, then when he got fussy I took him to the bath so he wouldn't be too overtired.
He was perfect for the bath until I started dressing him afterwards. This never used to bother him, does anyone else have this experience?? He goes beserk when I put his pj's on and becomes kinda grumpy the rest of the time til bed.
E top-off 5:44 he hung out on my shoulder a bit (he likes to talk to the shiny oven that he can see from where we sit:) then he got fussy so I rocked and sang. Kubko was laughing and singing with me :)he got to looking sleepy so I took him to his bed, was out straight away
S 6:00 (on that switching schedule it has a bedtime of 6:30 or 7 for those days 12-15)(I thought 6 a bit early but he was clearly tired and seemed ready)
That said, he then woke up a couple of times within the next 2 hours and I just patted him a few minutes and he was fine, then he woke again at 10, crying. I had planned to move my dreamfeed that night to 10:30, so I just fed him for the dream feed then. He moved around a lot in his sleep that night too.
Then he woke at 3:00, I fed him, then he woke at 4:30, I ssh-patted him back to sleep, tried the 5:30 w2s to get him to 7, but he woke at 6:40
so the night after the excellent day was not soo good, but maybe it was the different earler bed time that threw him off, or just the change in routine.
Today has been crazy, but that's because we were out all day. First at a friends' house for breakfast and a walk and lunch, then went to town for ice cream (I'd been cooped up in the house 2 days, had to get out, but shouldn't have done so much in one day maybe, for Kubko I mean)Tried to get him to nap at the appropriate times but didn't always happen, and wasn't in a place always that I could sshpat or try to get back to sleep. Ended up going off a bit, he had short naps of 30-45 min, then wasn't able to stay up long without being extremely fussy, it was a hard day. I feel bad for him. I think he may have been confused
But I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Of course not sure if I should just try 3.5 EASY or continue on with the switch to 4hr. I guess I'll see how it goes in the morning. Is it okay to have a routine where in the morning he'd go 4 hr and then the 2nd morning feed would be 3 or 3.5 or does that confuse them?
As for the rocking and 4s's. Yes, I try to do it, but it's hard to prepare his room when all I can do is shut the blinds (which doesn't make much of a difference, we have the sun shining on that side all day), but the rocking chair and cd player are in the living room, I figure the flat is so small that it's okay. DH knows to be quiet ), then as for the swaddle, tried it that day and it seemed good, just using a small bed sheet as I don't have a big enough blanket for him and also it's quite warm here. Tonight he seemed a bit uncomfortable in it,(I know it's probably just my thinking, but still) so I tried what someone else suggested, tucking a sheet in tightly in his crib. That seemed to work tonight to send him off. But bedtime is always different than naptimes...
And about the rocking, I tried the 3rd S, (sitting) but he always struggles with this. He gets really fussy and is all over the place. It's hard for me to hold him that way, and then he gets all wound up it seems. I usually end up moving right to the crib for a ssh-pat so he'll still be able to settle.
Maybe if I started early...
So, with the winddown, should it be the last 10-20 minutes of the activity time? I was thinking that, that's what I aimed for, but I try to have him in his bed 20 minutes before the actual 'sleep' time to give him time to settle (or me to ssh-pat) and still get good sleep time in. So, for example if sleep time was 9, I would start the windown at 8:30 to give him time before the sleep time. (I know you're not supposed to follow the clock but for this routine of changing him to 4 hour, the book said to try and go by times in just that one instance).
And as for the feeding that day 2.5 hours apart, I know he can go longer, he usualllly has no problem going the full 3 hours. I was really at the end of my rope, or so I thought. But, I write everything down in a log, and as I was going over it that night, I realized that he seemed to be crying a lot longer than he really was. You know, I think I gave in too easily. I think that's why I was more determined the next day and I felt successful even if it did take 15 minutes of sshh-patting to get him to sleep.
Sorry this is so long!!! Thanks again for your help
