Sleep issues since trying EASY

[suzannemoore]

I have been jumping all over the place! (Sorry, new at the BW) I have been posting messages about my son and trying to get into an EASY routine.  He was born a month early.  He was due on Nov. 12, but born on Oct. 17.  We started easy about 2 weeks ago, and things were great for the first couple of days.  Our routine was every 2.5 hours with about 30-45 minutes of activity time and then a nap.  He used to be great about taking naps, but in the past four or five days he will not go down for a nap after his A time.  If he actually goes to sleep he will only sleep for about 30-45 minutes, and then he is awake and crying.  I go up and do the SHH/pat and that never seems to calm him.

At night we have a bath, then I go up in his room, dim the lights, and feed him.  While I am doing this soft calming music is playing.  I will put him down as he starts to close his eyes in my arms.  He will sleep well again for about 30-45 minutes and then he is awake and crying.  It usually takes about 2 hours of calming to get him down and sleeping.  Thereafter, he will wake every three hours or so during the night.

I am exhausted, and my husband is tired and cranky as well.  HELP!  What am I doing wrong here.  Am I suffering from AP??

Thanks for any help!!
Suzanne

[maggie2]

Suzanne - just wanted to give you some {{{hugs}}} and welcome you to the boards!  Also wanted to let you know that I think your avatar pic is so adorable!!!!!

I hope you find some helpful information around here - I've already shared a few tidbits with you on that other thread, and again, I'm afraid I wont be much help to you since I'm going through something very similar and haven't figured it out myself!!!  aaaahhhh!!!

take care and I hope you and your lo get some quality sleep in the next couple of days

 :-*Maggie

[MJMom]

Suzanne,

I think on another post you indicated things were getting better.

If that changes, please post your routine and we'll see what we can help you with!

Thanks!

[suzannemoore]

My lo has started waking more throughout the night.  He has a little of a cold right now, and our long trip over the holidays was very exhausting.  It was not easy to keep him on routine while we were out of town because he was not eating well, and he really did not feel well.  Now that we are back (but still not feeling well) I wanted to post our routine to see if anyone has any ideas.

E-7amish
A-730-815 or so
S-815-945
Y-shower and coffee!!

E-10am
A-1030-1115 or so
S-1130-1245 hopefully-very hard to put down
Y-Lunch

E-1pm
A-130-230 or so
S-245-345
Y-ZZZZ if lo actually sleeps for his nap time

I continue this every three hours or so.  He gets a bath about 7pm, then feed, and then out him to bed.  Sometimes it is extremely hard to put him down and he likes to graze for about 2 hours before he will actually fall asleep.  During the day he may not eat a full feed and that throws him off schedule also.  Any ideas??

Suzanne

[MJMom]

So, he's about 9 weeks old, 5 adjusted?

I think his A time is too long even for a 9 week old.  It can still be as short as 45 minutes to an hour, but certainly some of your 1.5 hr A times could be too long and he's getting OT.  What cues are you waiting for to put him down?  Some babies are already tired by the time they yawn, so you may want to look if there are other cues to indicate he is tired.

[suzannemoore]

Things are going much better now!  I just have a couple more questions.  Our routine is going well.  I am not such a stickler for the clock I just make sure that everything we do is consistant!  One question I have though is my lo's naps seem to be a little short.  He is usually awake for about an hour including feeding time and then he naps.  His naps usually last for about 1.5 hours, so we wind up having a little A time before the next feeding.  He has started sleeping through the night though (11pm-7am) and I am so happy about that.  Should I just let things go the way they are during the day since he is doing so well at night?  One more.  Since he was born a month early he will be three months on the 17 of Jan (not adjusted) when should I think about adjusting his daily routine!

Thanks to everyone that has helped me through this time!!  It has paid off!!

Suzanne

[MJMom]

Suzanne- your rule of thumb - if he's waking up happy from his naps, they are probably fine.  If he is waking up cranky, then you want to extend.  But he is doing EXTREMELY well do be sleeping from 11 - 7 at this age!!!  That is REALLY fantastic!!!  Especially as he was premature!  Congratulations!!!
Just based on the info alone, you're in a good space and I wouldn't change anything even if he has a little A time before his next feed. 

Continue paying attention to his cues.  He may begin to go a bit longer between feeds.  Go ahead and let him.  The changes between 3 months and 4 months of age seem to happen very quickly with going longer between feeds and extended A times.  And for your little guy it may be more like between 4 & 5 months as he was born early.  Since he's sleeping through so early though, it may come quicker for him.  Some signs that the routine needs adjusting is shorter naps than your current 1.5, cranky wake ups, night wakings or early wakings.

Also, since you have a nice routine now, log the hours that he is getting in a day - night sleep vs. day sleep.  As sleep/eating routine starts to change, the hours of sleep remain similar, just re-arranged.  It's always good to know how many daily hours you started with so you have a comparison.  E.g. he sleeps 10 hrs at night, 6 hrs during the course of the day now for a total of 16 hrs.  This may shift to 11 hrs at night, 5 hrs in the day to remain at a total of 16 hrs. 

HTH!