enough food vs enough sleep

[jps]

Hello there, I am new to this forum and was wondering if anyone has any advise. My son is 3 months old. He is great and perhaps I am worrying over nothing. He sleeps 12 hours at night but recently has stopped napping for so long during the day. He takes a morning nap for about an hour but the rest of them are lucky to be 15-2m mins long. I have read that he might need to go onto the 4 hour routine (he was 9lb 4 oz at birth) but I am a bit worried that he may not get enough to eat. He takes 5 feeds a day (I am breastfeeding) and no longer takes a dream feed. I stopped this at about 9 weeks because he was no longer taking anything when I lifted him.

I know that I am extremely lucky and I am not overly worried. I was just wondering if it would be better to leave things as they are or to go onto the 4 hr routine? I suppose I could always start the dream feed again to see him through. Have got a little selfish though and it's a godsend being able to go to bed early. However, want to do whatever is best for James Any thoughts?

[* Paula *]

Hi and welcome to the BW website.

Can you post what your current day looks like including the short naps, E times, A times and S times (how long) so that we can have a look at it and perhaps try and tweak your routine.

15-20 mins is way too short, your lo does need to nap during the day, to prevent him from getting over tired.

Sounds like he is doing fantastically at night, although if he constantly has those short naps, he overtiredness could catch up with him and start affecting his night time sleep and causing night wakings.

[jps]

Thanks for your help Paula. This would be an example of a typical day:-

E 7.00am
A 7.30am
S 8.30am
E 10.00am
A 10.30am
S 11.30am
A 11.50am
E 1.00pm
A 1.30pm
S 2.30pm
A 2.50pm
E 4.00pm
A 4.30pm
no nap at this time generally. starts to get cranky at around 6. bedtime routine does calm him down.
E 7.00pm and then straight to bed.

That will be him through until 7.00am.

Thanks.

[* Paula *]

I think that perhaps 1.5 hours of A time is too much.  A time includes the time they are eating, so basically the whole time they are awake.

I would probably aim for about an hour to an hour and fifteen mins maximum before your lo going down for a sleep.

The short naps in the afternoon, most certainly look like your lo is overtired.

Have you tried staying in your lo's room, while he sleeps, and perhaps applying pressur to him to help him ease through the jolts into the next stage of sleep?

[jps]

Good Morning, I have tried this and so far so good this morning. He went down for a sleep at 8.10am after being fed at 7. He was making more signs of being tired than usual this morning, rubbing his eyes and yawning. I stayed with him and rubbed his wee back until he went over. I'll try and do the same with his afternoon naps to see if I can get him to sleep a bit longer. I could be going in and lifting him to early, but he does put himself over to sleep usually if he wakes up.

Will keep you updated. Thanks again.

[* Paula *]

How has the rest of your day gone?

[jps]

I have been quite strict with his routine for the last couple of days and I have definately seen an improvement in his nap times. This is what our day has generally looked like:-

 E 7.00am
A 7.30am
S 8.10am
E 10.00am
A 10.30am
S 11.15am
A 12.15am
E 1.00pm
A 1.30pm
S 2.15pm
A 2.50pm
E 4.00pm
A 4.30pm
S 5.00pm
A 5.15pm
bedtime routine
E 7.00pm and straight to bed.

He has been nowhere near as cranky in the evenings and I am so grateful for your help.

I do think, however, that doing this has coincided with a growth spurt. Yesterday he seemed a lot more hungry than the previous 3 days and he woke up hungry at 5.45 am (this hasn't happened since he was about 7 weeks.) |was going to feed him every 2 1/2 hours today and try a dream feed at 11.00pm. Would you recommend this?

[* Paula *]

I am so pleased that things are improving.

I would not advise feeding every 2.5 hours, I would stick to your routine as much as possible, as you do not want to creat a snacking habit.

If you wait your normal time between feeds, you will at least know that your lo is taking a full feed.

You could try and cluster feed in the evening say 4:00, 6:00 and a top up at 7:00 before bed.

Keep us posted on how you get on.

[binxyboo]

If you are going through a GS, I feel you really need to be feeding as often as your baby wants, to ensure that your milk supply increases to match his needs. I find after a few days, things go pretty much back to normal.

[* Paula *]

I agree with Michelle, sorry for some reason I thought you were bottle feeding 

I would feed as and when baby wants it, this way it will definitely increase your supply.

Thanks for pointing that out Michelle