Hi marensmama!
Congrats on your little miracle as well
it is absolutely amazing when it finally happens - nothing can prepare you for the joy you feel.
I am really struggling though with capnaps or really long naps with Cooper. At night he is generally sleeping really well - but it has started to get a little difficult over the past few nights.
This is Cooper's 'usual' routine:
A - 7am - 7.30am
E - 7.30am - 8am
S - 8am - 8.45am
This is his best time of the day in relation to grumpiness and really easy to read his tired signs. Will go down for a long nap.
A - 11am
E - 11.30am
S - 12md - 12.15pm
This timeframe consists of 2 catnaps around 12md - 12.45pm and then again at around 1.15pm - 2pm
A - 2pm
E - 3pm
Serial Capnapping - 4.30pm
Forget being put in crib to sleep - self settling is non-existent (although very easy to do this overnight and morning - requires NO assistance from me)
He'll usually sleep one sleep cycle then it will take another sleep cycle of 'shh/pat' to attempt to resettle. He is clearly OT but just will not fall asleep. At this stage he is usually brought out into the loungeroom - wrapped up resting to doze on a pillow until bathtime.
A - 6.45pm
E - 7pm
S - 7.30pm
Dreamfeed - 11.30pm
Wakes once more at approx. 4am - 5am for another feed then seems to wake between 6am - 7am (I let him stay in his crib whinging until at least 7am)
So in total he is sleeping for approx. 16 hours per day consisting of an approx. 10 hour virtually uninterrupted sleep overnight very easily self settling back into sleep. During the day I get 1 great nap in the morning and serial catnapping throughout the rest of the day.
The reason for the A before the E is my little one seems to spit up quite easily with activity after eating. The other thing we usually do (in the morning) is 20 minutes of activity laying down, 20 minutes to feed and then 20 minutes of activity on my lap (reading etc)
I am now also finding after introducing the Dreamfeed that he is putting up tiny protests when put down again at 4am - 5am. Not a nightmare yet, but the protesting is gradually getting louder.
He eats an average of 500mls per day (16.5 oz) but is gaining and growing nicely. 3 hourly feeding just does not work for him - he doesn't eat much trying this - but loves the 4-5 hour stretch. This is where we are getting a 4 hour period of activity then sleep with no eating.
I think that I am not doing a great job of EASY - but hard to know how to start due to not being able to do E first.
Cooper is 100% formula fed and we swaddle for every single sleep. His bedtime routine is identical each day as is his morning routine. The rest of the day is thrown because he hasn't read my rulebook and decides he has his own copy
Any advice would be fantastic!!!!